Canada’s handling of a refugee claimant’s case exposes cracks in our immigration screening process, an expert says.
Source: Botched handling of gangster refugee claimant exposes Canada’s screening weaknesses | CBC News
Abdullahi Hashi Farah’s candid confession about his gangster past clearly impressed the Immigration and Refugee Board officer who presided over his first detention hearing on Nov. 1, 2017.
Caught while crossing the border illegally near Emerson, Man., the 27-year-old Somali citizen readily told the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers he had an extensive criminal record, had been a Somali Outlaws gang member in Minneapolis and was fleeing an arrest warrant for parole violation.
Farah insisted, however, that he had only been a gang member for two years, and had quit the criminal life eight years earlier.
At the detention hearing, the CBSA strongly recommended Farah be detained a few more days until it received his full criminal record from the U.S. But Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) member Trent Cook clearly placed more weight on Farah’s admission about his background than on the agency’s suspicion about the degree of his criminality.
“One of the biggest factors that play in your particular situation is your character,” Cook said.
“In my estimation, you are probably one of the most honest detainees that I have ever come across,” he said, noting Farah had acted “contrary” to his own interests by offering up his criminal history and gang ties.
“What this indicates to me is that you are, based on your character and behaviour, very likely to pursue all of your immigration matters in Canada with the same diligence and honesty as you have demonstrated in your interview.”
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‘Co-operating witness’ in sex-trafficking case
Retired Homeland Security agent Tony Langeland burst out laughing when he was read the statement about Farah being one of the most honest detainees the IRB officer had ever encountered.
“I had a lot of interaction with him,” Langeland said. “He is definitely not the most honest person I have ever met.
“But he is a criminal and he is involved in a whole lot of shit.”
Retired Homeland Security agent Tony Langeland, Farah’s handler for two years in the U.S., says Farah should never have been released. (CBC News)
Langeland was Farah’s handler for more than two years in Nashville after he became a “co-operating witness” in the sex-trafficking case.
He describes Farah as a self-serving liar and recalcitrant criminal.
“He is manipulative,” Langeland said, who he also knew Farah by his gang name, Grey Goose. “He is never, never going to go beyond what is best for him in any circumstance.”
More at source
