The Trump administration said Wednesday that it had charged 11 people over an alleged green card marriage fraud scheme, in which over one thousand sham marriages had allowed mostly Chinese nationals to obtain permanent legal status.
In a decade-long scheme, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said, individuals paid as much as $100,000 to get married to U.S. citizens, leading to hundreds of fraudulently obtained green cards between 2016 and July 2026.
“As alleged, this decade-long scheme turned marriage fraud into an international business model arranging countless sham marriages and causing hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications to be submitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,” Acting Executive Associate Director John Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), said in a press release.
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“Through the Homeland Security Task Force, HSI and our partners will continue to dismantle criminal networks that undermine the rule of law, exploit federal laws, and profit from fraud.”
Under the Trump administration, the DOJ has been more clearly working with HSI to identify immigration fraud and pursue prosecutions, particularly when it comes to green cards and citizenship.
Sham Marriage Scheme: Who Was Charged?
The DOJ said 11 defendants were arrested Wednesday, all of whom were based in New York.
Amy Cheng, also known as “Amy Zhou,” 72, of Brooklyn, New YorkXiao Mei Chan, also known as “Carmen”; 64, of Queens, New YorkChristine Lu, also known as “Lily,” 52, of QueensJing Yan Ye, also known as “Serene,” 43, of Staten Island, New YorkXiao Yan Chen, also known as “Anna,” 48, of BrooklynGang Zheng, also known as “Michael” and “Mike,” 61, of QueensAnthony Cheng, 47, of Staten IslandMichelle Duenas, 35, of Staten IslandAngela Duenas, 26, of Staten IslandSigrid Cetino, 32, of Peekskill, New YorkErika Johnson, 43, of Ossining, New York
All defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, as well as one count of conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States. The charges could mean up to five and 10 years in prison, respectively.
The DOJ said the scheme stretched outside of New York State, with marriages taking place across the country, including in Connecticut, Kentucky, and Tennessee, among other states.
How They Allegedly Did It
Authorities allege the defendants marketed their services through word-of-mouth, social media and other advertising channels, promising to help immigrants obtain lawful permanent resident status through fraudulent marriages. Foreign nationals reportedly paid as much as $100,000 for the service, while recruiters and facilitators earned commissions for finding U.S. citizens willing to participate.
Prosecutors allege organizers recruited American citizens to enter marriages that existed only on paper, paying some participants tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for posing as legitimate spouses.
To make the unions appear genuine, the defendants allegedly staged wedding ceremonies and photo shoots, sometimes hosting events at restaurants where couples dressed in traditional wedding attire and posed alongside friends and relatives. Those images were then submitted to immigration authorities as evidence of bona fide relationships.
The indictment further alleges that the network helped prepare and file fraudulent immigration paperwork designed to convince officials that the marriages were authentic. Prosecutors described this as a nationwide and international enterprise that generated millions of dollars while producing more than 1,000 fraudulent marriage arrangements.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly operated a nationwide and international, multimillion-dollar marriage fraud scheme, using participants to abuse United States immigration laws for their own profit,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York said in a press release.
“Today’s arrests have dismantled a central component of one of the largest marriage fraud schemes charged in United States history. As this prosecution shows, we and our law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue those seeking to corrupt and exploit our nation’s lawful immigration system.”
Newsweek reached out to the DOJ for further comment.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Gray R. Thomas