From matchmaker to homewrecker

 It’s not a new concept to realize that a significant percentage of the population of the United States of America is composed of immigrants, and a lot of them are illegal. In order to pursue their dreams and have a decent job, many of them need to adjust to and abide by the immigration rules of the country. The easiest way to get there, we all know or have head of at least, is through marrying a gringo/a. This path soon became a formula which even sooner became a business. MariaHelena Knoller, 59,  was in this case, a successful business woman until immigration agents caught her.

Maria Helena Knoller

 In 2008, the resident of Holyake, MA, Knoller, was sentenced for having arranged more than 40 fraudulent marriages between illegal immigrants and American citizens. Most of the immigrants getting married were from Brazil as well as Knoller. Clues of this crime became clearer once immigration investigators found more than $117,000 in cash, 61 gold rings for upcoming marriages and proof of past arranged marriages such as photo albums and other documentation. Her role in this process was that of the mediator, most commonly known as the wedding planner or “cupid” for the more romantic ones. She charged between 8 to 12 thousand dollars to the immigrant and paid 2 to 4 thousand dollars to the American bride or groom. She was responsible for getting the entire paper work ready for their green card application, coached them on their interviews in order to achieve their permanent legal status.

 She was found guilty on February, 2011 and a federal judge also ordered her to serve three years of supervised release. John P. McKenna, Knoller’s lawyer, believes that the sentence was fair and “there is a good chance that she will be deported back to her native Brazil”. Warren Lee, supervisor of immigration services in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agrees:

“Even a person who is a legal resident and an American citizen by choice, and infringes the immigration laws of the U.S. in such degree, will not be welcome in this country anymore.”

 Mariana Gitomer, public affairs officer from the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) explains what it takes in order for a marriage to be approved and granted the green card:

“Other than the required application forms you have to face an interview with an officer and that is the final step to obtain the temporary green card. In this interview, you have to bring a lot of personal evidence to support the relationship as a real one. For example, photo albums of your marriage, with family, friends, travels, joint accounts, apartment lease agreements with both names on it, etc. You also have to have a convincing and believable story, but it is up to the officer to believe if it is real or not.”

 For this specific case, Gitomer takes a stance: “It is a lot of documentation to be forged, and that consolidates itself as a crime, no question.”

 To decrease her sentence, she has assisted prosecutors in identifying more than 12 fraudulent marriage cases and turned in some of her own “clients”. Some of them have already been deported to Brazil, where she will be joining them soon.