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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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/ n1 A! k f; L6 L4 mRichard J. Brennan0 V# q6 S! Q7 N/ X' R4 J
National Affairs Writer 3 C+ e% Z& ]9 B0 S% y8 E% \, h
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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.8 P$ O4 a% f: }# P# U' U
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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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Kenney 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.& @7 W! s" Y4 A+ u- F4 m
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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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* K: X' X: A4 a) l5 K5 F) l2 \“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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; b+ `6 m+ q% M8 F. \They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.* O& [1 | {3 g/ y" t
+ O# |5 R" U, J" ]) y) _. X& bCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.8 K- M f3 Y" ~
, R' |% s8 l$ B* M4 w$ dMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.% d" A/ k; v, I4 Q0 `2 w
) V- d p, C, G( k2 [Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.8 l+ r( N$ k, y% [- _5 `
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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.
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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.6 h4 Z% I' j7 {8 T
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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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