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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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7 z: S) \5 B0 R iRichard J. Brennan
1 u' f/ f9 V3 E1 t5 ^9 H% Z7 ^: I8 dNational Affairs Writer 2 @& a: _& m# R4 x
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Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed Wednesday that as many as 1,800 new Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they were obtained fraudulently.
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“We are in the process of notifying them that we will be revoking their citizenship because Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” Kenney told the Economic Club of Canada.
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1 [7 @2 h, }9 sKenney said some of the individuals are believed to have used “unscrupulous” immigration consultants who submitted fraudulent applications on behalf of people who did not meet the qualifications for citizenship.
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The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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8 ?. u: l6 ]- n6 Q* r$ N$ c“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.
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- T- h+ H. l/ pThey can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.
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Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.% s. R( f* q9 _: B& u
" h& h, [. p ZSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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“For those who simply touch down and try to get a Canadian passport as a … passport of convenience, who don’t pay our taxes but who do consume our social benefits, I think that’s dishonourable,” he told reporters after delivering a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.; d- L* e6 E/ w0 h1 \, d
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“There are many ways that we are combating immigration fraud and abuse of our generosity, whether it is from [bogus] asylum claimants, crooked immigration consultants, people smugglers [or] people who are abusing our citizenship program,” he said. L6 a) m! y& d1 ] k
3 S2 H9 @6 a6 d! @0 hKenney also announced that Canada will soon be introducing multi-year visas for low-risk visitors from around the world that will last 10 years. |
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发表于 2011-7-20 09:05
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