| Regional Monday, May 20, 2002 ================================================================================ Another East African Held in US Crackdown A JOINT REPORT FEARS THAT a post-September 11 American crackdown on illegal immigrants will affect a significant number of East Africans already in the United States or planning to go there are deepening, with rising reports of arrests and prosecutions of East Africans in America. In the latest of immigration-related cases involving people from the region, an American federal judge two weeks ago sentenced a Ugandan national, Mr. David Lubowa, to a jail term of 40 months and a fine of $75,000 for allegedly defrauding American churches of over $390,000 meant for missionary work in his country. Mr. Lubowa, 32, is said to have travelled around the US for 10 years, visiting churches to raise money he told parishioners would be used to pay for bibles, bicycles and pastors in East Africa. Mr. Lubowa instead used the money to buy a brand new Land Cruiser, a Suzuki, a laptop computer, among other items. The items were confiscated by US postal inspectors in a container and are to be auctioned. Mr. Lubowa's attorney, Mr. John Kevin West, however disputes the prosecution's case, saying that his problems have more to do with immigration than fraud, and that the government had only proved his client had taken $60,000 in donations which he had subsequently spent in various projects in Ugandan. Mr. Lubowa also received considerable support from some of the churches he had reportedly defrauded with at least, one American cleric saying that Mr. Lubowa was being victimised because of bad book- keeping and circumstances. Mr. Lubowa's case comes hot on the heels of another involving a Kenyan woman, Ms. Wanjiku Thiong'o, whose green card has been withdrawn by American authorities for consipracy to commit visa fraud. Ms. Thiong'o, 45, is scheduled to go on trial on June 4 in a US federal court in the state of New Hampshire. If convicted of the charges, she could be sentenced to a long jail term, but would more likely be deported from the US, according to her court-appointed attorney, Mr. Jonathan Saxe. In the months following the terrorist attacks, six Kenyans were similarly arrested in the mid-Western State of Iowa on US immigration charges. The Kenyans were not suspected of terrorist involvement but were instead charged with using false documents in order to obtain US Social Security Cards and driver's licences. All six were eventually released on bail pending hearing on their cases. Ms. Thiong'o, a native of Elburgon in Nakuru distruct, came to the US in 1978 to study at a college in the state of Massachusetts. She later married Mr. Sammy Thiong'o, a naturalised US citizen from Kenya. The couple have four children, all American citizens, who have excelled at the prestigious schools they attend. The family moved to the conservative, mostly white town of Milford, New Hampshire, 14 years ago. Ms. Thiong'o has a US work permit (Green Card) that has enabled her to operate a business involving importation and sale of products made by Kenyan artisans. She also runs a cultural exchange program that arranges for Americans and Kenyans to visit one another's countries. It is in her capacity as a travel organiser that Ms. Thiong'o was indicted more than a year ago on visa fraud charges. According to US prosecutors, she used letters mentioning agricultural seminars in the United States to help Kenyans obtain US visitors' visas. But the seminars never took place, the prosecutors charge. The case against Ms. Thiong'o is being handled by federal attorneys in the New Hampshire working in consultaton with the US Immigration and naturalisation Service (INS). The indictment also refers to 19 Kenyans who acquired US visas with Ms. Thiong'o's assistance but who susbsequently were charged with violations of US immigration laws. On the advice of her attorney, Ms. Thiong'o declined to be interviewed by the East African. Several members of the Milford's Unitarian Universalist Church have rallied to Ms. Thiong'o defence and are raising funds to defray her legal costs. An African food and cultural festival held in Milford on May 11 was the latest such effort on her behalf. "We were concerned that in a small state like New Hampshire and with a large agency like INS the facts might not come out in an unbiased manner," says Jan Lint, a teacher who has joined Ms. Thiong'o's defence committee. "We don't like to throw around words like 'racism' and 'prejudice', but we do understand that some people form such ideas, particularly around immigration issues following September 11." Kenyans account for only a tiny fraction of foreigners apprehended while attempting to enter the US illegally. According to the INS, 89 Kenyans were arrested on such grounds in 1999, the most recent year for which statistics are available. US officials can give no estimate of the number of Kenyans who may be living in America in violation of their visa conditions. ___________________________________________________________ Reported by Dagi Kimani in nairobi and Kevin Kelly in Washington. |
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