Sanctuary‑enabled Transnational Fraud

Updated: 2026.01.13 16D ago 1 sources
Foreign organized‑crime crews exploit jurisdictional frictions—sanctuary policies, patchy extradition, and fragmented enforcement—to run roaming fraud operations (credit‑card cloning, elder scams, fake‑charity procurement) that rapidly move victims, stolen funds, and personnel along interstate and international corridors. Because prosecutions are slow, and immigration cooperation limited in some places, these groups treat parts of the U.S. as low‑risk, high‑reward operating terrain. — If true at scale, this creates a cross‑cutting policy challenge linking payments regulation, immigration cooperation, local policing practices, and anti‑terror finance work, requiring coordinated federal‑state international responses rather than siloed local prosecutions.

Sources

Foreign Fraud Gangs Are Ripping Off West Coast States
Christopher F. Rufo 2026.01.13 100% relevant
The City Journal interview with a veteran West‑Coast detective describing Romanian card‑theft crews, SIM‑swap tactics, courier cash pick‑ups up I‑5, and a claim that some Minnesota fraud proceeds reached Al‑Shabaab.
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