http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/16237804.htm

With this ring ...?
Star-Telegram

If the goal is protecting marriage, state Sen. Jane Nelson's marriage-license perjury penalty won't enhance the sanctity of the institution.

If the goal is deterring illegal immigration, the proposal won't improve detection of sham unions.

The measure might put a burden on local prosecutors, jails and probation officers, plus the state prison system. That is, of course, if the Legislature were to provide the resources to police a new criminal offense.

But here's why lawmakers should not even approve this bill, much less devote funding to it.

Nelson, a Republican from Lewisville, would have Texas law require marriage license applicants to swear in writing that they aren't marrying to circumvent immigration laws and that they aren't getting paid to enter into such a charade. Lying on the application would be perjury, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

There's no denying that marriage fraud involving immigrants is a problem -- often a lucrative one -- with U.S. citizens sometimes traveling to foreign countries to bring back "spouses" who pay fees ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

But federal law already makes it a crime for a U.S. citizen or an immigrant to seek legal documents under the pretense of being married.

The violations could include marriage fraud, making false statements, misuse of visas and inducing aliens to enter the country illegally. And U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been policing the problem in conjunction with other federal agencies.

Some examples in 2005: 22 people were arrested in Iowa in a scheme involving Kenyan immigrants; 12 people were indicted in Chicago in a scheme involving Lithuanians; 30 people in South Florida were implicated in a ring involving illegal immigrants from South and Central American countries, Israel, Germany and Peru; and 44 people were indicted in California in a scheme involving Chinese and Vietnamese nationals.

In 2005, The Washington Post reported on the arrest of a hot dog vendor suspected of arranging 100 bogus marriages for Middle Eastern men.

This year, ICE has reported cracking down on sham marriage schemes in Washington state and Salt Lake City involving Vietnamese nationals, and in New York and Florida involving immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago.

In a March report, the Government Accountability Office said there is "an ongoing and serious problem" of immigration fraud that includes phony marriages but also other applications for which fraudulent birth certificates, financial statements, organizational charts, employee resumes and college transcripts are submitted. Immigrants have tried to enter the United States by falsely claiming to be a religious worker, a performer, a band member, a race car driver, a business executive and a diplomat's domestic employee.

The GAO said that 20,000 applications were denied because of fraud in 2005 -- 36 percent of those were for temporary work authorization, 30 percent were for permanent residency, and 14 percent sought permission for a spouse to immigrate.

The GAO recommended that ICE take a number of steps to improve enforcement against immigration fraud, including imposing fines (already allowed under federal law) for violations that aren't prosecuted.

Adding a couple of true-false boxes to Texas marriage license applications won't facilitate that improvement. But it would tax local criminal justice personnel -- if it's enforced at all.

A separate part of Nelson's bill might be worth considering, however.

It would put an up-to-date database of marriages, divorces and annulments online so that applicants' names can be searched to make sure they aren't already married. A $5 fee on applications would help offset the cost.

That's a functional tool that would aid fraud detection of all kinds. It would serve the public interest far more than an unnecessary expansion of perjury that largely serves anti-immigrant sentiment.