Thread: MASS-Feds watching for cases of marriage fraud

Feds watching for cases of marriage fraud
By Maureen Boyle
Sat Jun 13, 2009, 11:48 PM EDT


BROCKTON - A month after getting married, a Brockton police sergeant and a German woman in the country on a 90-day visa waiver filed paperwork that would keep her in the country.

Under the penalty of perjury, cop Lon Elliott — since fired from the department — swore the two lived together and had intended to live together.

Prosecutors now allege that was a lie and part of a plan by a well-known Brockton businesswoman, Maura Carney, to allow the 28-year-old German woman to stay in the country.

Carney, 45, the general manager of the Brockton Fair; Elliott, 47, of Abington; and Lilly Rempel of Taunton are charged in a federal indictment of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and entering into a marriage to evade the immigration laws.

The three appeared in federal court Wednesday and were released on unsecured bonds — the equivalent of personal recognizance. They are set to be arraigned June 19. Conviction on the charges carry prison sentences of up to five years, followed by three years supervised release and $250,000 fines on each count.

The indictment did not offer reasons why — if the allegations are true — the three would agree to the plan. Attempts to reach the defendants’ attorneys Thursday and Friday were unsuccessful.

The case — prompted by a tip forwarded by Brockton police — highlights the closer eye federal officials are keeping foreign nationals trying to stay in the United States and the steps being taken if they believe fraud is involved.

But some, particularly those who are poor, may be willing to take the risk to stay in the country and eventually become citizens, said Eileen Morrison, an immigration attorney in Newtonville.

Those who don’t have the means to go to school here, who aren’t professionals with specialized skills or with family already in the United States may believe marrying a citizen is the only way to stay, she said.

Aliens caught face deportation and, along with the person he or she married, possible federal prosecution.

Morrison said the laws were tightened some years ago because there was the perception there was wide-spread marriage fraud to circumvent the immigration laws.

It exists, she said, but not as much as is thought. “In my practice, in 19 years, I haven’t seen a single case of marriage fraud,â€

I know marriage fraud exists I was asked to marry a friend of a friend from Indonesia. I have also encountered some real marriages among other friends who are here past their expiration date. They know I disapprove on principal of their being here illegally but I can not knock their marriages.

Added to homepage
http://www.alipac.us/article4302.html

[quote]Sarang Sekhavat, federal policy director at Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said marriage fraud is uncommon.

“It is exceedingly rare to see it,â€

MIRA is an illegal aliens lobby which has attempted to co-opt the voice of Massachusetts immigrants generally. It works closely with our current Governor Deval Patrick.

Related:
DHS Suspends Provision Designed to Prevent Marriage Fraud
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... 440#911440

Also related:

"Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name: Inside the Green Card Marriage Phenomenon". According to this November, 2008, report from the Center for Immigration Studies on marriage fraud,

"Marriage to an American citizen remains the most common path to U.S. residency and/or citizenship for foreign nationals, with more than 2.3 million foreign nationals gaining lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in this manner between 1998 and 2007."

http://www.cis.org/marriagefraud