Some would-be American immigrants are paying to get robbed
Police say this is to get access to visas for victims of crime
From the security-camera footage last July, it looks terrifying. Masked men burst into a liquor store in Bucktown, a wealthy neighbourhood in Chicago, pointing guns. Customers stick their hands up, as one gunman waves his weapon furiously. Suddenly, the employee behind the counter disappears, as shards of glass or liquid fill the screen. He has been shot in the stomach. The robbers flee in a stolen Kia car. “They said, give us all of the money,” said Diptesh Patel, the business’s owner, in an interview to local TV news.
Explore more
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “U bet”
United States May 25th 2024
- Rural white voters in Wisconsin could decide America’s election
- What the cases of Robert Menendez and Henry Cuellar have in common
- How the NFL keeps fans transfixed even when there are no games
- Time is running out to fix America’s student-aid mess
- Fewer migrants are crossing America’s southern border
- Some would-be American immigrants are paying to get robbed
- Politics is the law in Texas
More from United States
Pam Bondi seems like a relatively safe pair of hands
But is America’s next attorney-general an independent operator?
Checks and Balance newsletter: Joe Biden’s farewell shot at the oligarchy
The outgoing president warns of a new “tech-industrial complex”
A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction
Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is
Joe Biden wound up serving Donald Trump
In some ways, his administration will look less like an interregnum than like MAGA-lite
How bad will the smoke be for Angelenos’ health?
Expect more sickness and disrupted schooling
Should you have to prove your age before watching porn?
America’s Supreme Court weighs a Texan law aimed at protecting kids