WHY ARE THEY HERE? – AT 7:10 P.M. ET:  A remarkable case of immigration fraud is emerging on the West Coast.  It may go beyond fraud, as immigration officials want to know why certain individuals are actually in this country.  From Fox;

Daniel Higgins doesn't look like a Middle Eastern student, but officials say he routinely portrayed himself as one for almost a decade, getting paid up to $1,500 per student to attend their classes and take exams so they could keep their visas current and remain in the U.S.

Officials say that records seized from Higgins' home in Laguna Niguel, Calif., show that more than 100 students from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates hired him to do their classwork and take their tests.

Higgins, 46, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit immigration fraud when he appeared in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana on Monday.

Six others -- Mohammed Alnuaim, Abdullah Alhogail, Khalid Almenaibi, Saeed Alfalahi, Ibrahim Almansoori and Mohamed Almehairi -- were also arrested Monday and appeared with Higgins before a U.S. magistrate. All were charged with immigration fraud.

"This is unique and not something we have seen in the past," said Jorge Guzman, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We don't know the motive of these men coming from these countries, why they were here or why they were not attending classes."

And...

Sources said they do not know if any of the men are considered national security threats, but several are "persons of interest."

COMMENT:  This is certainly worth following.  Recall that the terrorists who plunged planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9-11 went to flight schools in the United States, and asked for instruction in flying, but not in takeoffs or landings.  Now we have guys from the Middle East who come here for degrees, yet don't want to go to class or take tests.  Hmm.  Requires investigation.

March 8, 2010