A West Los Angeles man and the Russian national who he married last year were arrested today by federal immigration officials after being charged with marriage fraud for allegedly entering into a sham marriage so the woman could obtain documents that would allow her to remain in the United States.

Officials are after fraudulent marriages. But how do you tell it's a fraud?

According to the indictment, Starnes and others recruited the U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to enter into the sham marriages and promised to pay the U.S. citizens as compensation as follows: $1,000 on the day of the marriage; $1,000 three months after the marriage; $2,000 after the marriage interview with immigration officials; and $1,000 after the foreign born national received his or her permanent resident status. As part of the alleged conspiracy, the U.S. citizens allegedly took steps to further each other's marriage frauds, including attending each others' weddings and posing for photos, knowing the photos would be used to support the legitimacy of the marriages. Starnes also offered advice on how to make marriages appear legitimate, the indictment alleges.

If convicted, each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Terrorists have also been involved in sham marriages, which are attractive because federal law allows an alien who is the spouse of a U.S. citizen to gain lawful permanent residency. However, federal law prohibits marriage fraud, which is defined as a marriage that is entered solely "for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws." A number of terrorists and terror supporters affiliated with al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad used sham marriages. For example, three members of a Hezbollah fundraising cell in Charlotte, North Carolina were involved in sham marriages. Two of the women who married conspirators were actually a lesbian couple who lived together rather than with their "husbands."

The Legislature has approved a bill giving the Division of Immigration more teeth in its campaign against sham marriages.

House Bill 15-224, authored by Vice Speaker Justo S. Quitugua, passed the Senate in a 7-2 vote. It will become law once signed by the governor.

If enacted, the bill would strengthen an existing law created to deter fraudulent marriages. A person who enters into marriage for immigration purposes would no longer be guilty of just immigration fraud, but of marriage fraud. Penalties are up to five years in prison, or a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

A ringleader in a massive marriage fraud scheme was sentenced to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison yesterday by a judge who criticized the man for saying he had arranged more than 100 phony marriages only to help fellow Ghanaian immigrants stay in the United States.

"That's a mansion you built," U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said to Samuel Acquah, holding up a picture of Acquah's $775,000 house in Bowie. "You did this for greed. You didn't do it to help anyone. So get that notion out of your head."

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.

A Virginia man's guilty plea Wednesday to arranging sham marriages between U.S. citizens and Ghanaian immigrants reflects the government's increased focus on marriage fraud.

Eric Amoah, 42, a pharmacy technician from Ghana, was one of 22 people charged in the Washington, D.C., area two months ago with participating in a marriage and immigration fraud scheme. His sentence is pending.

Similar busts have occurred in the past year in California, New York and Utah. An investigation is underway in Gwinnett County, Ga., where two men are charged with bigamy for marrying at least 13 African women.

"We're definitely seeing more organizations" involved in marriage fraud, says James Spero, head of the Identity and Benefits Fraud Unit at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "We're stepping up our efforts."

From the page:

-- More than 20,000 members of B.C.'s Indo-Canadian community have signed a petition calling on the federal government to change the Immigration Act to stop marriage fraud. --

-- Even as the Senate and President Bush on Thursday were compromising on a proposal to restrict the number of foreigners allowed to remain in the USA, one point was overlooked: There are no limits on foreign spouses.

If you can marry a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident (a "green card" holder), you're guaranteed permanent access to the USA.

More foreigners gain U.S. residency through marriage than any other way, Department of Homeland Security data show. Marriage-based immigration accounted for 37% of all legal immigration in 2004, more than refugees and asylum seekers and employment-based immigrants combined.

Yet, Congress and the Bush administration have been so focused on border fences, guest-worker or amnesty programs that marriage-based immigration fraud has largely gone unnoticed. Immigration officials described fraud as rampant in a 2002 GAO report. Marriage fraud accounted for approximately half of all immigration fraud cases, the agency reported. --