The US Department of Justice has charged 11 people over an alleged multimillion-dollar operation that helped hundreds of Chinese nationals obtain permanent residency through fraudulent marriages to American citizens.
According to court documents and federal officials, the alleged scheme was operated from New York and involved arranging sham marriages between immigrants seeking green cards and US citizens who were paid to participate.
Authorities said some American citizens received as much as $30,000 to enter into the fake marriages, while those seeking residency were reportedly charged up to $100,000 per application.
Officials estimate that the operation generated tens of millions of dollars and may have facilitated more than 1,000 fraudulent marriages over a period of about 10 years.
The Justice Department described the case as one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in US history.
“This scheme was not a quick, fly-by-night operation but rather a yearslong, multibillion dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not, or legally could not, otherwise become citizens of the United States,” Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters.
Investigators allege that the defendants recruited US citizens before arranging marriages designed to appear genuine. In some cases, participants allegedly staged family photographs at restaurants and other locations to create evidence of legitimate relationships.
The group allegedly went on to assist the immigrants with applications for lawful permanent residency.
Blanche said such operations undermine the integrity of the US immigration system.
“These schemes have real cost. They rob our country of its ability to know who should be and who should not be allowed in America,” he said.
The 11 defendants, who include individuals accused of officiating some of the sham weddings, were named in an indictment filed in New York.
It was not immediately known whether the defendants had secured lawyers who could comment on the allegations.
The prosecution comes as the administration of President Donald Trump continues to tighten immigration enforcement and increase scrutiny of both legal and illegal pathways into the United States.
