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Victory! Fourth Circuit Declines to Encourage Marriage Fraud

IRLI had shown court why enforcement practice is lawful

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in a ruling ([link removed]) in favor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), declined to rewrite immigration law in a way that would provide a large incentive for marriage fraud. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI)—now part of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)—had filed a brief in the case urging that result.

The plaintiffs are a class of aliens who have been given final orders of removal but still seek to stay in the country. The aliens, who had married U.S. citizens at some point but never received green cards on that basis, seek to have the execution of their removal orders suspended so they can apply for certain discretionary relief without being arrested and deported while applying for that relief. If they are deported, they will have to wait years before they can return. If they apply for and are granted the discretionary relief, they still will have to leave the country, but will be able to return more quickly.

As IRLI pointed out in its brief, the law as written is heavily against the plaintiffs’ position. Final orders of removal are to be executed, and there is no basis in a statute or regulation for the court to order their execution suspended here. Nor does executing those orders when aliens subject to them come in for meetings with immigration officials violate the aliens’ constitutional rights.

Today, the Fourth Circuit agreed, finding it significant that the plaintiffs had chosen to litigate their case without discovery, resulting in a lack of evidence about the particular events and circumstances giving rise to this lawsuit. In the absence of such evidence, the court could not conclude that the plaintiffs had been targeted for deportation because they had applied for discretionary relief.

“Congress could have written this law differently,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of FAIR, “but the reason it didn’t is clear. If the law were to give aliens who have been ordered removed because they were illegal aliens or were convicted of a crime a trouble-free path to citizenship by getting married, a massive incentive for marriage fraud would be created. And the courts certainly have no power to create that incentive themselves by rewriting the law to suit their own policy choices, not Congress’s. We are pleased the Fourth Circuit declined to do so here.”

The case is
Sanchez v. Mullin, Nos. 24-1487 (Fourth Circuit).

To view the ruling click here. ([link removed])

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR ([link removed]) is the country’s largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

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