On August 12, the US Department of Justice unsealed charges against 11 individuals accused of orchestrating nearly 1,000 fake marriages over a decade, primarily to help Chinese nationals obtain legal residency in the United States, according to Reuters.

The indictment, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that foreign nationals paid up to $100,000 each to a group of six "brokers" to arrange marriages with US citizens and secure legal status. US citizens were reportedly paid up to $30,000 to participate in the sham marriages.

The scheme's participants allegedly assisted the newlyweds in filing paperwork with the US Department of Homeland Security to obtain lawful permanent resident status, thereby defrauding the immigration system.

US Attorney Todd Blanche described the scheme as "one of the largest marriage fraud cases in US history," stating that it demonstrates "what people are willing to do to cheat our immigration system."

The case comes just a week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at curbing "birth tourism." This is Trump's second attempt to restrict birthright citizenship. On June 30, the US Supreme Court rejected an executive order signed by Trump on Inauguration Day that would have denied automatic citizenship to individuals born to non-citizens.

The State Department has announced it is monitoring visa holders' movements to combat women traveling to the US solely to give birth and secure citizenship for their children.

Source: www.gazeta.uz