Fake marriages are a plague in Queens

Bolstered by the impending changes to the immigration laws, con artists offering fake political asylum petitions and bogus marriages in &#8220garage churches” are doing a brisk business. This is especially true among Queens' illegal alien population who are increasingly afraid of being discovered and deported.
The government estimates that about 11 million undocumented people are living in the U.S. Both houses of Congress are battling over the provisions to be included in the new immigration laws. The Senate version of the bill would legalize most of the illegal immigrants. The House version would criminalize them.
&#8220What's going on in Congress right now is still an add-on to an essentially outdated and overly complex, throwback system written in the 1950s and amended in 1965. The statutes are just hopelessly complicated and convoluted,” said former immigration agency Chief Doris Meissner, who now is a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington D.C. think-tank on immigration.
According to Father Luis Antonio Daz, director of Radio Mara - the spanish Catholic radio station - &#8220undocumented people are going bananas and they are being victimized by many con artists. The reason is because [the illegals] want a solution for their status.”
It is no secret that fake documents of every kind are available along Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst. Since last year, con artists with their &#8220offers” can be found on virtually every corner.
&#8220Every day, we have tragic cases of &#8220avivatos” (cheaters) who swindle illegal immigrants out of their savings. Immigrants must be cautious that just because someone is a reverend, a priest, or a pastor, that person is no expert or a lawyer on immigration matters,” said Luis Castro, director of Councilman Hiram Monserrate's office.
Fake marriages are a growing plague in Queens. &#8220We had to open a free legal consultation in my office to show people the terrible consequences they are facing when they married someone just for papers, and when they are looking for political asylum,” said Assemblyman Jos Peralta.
In other cases, freelancers or &#8220notarios” are offering marriages in exchange for houses and apartments in their native countries. &#8220We have many cases related to this kind of fraud. American citizens are willing to marry undocumented immigrants in exchange for money and properties in their native country. When they [the illegals] come to see us, there is no way we can help them,” said Peralta.
Gardenia Daz, a Woodside immigration consultant, said, &#8220Every week I have been seeing dozens of people who want to marry somebody for papers; others are asking for political asylum - and they are not qualified for it. These people are looking for big trouble, because now the government is checking every paper. These unscrupulous people are looking for financial gain and taking advantage of legions of hopefuls.”
&#8220Undocumented people don't think that they are doing something illegal when they pay for a fake wedding or ask for political asylum. We have false pastors - of the so-called &#8220garage churches” acting as legal assessors and offering wedding services, and stealing from the immigrants,” said Humberto Suarezmotta, member of Community Board 4 in Elmhurst.
Recently, the FBI announced the arrest of 30 defendants in Queens on charges of a document fraud scheme involving sham marriages and bogus green cards that netted more than $1.5 million in illegal proceeds.
According to the thirteen-count indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court,  Beverly Mozer-Browne, conspired with her brother, Phillip A. Browne, who was employed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, CIS, to fraudulently provide permanent residence documents or green cards in exchange for fees ranging from $8,000 to $16,000. Mozer-Browne owned and operated a business, Help Prepares Professional Services, in Jamaica as a front for the illegal activities.