The Marriage Maneuver

WASHINGTON—Yesterday, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) submitted a friend-of-court brief in a Maryland district court in support of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is being sued by aliens in a case putting at issue whether immigration law should be rewritten by the court in a way that would provide a large incentive for marriage fraud.

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. . . .