India’s Enforcement Directorate reports they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and entities in Mumbai accused of illegally trafficking Indian students across the Canada-U.S. border.

A multi-city search has turned up incriminating proof of human trafficking, according to the Enforcement Directorate, a multidisciplinary agency that looks into money laundering and foreign currency regulations.

Following the discovery of 39-year-old Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, his wife, and two children dead on January 19, 2022, close to a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States, Indian officials said they began their investigation.

Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national who was apprehended in Chicago, were convicted guilty of four counts of human trafficking last month by a Minnesota jury for bringing illegal immigrants into the country for financial gain.

According to the prosecution, Shand was a driver responsible for picking up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border, while Harshkumar Patel oversaw a complex operation. Seven people made it via the foot crossing.

Later that morning, the RCMP discovered the Patel family dead from the cold.

Canada’s Student Visa Program

This week, Indian authorities opened an inquiry after a complaint was made against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel for allegedly organizing the family’s trip. According to officials, each family member should have paid between $93,000 and $102,000 to enter the United States from Canada.

According to the Enforcement Directorate, Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel allegedly assisted Indian people in obtaining student visas by arranging their admission to Canadian universities.

Once in Canada, the individuals crossed the U.S.-Canada border illegally rather than enrolling in college. After that, the money paid for the college entrance was given back.

The Enforcement Directorate reported one entity referred over 25,000 students, while another institution referred over 10,000 students annually to different colleges. The people trafficking scheme is associated with over 112 Canadian colleges.

The announcement of the Indian probe coincides with diplomatic difficulties with India, a federal reconsideration of international student policy, and border security issues with the United States.

Threats from Trump

If the Trudeau administration does not adequately combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to levy tariffs on Canadian goods.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s new finance minister, and Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, visited Florida on Thursday to discuss trade and border security with the incoming U.S. president.

Before that, in October (new window), Canada expelled six Indian ambassadors on charges that they had used their position to gather information about Canadians and then given it to criminal gangs, who then went after the individuals directly.

Canada also claimed at the time that India’s home affairs minister had directed intelligence-gathering activities (new window) against Sikh separatists who wanted to separate India into an independent nation of Khalistan.

Source: The Press in Canada

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(VOR News) – Federal officials said on Friday that the United States experienced a significant rise in homelessness this year, totaling 18.1%, mostly attributed to a lack of affordable housing, severe natural disasters, and an influx of migrants in various areas of the country.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that federally mandated counts conducted nationwide in January indicated that over 770,000 individuals were categorized as homeless;

However, this statistic does not account for certain individuals or those residing with friends or family due to a lack of personal housing. This increase follows a 12% rise in 2023, which HUD ascribed to the cessation of pandemic assistance and soaring rents.

In 2023, newly homeless individuals also contributed to a surge in homelessness.

The data reveals that 23 per 10,000 Americans are homeless, with a disproportionately elevated rate of Black individuals affected by homelessness.

HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman asserted that the focus must remain on “evidence-based initiatives to prevent and eradicate homelessness,” emphasizing that “no American should experience homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to guaranteeing that every family has access to affordable, safe, and quality housing.”

A roughly 40% rise in family homelessness, significantly affected by the surge of migrants in major urban areas, was among the most concerning trends.

HUD reports that family homelessness rose by under 8% in 373 towns, while it more than quadrupled in 13 communities affected by migration, including Denver, Chicago, and New York City. In 2024, around 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night, representing a 33% rise compared to the prior year.

The rise in the number was also affected by calamities, notably the catastrophic Maui wildfire that transpired last year, marking the deadliest wildfire in the United States in nearly a century. During the census night, more than 5,200 individuals were accommodated in emergency shelters in Hawaii.

Renee Willis, the incoming interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, stated that “the tragic, yet foreseeable, result of insufficient investment in the resources and protections that assist individuals in securing and sustaining safe, affordable housing is a rise in homelessness.”

“The incidence is increasing as individuals grapple with exorbitant housing expenses, as cautioned by advocates, researchers, and those with firsthand experience.”

These statistics support more communities cracking down on homelessness.

Communities, especially in Western states, have started implementing camping regulations in response to the often perilous and unsanitary tent encampments.

