On September 23, 2009, Ms. Maria Refugia Camarillo, a 72-year-old grandmother, was sentenced to serve 44 months in federal prison for operating a marriage fraud ring from 1980s until 2008.  Ms. Camarillo had been investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG), Texas’ Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General (HHSC OIG), and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG).

For years, foreign nationals who wanted to become U.S. permanent residents (green card holders), paid Ms. Camarillo as much as $12,000 to arrange marriages between them and U.S. Citizens.  The foreign nationals then used their marriage to a U.S. citizen as basis for obtaining U.S. permanent residency and often citizenship. 

Ms. Camarillo recruited her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews (all U.S. citizens) into the conspiracy.  Each was paid a portion of Camarillo’s $12,000 fee for agreeing to marry foreign nationals.

Tags: Camarillo, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, ICE, Immigraion and Customs Enforcement, immigration fraud, marriage fraud, Social Security Administration, SSA, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under fraud, immigration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.