The Department of Justice has charged almost a dozen people with taking part in a multimillion-dollar conspiracy to help hundreds of Chinese nationals obtain green cards thru bogus marriages to US citizens, officials said Wednesday.
According to court documents, American citizens were paid up to $30,000 to enter into fraudulent marriages with aliens seeking lawful permanent residence status as part of a New York-based conspiracy. According to officials, the defendants charged up to $100,000 for each green card, netting tens of millions of dollars over the course of the decade-long operation.
Authorities said they believe the organization organized over 1,000 bogus nuptials, making it one of the greatest 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,” Todd Blanche told reporters.
The allegations come amid the Trump administration’s limits on both legal and illegal immigration, which have aimed to limit who may enter the country or become citizens.
According to police, after recruiting US citizens, the defendants would create phony marriages and, in some cases, images of families at restaurants to make them appear authentic. The defendants would then guide the immigrants via the lawful permanent status application process.
“These systems have significant costs. “They deprive our country of the ability to determine who should and should not be allowed in America,” Blanche remarked.
An indictment filed in New York charges 11 defendants, including those accused of presiding at the phony nuptials. It was unclear Wednesday whether they had lawyers speaking on their behalf.
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