An illegal alien has pleaded guilty to helping fraudulently secure visas for illegal aliens who falsely claimed to be crime victims.
Yuridia Hernandez Linares, a 36-years-old foreign national, pleaded guilty to operating a business that helped secure U visas for illegal aliens who fraudulently claimed they were the victims of violent crimes.
In the guilty plea, Linares admitted that she fraudulently obtained a U visa in 2016 after contacting the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office in 2015 to report a violent crime against her that had never occurred. Linares and a friend allegedly cut themselves with box cutters and claimed they were robbed by two men with knives.
As part of her business operation, Linares would charge illegal aliens between $2,000 to $5,000 to fraudulently secure them U visas. Linares would cut the illegal aliens with box cutters, then have them report to the police that they were the victims of violent crimes.
Linares is in Heppenin County custody and faces up to ten years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Her sentencing hearing is set for January 30.
Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailed potential widespread abuse of the U visa program spurred by a provision in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in which more than 2,200 cases of potential fraud by foreign nationals have been detected since 2013, Breitbart News reported.
In fiscal year 2014, there were fewer than 200 cases of potential fraud in the U visa program. By fiscal year 2019, the number of potential fraud cases had increased to more than 800 — a 305 percent jump in six years.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.