{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://biggs.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-biggs-demands-dhs-accountability-abuse-marriage-parole-program", "Congressman Biggs Demands DHS Accountability for Abuse of Marriage Parole Program", "2024-08-02", "2024", "2024-08", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Andy Biggs", "B001302", "biggs.house.gov", "biggs", "https://biggs.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "This week, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s unilateral declaration to grant parole to illegal aliens married to American citizens, allowing them to apply for lawful permanent resident status without the statutory penalties that accompany illegal entry. This latest expansion of parole is likely to result in the growth of an existing international criminal network used to allow aliens to illegally enter the country through fraudulent marriages.\n\nMarriage fraud has been one of the major avenues used by aliens to illegally enter the country under the guise of legitimacy. Its use is so common that Homeland Security Investigations has investigated and prosecuted numerous criminal rings, some based on familial relationships and friendships while others were fueled by organized criminal enterprises charging hefty fees for arranging fraudulent marriages.\n\nMarriage fraud is also known to be a tool used by terrorist organizations. Members of both Al Qaeda and Hezbollah have used marriage fraud to allow their members to enter the United States under the guise of legitimacy. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of 9/11, said that marriage fraud is \u201ca fantastic mechanism for [terrorist] operatives to acquire valid documents.\u201d\n\nCongressman Biggs\u2019s letter demands that Secretary Mayorkas provide answers to the following questions:\n\nHow many cases of marriage fraud does DHS identify each year?\n\nWhat are the current procedures for identifying marriage fraud?\n\nHow many cases of marriage fraud does DHS estimate go undetected each year?\n\nHow much does DHS anticipate instances of marriage fraud schemes to increase due to the implementation of this new parole program?\n\nWas there a consideration for the likelihood that at least some of the qualifying individuals under this new program would only be qualified due to fraudulent marriages?\n\nBeyond DHS\u2019s current system for detecting marriage fraud, what further measures are DHS planning on implementing to better detect marriage fraud due to this new parole program?\n\nThe letter requests that the questions are answered by August 31, 2024.\n\n\u201cJoe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Alejandro Mayorkas are the architects of the border crisis that has destroyed so many American families,\u201d said Congressman Biggs.\n\n\u201cInstead of securing the border and cracking down on lawlessness, the Biden-Harris administration continues to find new ways to reward illegal aliens. Their apathy towards enforcing our nation\u2019s laws serves as the biggest incentive for illegal immigration to continue. It\u2019s time the Biden-Harris administration takes seriously the dangerous national security crisis they have created, and puts American citizens ahead of the desires of illegal aliens.\n\n\u201cI am grateful for the support from my colleagues, and I look forward to Secretary Mayorkas\u2019s cooperation and provided information.\u201d\n\nCosigners of this letter are: Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL), Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rpe. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX)\n\nFox News covered the letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://biggs.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-biggs-demands-dhs-accountability-abuse-marriage-parole-program"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0181879624724388, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}