Stopping Chinese Infiltration of U.S. Educational and Research Institutions
Significant steps taken against PRC's proxy spies, but more can be done
By Dan Cadman
Foreign students and exchange scholars from certain countries — predominantly, but not exclusively, the People's Republic of China — represent an extraordinary risk to the United States through their extracurricular espionage activities.
It is becoming clear that the federal government has finally started to focus in earnest on the danger posed by China's pervasive espionage efforts, particularly in and around U.S. universities and research institutions.
Yet Another Chinese Citizen Arrested for EB-5 Fraud in California
Yet another U.S.-based Chinese citizen has been arrested for EB-5 fraud involving a never-constructed California real estate development. She is said to have reaped $21.6 million from her clients; most of them, if not all, from China.
In a small, new twist in this case, she managed to spend $295,000 on two Mercedes Benz vehicles, according to an article behind a partial paywall at Law360.
The EB-5 program, with EB standing for "employment-based", provides a family-sized set of temporary-to-be-permanent-later green cards to the families of investors who put up $900,000 (once $500,000) in investments identified by, but not guaranteed by, the Department of Homeland Security.
Most of the aliens in the program are from China, as are most of the victims, as we have reported in the past.
Arrested on June 20 was Ruixue "Serena" Shi, a resident of Arcadia, Calif. The complex she said she was building, but was not, had the usual mix of a hotel and condos, pools and spas, conference facilities and a fitness center. She said she had the needed building permits from the City of Coachella, but did not.
And, as is traditional, the cop on the beat was not DHS, it the FBI this time. Often it is the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The case is U.S. v. Shi, number 2:20-mj-02807 in the federal courts for the Central District of California; it does not seem to be entered yet in the PACER system.
Tal Groups Continue Controlling Marijuana Farms on U.S. Soil
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Illegally cultivated grow farms in California and Washington state are operated by Chinese nationals, according to a report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
A leaked law enforcement-sensitive bulletin obtained by Breitbart Texas states that Chinese nationals on overstayed visas continue to be found working on marijuana grow farms. Some are operated by Chinese drug rings.
On May 4, 2020, CBP agents working at the Colville Border Patrol Station and assigned to the Stevens County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force executed search warrants in at least seven locations.
At all seven, authorities encountered Chinese nationals. Eight individuals were apprehended, including seven Chinese and one American. Agents seized 8,841 marijuana plants, $87,000 cash, three firearms, and six mortgage-free properties valued at $950,000 total.
On May 20, 2020, CBP agents from the Yuma Sector assisted the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office with suspected illegal grow sites near Palo Verde College in Blythe, resulting in the apprehension of 104 individuals (of which 80 were Chinese). It was determined that 14 of the 80 Chinese nationals violated their immigration statuses. All admitted during questioning to having flown into Los Angeles on temporary business or tourism visas, according to CBP reporting.
The report goes onto state that due to a decline of marijuana trafficking from Mexico and Canada, tactics have shifted. More is grown domestically and moved from U.S. states which have fully legalized. The shift in production may act as an economic pull factor for Chinese nationals to remain illegally in the United States while working on grow farms, based on several interviews.
The DEA’s Cannabis Suppression/Eradication Program statistics were also provided. In 2019, law enforcement agencies raided over 1,344 outdoor grow sites in California and 42 in Washington state, compared to 899 and 44, respectively, in 2018. Approximately 2,600,000 outdoor cultivated cannabis plants were seized in California and Washington State in 2019, compared to 1,400,000 in 2018. Law enforcement also confiscating approximately 3,210 weapons from illegal cannabis cultivators last year.
Jaeson Jones is a retired Captain from the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and a Breitbart Texas contributor. While on duty, he managed daily operations for the Texas Rangers Border Security Operations Center.
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