Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people in what Attorney General Todd Blanche called one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in American history, a scheme that allegedly sold U.S. residency to more than 1,000 foreign nationals.

The Department of Justice announced the indictment Wednesday, accusing the defendants of running a sprawling operation that paired Chinese nationals with American citizens in sham marriages across at least seven states and two foreign countries. Chinese nationals paid as much as $100,000 each for the service. The Americans who agreed to pose as spouses collected up to $30,000 apiece. Prosecutors estimate the ring generated tens of millions of dollars over roughly a decade.

Four defendants, Amy Cheng, Xiao Mei Chan, Xiao Yan Chan, and Gang Zheng, are accused of running the operation, The Hill reported. Seven additional defendants were charged but not publicly named in the initial reporting. All 11 were expected to appear in federal court in White Plains, New York, Wednesday afternoon.

Blanche calls U.S. citizenship 'a sacred privilege' exploited for profit

Blanche, speaking at a press conference Wednesday, framed the case as a direct assault on the legal immigration system. He described the operation not as some ad hoc hustle but as a sustained criminal enterprise.

Blanche told reporters:

"This scheme was not a quick, fly-by-night operation, but rather a yearslong, multimillion-dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not, or legally could not, otherwise become citizens of the United States."

He added that the charges "show how far people will go to cheat our immigration system." The attorney general also said gaining American citizenship "is a sacred privilege, and we will ensure it is always done in accordance with the law, protecting our communities and national security."

The case fits a broader pattern of federal enforcement actions targeting immigration fraud. The DOJ has also moved to prosecute birth tourism fraud in recent months, signaling that the current Justice Department views these schemes as serious criminal matters rather than low-priority paperwork violations.

Ceremonies stretched from Connecticut to China, and even to a Pacific island nation

The 21-page indictment, filed in the Southern District of New York, lays out an operation of striking geographic reach. Alleged sham marriage ceremonies took place in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida, as well as overseas in China and Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific.

The indictment includes what prosecutors described as photos of several of these bogus ceremonies. Many of the recruiters allegedly operated out of White Plains, the same city where the defendants were set to face a federal judge.

Prosecutors accused the defendants of filling distinct roles in the enterprise, some acted as "facilitators" who managed logistics, others as "recruiters" who found willing American participants, and still others as "officiators" who performed the fraudulent ceremonies. That division of labor suggests a level of organization that went well beyond a handful of opportunistic scams.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald of the Southern District of New York said prosecutors believe the scheme generated "tens of millions of dollars." He did not provide a precise figure, but the math is straightforward: at up to $100,000 per foreign client and more than 1,000 clients over a decade, the total could easily reach nine figures at the high end.

More than 1,000 green cards, and the questions prosecutors haven't answered yet

Perhaps the most striking number in the case is the scale of the alleged fraud itself. Prosecutors say more than 1,000 foreign nationals obtained green cards, permanent U.S. resident status, through the scheme. The indictment identifies those recipients as Chinese nationals, though it remains unclear whether other nationalities were also involved.

Several critical questions remain unanswered. The DOJ has not disclosed the specific criminal charges or statutes cited in the indictment. It has not said whether any of the 11 defendants were already in custody before Wednesday's announcement, or whether any remain at large. And federal officials have not addressed the immigration status of the more than 1,000 people who allegedly received fraudulently obtained green cards, whether those documents have been revoked, whether deportation proceedings are underway, or whether any of those individuals have since applied for full citizenship.

The investigating agency or agencies behind the case, whether FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, or another federal body, were also not identified in the initial announcement.

Federal prosecutors have pursued similar large-scale fraud cases in other contexts. Two Pakistani nationals recently faced federal charges in an alleged $17 million Medicare fraud scheme, and the Labor Department's inspector general launched a federal probe into H-1B visa fraud after calling it a "criminal enterprise." Taken together, these cases suggest federal law enforcement is treating immigration-related fraud with renewed seriousness.

Sham marriages exploit a system built on trust

Marriage-based immigration works because the government extends good faith to applicants. A U.S. citizen who marries a foreign national can sponsor that spouse for a green card, a process that, when conducted honestly, reflects one of the most generous features of American immigration law. Schemes like the one alleged here exploit that generosity, converting a legal pathway into a black market product.

The alleged operation also put American citizens in the role of paid accomplices. Recruiters offered U.S. citizens up to $30,000 to enter fraudulent marriages, a sum large enough to tempt people in financial difficulty, but one that carries the risk of federal criminal liability. The indictment does not indicate whether any of those American participants have been charged separately.

Federal authorities have also charged foreign nationals in New Jersey for voting in federal elections, another case in which people who obtained status through questionable means allegedly exploited the privileges that came with it. The marriage fraud case raises a parallel concern: once someone obtains a green card through fraud, every benefit that flows from that status, work authorization, access to public services, a path to citizenship, is built on a false foundation.

Blanche's characterization of this as one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in the nation's history is notable, though the DOJ did not provide a historical comparison to support the claim. If the scale is as prosecutors allege, more than 1,000 fraudulent green cards issued over a decade, across multiple states and two foreign countries, the description is at least plausible.

When more than a thousand people can buy their way into permanent residency while lawful applicants wait years in line, the system is not just broken, it is being looted. Enforcing the law against the people who run these operations is not harsh. It is the bare minimum a country owes to everyone who plays by the rules.