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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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5 M6 X' Z; c" GRichard J. Brennan
2 F1 ]0 k; R- Y$ T" qNational Affairs Writer & Z+ |$ ^! t* z F' c: Z4 t2 ?
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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.& @7 K, s( o' ^9 M9 A& C; x
) E/ H% t6 }- F* L“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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$ E/ B+ s' E: {7 o6 t1 IKenney 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.* h8 Y Q* w) g9 k$ l3 Z0 r
0 U; \; y+ P. EThe 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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& \( h O& u. `" W+ u“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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They 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.% T: x6 o2 A. j3 e
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.
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% O5 m$ b+ `' {4 i, xSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.% o7 ^2 t# r/ k( t7 J) e" i
' \# A! ]! u* `9 |% ^3 u“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.
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# j7 S9 b \& a7 M, [' k“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.. q$ Y# }: {, S" a: P \
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Kenney 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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