Between 20 to 30 percent of all immigration applications are suspected of fraud, warns the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress. Senior immigration officials admitted those numbers could actually be 50 to 75 percent, according to the former counsel for the 9/11 Commission. (Sources: U.S. Government Accountability Office, Janice Kephart (interview), Center for Immigration Studies)
Get the FACTS on immigration fraud …Time Square bomber, Faisal
Shahzad, was granted U.S. citizenship despite a quickie marriage
and being under
investigation by the Joint Terrorism
Task Force. Two of Shahzad’s
suspected accomplices are also under
investigation for marriage fraud.
Post-Sept. 11, Islamic radicals still push recruits to marry Americans and Europeans for immigration papers, according to transcripts from Italian police and intelligence.
(Source: Center for Immigration Studies)
See what immigration fraud CASES look like …Despite warnings, lax immigration laws remain unchanged. Marriage remains the most common and easiest way to get a green card in the United States.
Get the FACTS on immigration fraud …In a 2006 USA Today piece, Elena Maria Lopez revealed that only 1 percent of green-card marriages are investigated despite worries that anywhere from 30 to 75 percent are fraudulent. The Department of Homeland Security promptly responded to Lopez’s story by halting the release of new marriage-based and fraud-related investigative immigration data.
Find out more about WHO WROTE THIS SITE …
Provisions provide fast-track immigration status for foreign
spouses that make unsubstantiated claims of emotional or physical abuse --
without any evidence whatsoever or obligation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate bogus
claims. Designed to help real domestic violence victims, the Violence Against
Women Act (“VAWA”) provisions are now the biggest loophole for quick green
cards and U.S. citizenship.
Americans threatened and abused at the hands of their foreign spouses urge Congress to eliminate the loophole and provide equal protections for U.S. citizen spouses.
Find out more about POLICY issues ...
Contact U.S. House and U.S. Senate members
Work with victims’
advocacy groups to change
the laws
Report fraud: Call (866) 347-2423 or (800) 375-5283
Find out more about Elena Maria Lopez and her story ...
LOPEZ'S PERSONAL STORY & MANUSCRIPT
What does a woman do when her new husband suddenly admits he married her for a green card – then attacks her and threatens to kill her if she ever contacts authorities? Despite her husband's continuous threats, even at gunpoint, law enforcement and immigration officials repeatedly refuse to help.
Left to her own devices and on the verge of a mental breakdown, she does the only thing she knows how to maintain her safety and her sanity. She investigates …