Lawrenceville man sentenced for immigration fraud

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 48-year-old Lawrenceville man was sent to prison Monday for his role in operating a English-language school that was used as a front to let immigrants live here illegally.

Songwoo Shim was sentenced to 3 years and 10 months in prison for conspiring to induce aliens to live her illegally and for manufacturing fraudulent visa documents. Shim pleaded guilty to the federal charges on June 4.

Humana Language Learning Center claimed to be an English-language school for Korean-speaking students, prosecutors said. A second defendant in the case, Young Park, 36, of Duluth, also pleaded guilty and on Aug. 11 was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison.

Immigration fraud “creates a vulnerability that may enable terrorists, criminals, and illegal aliens to enter and remain in the United States,” said Kenneth Smith, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s office in Atlanta. “ICE will not tolerate this flagrant violation of law and will continue to bring these violators to justice.”