Illegal Immigrants Being Taken Advantage of by Fake Native American Tribes!
Two non-federally recognized American Indian tribes are advertising to illegal immigrants and selling memberships into their tribes starting at the bargain basement price of only $50. The tribes are falsely claiming to the immigrants that they can avoid deportation and hassles with federal immigration authorities by joining and thereby achieving legal status in the United States.
"You can't just decide to become a member of a tribe and all of a sudden legalize your status," said Marilu Cabrera of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Numerous complaints about The Kaweah Indian Nation tribe have been filed in at least 5 states, prompting a federal investigation. Some immigrants in Nebraska have reportedly given the tribe up to $1,200 for their membership in hopes of achieving legal status.
Manuel Urbina, the high chief of The Kaweah Indian Nation tribe, admits that the group has sold approximately 10,000 memberships to illegal immigrants. However, he says that the memberships were sold for only around $50 and not $1,200. Urbina insists that the Kaweah tribe operates within the law.
According to Urbina, membership in the tribe and the membership documentation provided by the tribe can prevent illegal immigrants from being deported or detained by immigration officials when they are in a position to be asked for documentation of their status.
In Florida, one man has been operating a Web site that sells similar tribal memberships for $150 each. This man says that so far he has sold about 2,000 memberships in the Pembina Nation Little Shell tribe to illegal immigrants.
the Florida man sold some 2,000 memberships to the North Dakota-based Pembina Nationa Little Shalle tribe--through a web site, at $150 per membership.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs says that Little Shell is not a legitimate tribe. They report that this group applied for federal recognition in North Dakota during the 1970s, but the tribal representatives never followed through with the application process for recognition.
The Kaweah Indian Nation was denied recognition by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1985 because it is not a legitimate Native American tribe. Authorities say that the authentic Kaweah Indian tribe did actually exist, but the group that applied for federal recognition is not the same tribe.
The Kaweah group has been called a total sham
