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Read moreBehind the News Story: NY Times: “Bronx Woman’s 10 Marriages, Not All of Them Over, Lead to Fraud Charges”
Earlier this spring, the incredible story of Liana Kristina Barrientos was all over the news. According to numerous sources, Ms. Barrientos had married at least ten men over an eleven-year period, claiming on each marriage application to have never been married before, and without obtaining divorces from the prior husbands (well, at least some of them). News sources openly speculated that the marriages were entered into for immigration benefits, pointing out the criminal investigation about Ms. Barrientos’s polygamy had been initiated following a tip from investigators from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which administers immigration benefits through US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and investigates and prosecutes immigration law violations through Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ms. Barrientos, a native of the Dominican Republic and a US citizen, allegedly married the men in order for them to obtain Green Cards. The men were identified only by their initials and their countries of origin.
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