What is your wife’s name? Does she have a tattoo? What kind of deodorant does she use? Does she dye her hair often? Does she wear a lot of jewelry? How do you have sex? Why don’t you have any children? Does she take The Pill? Whom do you live with? Where do her parents live?
Jorge Navarro managed to answer the majority of these questions correctly, though he made one critical mistake—he said his wife took birth control pills. In a small room of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) offices at 26 Federal Plaza, Navarro’s wife, Diane Mercado, answered that she and her husband used condoms for birth control. Even after extensive prep-work, Jorge still said that his wife’s family lived in Queens, although she answered that they lived in her native Puerto Rico.
Jorge, 28, is Mexican man who lives in Washington Heights. He was smuggled across the border by a coyote more than 10 years ago. He was later arrested for fraud when he married the friend of a friend of his brother-in-law for a green card. The marriage also cost him some $25,000 over the course of several years, which he paid to his wife because, according to Jorge, he was afraid of losing his chance at a green card and, “I was either too innocent or too stupid not to.” Abuse like this is common, including cases of domestic violence and intimidation against those who pay between $7,000 and $10,000 to wed a United States citizen, hoping for a green card and a better future.
Today, Jorge says that he must avoid getting into trouble with the law while he waits for his petition for residency to be processed. Jorge’s brother, now a citizen, filed a case on his brother’s behalf after Jorge was detained for marital fraud. What Jorge does not know is that once the INS discovers this type of fraud, they prohibit any kind of petition for future residency.
Although his relatives believe he should get married again, Jorge won’t hear of it. “I don’t recommend marrying for business,” he said.
Jorge’s brother, who also married in hopes of getting a green card, was more fortunate. Of the more than 200 questions that the INS asks to determine the validity of a marriage between a non-resident and a resident or citizen, Jorge’s brother was only asked one: How long have you been married? The immigration official, who arrived late to the final interview, quickly stamped Jorge’s brother’s passport and congratulated the newlyweds.
Every year, more than 160,000 U.S. citizens marry foreigners and immigrants petitioning for permanent residence. According to INS statistics, in 1997 112,734 people changed their immigration status by marrying U.S. citizens. Of these, 60,096 came from North America, including Mexico, and 13,162 from South and Central America.
The percentage of these marriages that are fraudulent—that is to say not founded on love—is difficult to determine. “It’s impossible to say which marriages are fake and which are real, including those that begin as fakes and end up real,” said immigration lawyer Jesús Peña.
The estimates vary drastically. One INS report from the 1980s puts the number of fraudulent marriages at 30 percent. However according to data found in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, fraudulent marriages account for only 8 percent.
Another INS study reports that in 1994, 96,033 couples petitioned for residency and 90,234 got it. In other words, 94 percent of these marriages were deemed valid, while only 717 were fraudulent. The remaining 5,790 cases were closed because the parties did not file to renew residency. These statistics are the most current—1994 was the last year that the INS systematically compiled this information.
New York INS spokesperson Mark Thorn says that marital fraud is considered equal to all other types of fraud. In 2001, the INS investigated 3,721 cases of fraud. Of these, 397 were tried and 214 were imprisoned.
These numbers may seem low to someone who has a popular understanding of the issue. According to Jorge, at least one person on every block in Washington Heights has been deported for marital fraud. Newark, N. J. INS investigator Wayne Muller says that, “In Newark, there is a lot of marital fraud in the Latino and Asian communities.” Muller considers this a known fact, and confirms that the INS deals with many cases of alleged marital fraud. “I’m sure it’s similar in New York,” he added.
Since September 11th, the INS has become more vigorous in its prosecution of marital fraud. However, marriage remains a last resort for people who are “desperate and for whom this is the only way to get a social security number and a job,” said Peña. “They have made it very hard for people. Before there was more of this type of fraud; now it is much more limited,” he added.
“Now we make it harder to break the law,” said Muller.
During the interview, the INS looks for factors to indicate an authentic marriage. A “normal” couple is defined as one that has a lot in common, including language and religion. They live together and do things together, such as take vacations at the same time, celebrate holidays together, make love and have children. They also demonstrate a partnership by sharing bank accounts, credit cards, property titles and ownership of houses and cars.
The consequences of fraud are severe and frequently unknown to many immigrants. “If they’re caught, they’re deported,” says Peña. A U.S. citizen involved in marital fraud can receive up to five years in prison and a fine of $25,000.
However, says Claudia Martínez, a domestic worker from Pereira, Colombia, “when you’re drowning you reach out for any branch.” Claudia recently received residency through blood, sweat, and tears after paying $10,000 over five years, almost being deported once, and finally hiring a lawyer. “I didn’t have a chance,” remembers Claudia, but her lawyer and the INS agent “talked like they were old friends,” and Martínez successfully received her green card.
Both Claudia and Jorge emphasize the need to go through a lawyer to obtain residency even though it can be very costly. “Los tinterillos,” as Claudia refers to notary publics, “can fill out your papers all wrong, like what happened to me.”
“There are times when people believe that money is the most important thing in life,” says Claudia. “I am grateful to the United States for the dollars I have earned, but I have paid a very high price,” she adds, remembering her “five years of suffering” that ended with when she was granted permanent residency in the United States.
