Seeing Red: Immigration Agent Exchanged Green Cards For Sexual Favors

Isaac R. Baichu, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in Garden City [Ed. note: Truly, the cradle of Western civilization.], has been charged with coercing oral sex from a 22-year-old Colombian immigrant in exchange for a green card. The woman recorded their entire exchange on her cell phone:

“I want sex,” he said on the recording. “One or two times. That’s all. You get your green card. You won’t have to see me anymore.”

She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex “now,” to “know that you’re serious.” And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.

The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.

Prosecutors have recorded a similar meeting Baichu had with another woman as well and are urging any other women who’ve been violated by Baichu to come forward. Faced with spending seven years in prison if convicted, we think Mr. Baichu, who pleaded not guilty, might just have a chance at eventually getting laid after all.

An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex [NY Times]