Wedding Bells and Illegal Immigrants

by Joe Guzzardi
April 29, 2011

About 20 years ago, when I began my California teaching career as an adult English as a second language instructor, a woman approached me with a proposal. Would I be willing to marry her cousin, an alien living in a nearby town? The deal’s rough outline was that the woman and I would meet and assuming we were agreeable, I’d receive $5,000 up front and, once she got her green card, I’d get the final $5,000 installment.

Since marriage fraud is illegal, I turned the offer down flat. But I’m certain that another candidate was soon recruited. Today the once eager bride-to-be could be a United States citizen. She’s probably no longer married though since the pattern in arranged fraudulent marriages is that once both parties have what they’re looking for—money for the male and legal residence for the female–their relationship abruptly ends.

Marriage fraud is nothing new. But it’s on the rise. Three separate cases in April, one each in Maine, Kentucky and California, prove that scam artists can always con the unsuspecting and bilk them out of thousands with the false promise that American citizenship lies just around the corner.

First, in Maine, Torri Roy Patterson is one of nearly a dozen people sentenced for her part in a scheme to set up bogus marriages involving local residents and illegal immigrants. Patterson operated a family crime ring that involved her husband, sister and mother. When she recruited people Patterson, according to the prosecution, “helped arrange the time, location and logistics for the marriages, attended and witnessed the ceremonies, and received money for her role.” Patterson attended at least seven marriages and signed certificates for three.

Second, in Kentucky, a Louisville U.S. District Court unsealed a 10-count indictment charging 23 people with conspiracy to facilitate sham marriages that involved American citizens and Cambodian nationals. As part of Kentucky’s elaborate scheme, U.S. citizens were paid $500 to $1,000. According to the indictment, at least one person also had sex with two young Cambodian girls while others, in a novel form of compensation, received discounted service at nearby nail salons. U.S. citizens flew to Cambodia where staged pictures were taken at beaches and tourist attractions to give the appearance of an ongoing relationship. Then, immigration documents were filled out and forwarded to the U.S. consulate where they were processed.

Third, a Yorba Linda, CA. family which ran an immigration “consulting business” were charged with filing unlawful marriage documents and work visas for their foreign clients. Some paid up to $60,000. The family recruited unemployed and low income citizens as potential spouses.

Since there’s no shortage in the United States of illegal immigrants, unemployed Americans or shady types, it’s not surprising that the three have merged in nefarious schemes that offer something for everyone, at least until ICE shows up. What would slow the trend down is if the maximum sentences were imposed instead of the typical slap on the wrist fines. In Maine, Kentucky and California, penalties range up to $250,000 with five-year jail terms. But Patterson, for example, only got six-months.

The consequences of marriage fraud, citizenship for those who don’t deserve it, must be more painful for the perpetrators. As U.S. District Judge John Woodcock told Patterson “It has been said that there is no more honorable title in this world than citizen of the United States. It is prized by people all over the globe, but it wasn’t prized by you. You sold it for a few pieces of gold.”

Joe Guzzardi has written editorial columns—mostly about immigration and related social issues – since 1986. He’s a senior writing fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) and his columns have frequently been syndicated in various U.S. newspapers and websites. He can be reached at [email protected].