This follows the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision last year that banning outdoor camping does not contravene the Eighth Amendment. Proponents for the homeless said that penalizing individuals in need of shelter would render homelessness a criminal offense.

Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End, stated, “The reduction in veteran homelessness provides a definitive framework for tackling homelessness more broadly.”

We can replicate this success and reduce homelessness nationwide with bipartisan backing, adequate funding, and strategic policy measures. Federal investments are crucial to tackling the nation’s housing affordability crisis and ensuring that all Americans have access to secure, stable housing.

The population of homeless individuals has effectively diminished in several major urban areas.

Dallas’ systemically changing homeless population dropped 16% from 2022 to 2024.

Since 2023, unsheltered  in Los Angeles has diminished by 5%, resulting in an increase in housing availability for the homeless.

The highest population of homeless individuals in the United States is located in California, the most populous state, followed by New York, Washington, Florida, and Massachusetts.

The United States has had almost a decade of success, which stands in stark contrast to the significant increase in homelessness observed in the past two years.

According to the original 2007 research, the United States made steady progress in reducing homelessness for approximately a decade, with the government particularly focusing on increasing money to assist veterans in securing housing. From 2010 to 2017, the population of homeless individuals declined from about 637,000 to approximately 554,000.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress implemented emergency rental assistance, stimulus money, support for states and local governments, and a temporary eviction moratorium, resulting in a modest increase to approximately 580,000 in the 2020 figure, which remained relatively consistent over the subsequent two years.

SOURCE: USN

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(VOR News) – A number of financial firms and industry associations have taken legal action against the Federal Reserve of the United States in reaction to the annual stress tests that are administered to banks.

In addition to the American Bankers Association, the Ohio Bankers League, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, and the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Bank Policy Institute, which is a group that represents large financial institutions such as JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, is joining the other organizations in filing the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs have said that the purpose of the action is to “resolve longstanding legal violations by subjecting the stress test process to public input as required by federal law.”

The Federal Reserve litigation aims to achieve this goal.

Despite the fact that the organizations have said that they do not have a negative stance on stress testing, they are of the opinion that the method that is now being utilized is insufficient and “produces vacillating and unexplained requirements and restrictions on bank capital.”

It is standard procedure for the Federal Reserve to carry out a stress test on an annual basis. This test ensures that financial institutions have adequate reserves to cover the risk of bad loans and establishes the maximum amount of share repurchases and dividends that can be distributed.

After the market closed on Monday, the Federal Reserve issued a statement indicating that it is considering adjustments to the stress tests applied to banks.

Additionally, the Federal Reserve will seek public feedback on “significant changes to improve the transparency of its bank stress tests and to reduce the volatility of resulting capital buffer requirements.”

This information was included in the announcement. As a result of “the evolving legal landscape,” the Federal Reserve claimed that it had made the choice to modify the tests. This statement was made in reference to the changes that have taken place in administrative laws over the course of the past several years.

There were no particular modifications that were described in this paper that were provided to the framework of the yearly stress testing before it was implemented. There is a likelihood that the revisions will be regarded as a win by the major banks; yet, it is possible that those modifications will be too little, too late.

Furthermore, it is possible that the revisions will not go far enough to satisfy the concerns of the banks regarding onerous capital requirements. This is a possibility.

The Federal Reserve says the changes will not materially affect capital requirements.

It was stated in a statement that was issued by Greg Baer, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of the Philippines, that “The Board’s announcement today is a first step towards transparency and accountability.”

Baer expressed his support for the Federal Reserve’s action. The statement issued by Baer, on the other hand, was a veiled allusion to additional actions. He stated, “We are reviewing it closely and considering additional options to ensure timely reforms that are both good law and good policy.”

The British Bankers Association (BPI) and the American Bankers Association (ABA) are two examples of organizations that have voiced their concerns in the past about the stress test procedure.

The aforementioned organizations have argued that the process is not transparent and has resulted in increasing capital rules, which have a detrimental effect on the lending practices of banks and the expansion of the economy.

The groups claimed in July that the Federal Reserve had broken the Administrative Procedure Act by not asking for public comment on its stress scenarios and by maintaining strict confidentiality about supervising models. Both of these acts were claimed to have happened.

SOURCE: CNBC

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