US flags pattern of visa abuse linked to Pakistani nationals

Pakistani immigrants who have been recently banned from seeking US visas have a problematic history of misusing the immigration process, such as submitting fraudulent applications, entering into sham marriages, concealing criminal histories, and even plotting terrorist attacks.

A key conspirator of the horrendous 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, had migrated to the US from Pakistan, highlighting how lawful US immigration pathways were exploited by terror networks. The convicted conspirator, David Coleman Headley, a person of Pakistani-origin, weaponised the credibility of US citizenship to avoid suspicion during visa applications and border checks.  

Pakistani national Shahawar Matin Siraj, who was jailed for conspiring to plant bombs in New York City in 2007, had entered the US seeking asylum and then overstayed. Siraj had overstayed the visa due to a lack of monitoring. The perpetrator of the 2010 Times Square bomb attempt was Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani, who had immigrated to the US and later got citizenship. Faisal entered the US using a student visa, and he got permanent residency by marrying a US citizen. He then used the US visa to visit different terror groups in Pakistan and get bomb-making training before he tried to set off a bomb in Times Square.  

Public policy expert Janice Kephart highlighted how Pakistani citizens took undue advantage of the US immigration system. “It reveals a familiar pattern of a terrorist easily taking advantage of weak spots in America’s immigration system. Shahzad was admitted long before 9/11, but the openings he exploited are still in place today,” said Kephart, a former National Security Director at the Centre for Immigration Studies. “Becoming a US citizen did not require Shahzad to give up his Pakistani passport; this can be useful in concealing long periods of travel to countries like Pakistan without drawing the attention of immigration inspectors at US ports of entry upon return.”

Pakistani Ijaz Khan immigrated to the US and became a citizen through a sham marriage. He used fraudulent documents to get a US visa. However, he did not stop there; he petitioned for immigration benefits for his Pakistani wife, children, mother, and brother, leading to wider abuse of the US laws. He was later found to be involved in smuggling Pakistani artefacts. “Khan was convicted today by a federal jury for multiple crimes, including his role in a conspiracy to smuggle ancient artefacts into the United States from Pakistan,” read a release by the Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Virginia.

A Pakistani woman named Amna Cheema had pleaded guilty in 2017 to the charge of running a fraud scheme. Another Pakistani woman misused the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) after her plans to get a Green Card using a fiancée visa. A Pakistani national named Islam Shah married a US citizen to get into the US by submitting fraudulent documents to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  He was charged for marriage fraud to evade immigration laws. 

In 2025, two Pakistani nationals named Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir were arrested by the US authorities in connection with visa fraud and money laundering. “Murshid and Nasir, both originally from Pakistan, were charged in the Northern District of Texas. Charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Murshid was also charged with unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship and Nasir with attempting to unlawfully obtain US citizenship,” said USCIS.   

Muhammad Chaudhry entered the US in 1998 on B-2 visitor visa, but he kept his criminal history undisclosed from the American authorities. He lied about his past and furnished false information to immigration authorities. The Pakistani national was finally arrested recently for violating federal immigration law and is placed into removal proceedings. “President Trump and Secretary Noem have been clear: there is no place in the US for illegal alien criminals. ICE will continue to enforce the law across the country,” stated the US Homeland Security Department.