67-yr-old Indian tries to obtain US citizenship by fraud: officials
New York: A 67-year-old Indian in the US has pleaded guilty to one count of attempted naturalisation fraud, facing up to 10 years in prison, officials said.
Pal Singh, who also went by names -- Surinder Singh and Harpal Singh -- first landed in the US in 1992 with an Indian passport and an entry visa which was deemed fraudulent.
He pleaded guilty before US District Court Judge Esther Salas to an information charging him with one count of attempted naturalisation fraud, US Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
The charge carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison. The sentencing is scheduled for August.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, in March 1992, Singh, an Indian national, applied for admission into the US as a tourist at Los Angeles International Airport by presenting an Indian passport that purported to contain an entry visa to the country.
Singh was refused admission in the US because the entry visa was deemed fraudulent and he was detained pending exclusion proceedings.
Later, Singh applied for asylum in the US in his true name, and he was released on bond while his asylum claim was evaluated.
In June 1993, an immigration judge in New York denied Singh's asylum application and ordered him to surrender for deportation. He, however, failed to appear for his deportation.
In August 1995, Singh fraudulently applied for asylum in the US under the identity of 'Harpal Singh' and claimed that he entered by crossing the US-Mexico border in December 1994.
Singh did not disclose that he had previously been denied asylum under his true identity.
In March 1996, an immigration judge denied Singh's second asylum application and was again ordered to surrender for deportation. Singh again failed to appear for his deportation.
In May 1996, Singh again fraudulently applied for asylum in the US under the identity of 'Surinder Singh', claiming he had entered by crossing the US-Mexico border in November 1995.
He did not disclose that he had previously been denied asylum under his true identity and under the identity of Harpal Singh.
This application further claimed that Surinder Singh had been beaten and tortured in India in 1994 despite the fact that Singh had been living in the US at the time under his true identity.
In June 1996, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service granted Singh's third asylum application in the name of 'Surinder Singh' based on fraudulent information provided by him.
In December 2015, Singh filed an application to become a naturalised US citizen with the US Department of Homeland Security under the identity of Surinder Singh.
He falsely answered questions relating to his identity, his prior immigration applications, and his immigration status, among others.
Last year, Singh appeared in the identity of Surinder Singh before an officer of the Department of Homeland Security in Newark for an interview, which was conducted under oath and video-recorded.
Singh, assisted by counsel and by a Punjabi interpreter, made false statements about his entire immigration status.
A qualified fingerprint examiner from the US Department of Homeland Security's Biometric Support Center compared fingerprints taken of Singh when he initially attempted to enter the US in March 1992 to fingerprints taken in the names of Harpal Singh and Surinder Singh in connection with later immigration proceedings. The examiner concluded that the same individual made all of the fingerprints.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
