California Man Arrested in H-1B Visa Scheme

Last week, a Riverside, Calif. man was arrested for allegedly filing almost 1,000 fraudulent documents with the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an effort to obtain H-1B visas for illegal aliens, according to an ICE press release. The elaborate scheme described by ICE, which is similar to the type of fraud perpetrated under the employer-based visa programs that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) are trying to expand, enabled Alexander Sales Vista to make $5 million by charging illegal aliens for fraudulent work visas and employment records.

Over the course of more than 10 years, Vista allegedly sought work visas for more than 550 aliens, whom he claimed were going to work at companies he owned. Vista charged the aliens, many of whom are now being deported for overstaying their tourist visas, between $7,000 and $12,000 to file a petition.

Many of the aliens were granted work visas, but the jobs often did not exist because his “shell” companies did not conduct any real business. Vista would issue the aliens fake pay stubs showing they worked for one of his companies. In return, the aliens paid him a regular fee, which he either kept for himself or paid to the government as payroll taxes to give the illusion that they were actually working for him. ....