US charges 11 in $100K-per-person scheme arranging 1,000 sham marriages for Chinese nationals

The US Justice Department has announced charges against 11 individuals involved in a decade-long scheme to arrange approximately 1,000 sham marriages, primarily involving Chinese nationals, according to court documents. The indictment, unsealed in Manhattan federal court, reveals that foreign nationals paid up to six facilitators $100,000 each to be matched with a US citizen and gain legal residency.

In return, US citizens were paid up to $30,000 to consent to these marriages, as stated in the indictment. Following the marriages, participants facilitated the newlyweds' submission of paperwork to the US Department of Homeland Security, enabling the Chinese nationals to become lawful permanent residents. Attorney General Todd Blanche characterized the scheme as "one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in US history," emphasizing the lengths people will go to defraud the immigration system.

The announcement comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at restricting birth tourism, following the US Supreme Court's ruling in favor of broad citizenship rights for babies born in the United States. Additionally, the State Department has initiated efforts to review activities of visa holders in an effort to crack down on women coming to the US solely to acquire citizenship for their child.