U.S Stops African Refugee Program after DNA Tests Show High Rate of Fraud

[Jacaylbaro]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department announced on Wednesday that it was halting a program that re-united African refugees with their relatives in the United States after many fraudulent claims were caught by DNA testing. DNA has been used for several years now to establish relationships between claimants and their sponsors in the United States.

 

Thousands of Africans have been allowed to settle in the United States since 1990 under the family reunification program, which accepts relatives such as parents or children of people who have already been admitted into the United States as refugees, or who were granted asylum.

 

Unfortunately, according to the State Department, DNA testing has revealed that only 20% of claimants from seven African countries actually had a family relationship with their sponsors in the US. The seven countries were Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Gambia and the program was suspended in these suspended with no indication whether it would resume or not.

 

According to the State Department, the applicants were not actually tested to see if they were related to their sponsor in the US, but to see if the applicants were themselves related to each other. For example, a husband in the US applying for his relatives was not tested to see if he was related to claimants, but to see if those claiming to be relatives (the wife and her children) were in fact related to each other. The obvious problem being that families were bringing with them other people who were not related to them at all.

 

Most applicants previously had come through those countries, although they were sometimes refugees from elsewhere. Many of the 3,000 who were tested were from Somalia, Ethiopia, or Liberia, the spokesman said.

[rudy-Diiriye]

definitely this is a red-neck policy...its needs to be kicked in the neck.. i wont stand 4 that!

 

wheres my homie obama blk-neck!!

[Som@li]

ONLY 20%, Waw