A federal grand jury has charged 11 individuals with operating an international marriage fraud scheme that set up more than 1,000 fake ceremonies to obtain fraudulent immigration credentials for foreign nationals, primarily citizens of the People’s Republic of China.
The indictment alleges the ring collected up to $100,000 per victim through a network operating from 2016 to 2026. Participants were paired with U.S. citizens to create sham marriages followed by staged weddings and fabricated evidence of legitimate relationships. Defendants submitted fraudulent Green Card applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), claiming false information in the process.
According to the Justice Department’s report, the scheme operated across 20 states and two countries—including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu, and China. The network included facilitators who recruited foreign nationals, recruiters who identified U.S. citizens, and assistants who prepared immigration documents. Recruiters charged $5,000 per person to join the scheme, with participants receiving up to $30,000 in installments tied to milestones in the Green Card application process.
After ceremonies, defendants created fake evidence through staged photographs, joint financial accounts, tax returns, and insurance policies. The indictment states hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications were submitted by the defendants, and the network is believed to have collected tens of millions of dollars from foreign nationals seeking permanent residency.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s executive order targeting birth tourism—a practice where pregnant women travel to give birth in the U.S. for citizenship—has been implemented. However, federal authorities have not arrested any state or local officials who refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
The order grants the secretary of state authority to block birth tourism by denying visas, but sanctuary officials remain unarrested despite warnings from Border Czar Tom Homan that they could face prosecution under 8 U.S.C. § 1324 for harboring illegal aliens. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi previously threatened such officials with prosecution under multiple federal laws, including 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (bringing in and harboring certain aliens), 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy), and others.
The indictment charges the 11 defendants with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and conspiracy to encourage unlawful residence in the United States, punishable by up to five years in prison for the first count and ten years for the second. The Justice Department has published photographs of the fake marriages as part of its investigation.
