Asylum-seeker fraud often goes undetected, report shows

BOSTON – Asylum seekers who fraudulently claim persecution in their home countries may easily escape discovery by U.S. immigration authorities, according to a report from the investigative arm of Congress. Agencies charged with ferreting out phony stories "have limited capabilities to detect asylum fraud," the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, said in a study released Wednesday. While both Justice Department and Homeland Security agencies "have mechanisms to investigate fraud in individ

BOSTON – Asylum seekers who fraudulently claim persecution in their home countries may easily escape discovery by U.S. immigration authorities, according to a report from the investigative arm of Congress. Agencies charged with ferreting out phony stories "have limited capabilities to detect asylum fraud," the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, said in a study released Wednesday. While both Justice Department and Homeland Security agencies "have mechanisms to investigate fraud in individ…