Canadian Immigration Consultant Sentenced In Smuggling Case

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A 38-year-old Windsor woman has been sentenced a five-year scheme to smuggle illegal immigrants into Detroit.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Iram Jafri, a Canadian immigration consultant, on Friday was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine. She pleaded guilty in February.

Federal officials Jafri spent years enriching her bank account by obtaining and selling phony visas to those wanting to live in the U.S.

Visas were obtained fraudulently from 2011 through 2016 for more than 100 people living illegally in the United States, according to officials.

People receiving the documents were instructed to travel to Jafri's company, AJ and Associates, in Canada. She would then accompany the immigrants into Detroit from Windsor, helping them to gain entry with the phony documents. Paperwork requesting non-immigrant professional visas was later submitted for some.

Court records say thousands of dollars were accepted as payment to an immigration consulting firm.

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