Hungary's passport system is in question after a fraud scheme allowing foreign nationals to enter the U.S. under false identities was uncovered by officials, The Washington Post reported.
The security breach has raised questions about why these peope sought entry into the U.S. under false identities.
“Common reasons for doing this are drug smuggling, organized crime, or illegal immigration,” Stewart Baker, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official, told the Post. “The most troubling reasons would be a well-organized terrorist organization like ISIS or al Qaida might purchase these documents . . . or the Russian spies we kicked out might fly to Ukraine, buy a Hungarian passport and fly back to the U.S.”
According to a DHS document obtained by The Washington Post, 700 non-Hungarians fraudulently obtained authentic Hungarian passports, who assumed the identities of the original passport holders.
More than 80 of them attempted to travel to the U.S. and 65 successfully managed to enter the country via the U.S. visa waiver program, which allows citizens of certain countries into the U.S. without a U.S. visa for up to 90 days.
Authorities have been finding and deporting these people, but declined to specify how many remain at large in the U.S., the Post reported.
Officials believe that criminals may have exploited a Hungarian government program allowing ethnic Hungarians outside the country to obtain citizenship in order to receive authentic passports.
In 2011, a new citizenship law took effect allowing for people identifying themselves as ethnic Hungarians to obtain citizenship without living in Hungary, according to the BBC.
Thousands reportedly jumped to apply.
An unidentified DHS official told The Washington Post that Hungary has identified the appropriate “corrective action,” while Hungary’s Ministry of Interior said that discussions with the DHS are “ongoing” and “specifying data” is part of that.
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