The U.S. Department of Justice announced federal charges against six people in Massachusetts accused of operating a network of fraudulent marriages to facilitate the attainment of permanent residency for undocumented immigrants. The scheme is believed to have been in operation for over a decade and generated millions of dollars.
According to a statement from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the alleged ringleader is Jennifer González, 43 years old and a resident of Fall River, Massachusetts, who is said to have run the illegal business of sham marriages for at least ten years.
The accused and the charges
Alongside González, five other individuals face charges: Erica Daniels (29 years old), Chreise Alejandro (39), Amara Pugh (31), and Jaylin Hill (26), all residents of Fall River, as well as Jessica Tavares (31) from Attleboro.
Five of the accused were arrested on October 21, while Hill was already serving a state sentence for a firearms-related offense.
The charges include conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants, harboring undocumented immigrants, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, and marriage fraud.
Some of these offenses can be punished with sentences of up to ten years in prison and fines of up to 250,000 dollars per charge.
How did the business operate?
According to the authorities, González charged between 38,000 and 40,000 dollars for each fraudulent marriage he arranged. The network is believed to have facilitated between 18 and 20 fake unions per year, which would result in annual revenues of hundreds of thousands of dollars for at least a decade.
González allegedly paid Daniels, Alejandro, Tavares, and Hill, U.S. citizens, to marry his undocumented clients.
Pugh, for her part, acted as the "secretary" of the business.
Subsequently, the clients presented allegedly fraudulent documentation to USCIS to apply for permanent residency.
According to the indictment, González instructed his clients to purchase life insurance policies, open joint bank accounts, and take photographs together as a couple.
They were also required to make monthly payments of 500 dollars to the alleged spouse.
The contracts were presented as "loan" agreements to hide the true nature of the transactions.
Authorities claim that González was recorded in audio and video explaining that the contract deliberately avoided mentioning the spouse because doing so would be incriminating.
They would have also accepted a down payment of 3,000 dollars in cash.
Massachusetts as a "sanctuary state"
In the recordings cited by the authorities, González used Massachusetts' status as a supposed "sanctuary state" to persuade his clients of the benefits of settling there.
"I believe you can, okay? Because this state is a sanctuary, and Trump doesn't like this state because the government here, the state, defends us a lot," he said to a cooperating witness. He added, "Massachusetts is the best place to be. That's a fact."
He also acknowledged that the immigration conditions had changed and that, under the new administration, the laws and procedures were more stringent.
González reportedly stated that he invested the profits from the business in companies and real estate in the Dominican Republic, a country he referred to as "his country."
Alleged fraud in social assistance programs
According to the investigation, several defendants provided false information in applications for benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), claiming that they had never been married while submitting federal immigration petitions on behalf of their alleged spouses.
González allegedly received over $120,000 in SNAP benefits while reportedly running the network and acquiring properties abroad.
The investigation also involved the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the United States.
Other cases of matrimonial fraud in the United States
In August 2026, the Department of Justice charged 11 individuals with organizing a network of over 1,000 fraudulent marriages between U.S. citizens and Chinese nationals across eight states.
According to the authorities, those involved were charging up to $100,000 to facilitate the acquisition of residency.
USCIS employs various mechanisms to detect potential marriage fraud, including separate interviews with spouses, home visits, and verification of the information provided in immigration applications.
Immigration attorney Liudmila Marcelo has warned about the serious consequences of these practices for those seeking to regularize their status in the United States.
In statements gathered by CiberCuba, she stated: "Fraud is never, ever the solution to anyone's immigration problems, because that really complicates your situation for life."
The federal prosecutor Leah B. Foley warned when announcing the charges: “The American dream is not for sale. It is earned. And when you try to steal it for profit, we will hold you accountable.”
The investigation is still ongoing.
Este caso es parte de un panorama migratorio en constante cambio. Sigue de cerca todos los desarrollos sobre procesos, requisitos y alertas en nuestra sección de
Related videos:
Filed under: