The Trump administration said Tuesday it uncovered more than 270 cases of suspected immigration fraud during a recent enforcement operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, pledging to mount similar investigations in cities across the country.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said that it conducted more than 900 site visits and in-person interviews. In 42 cases, individuals were referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or issued notices to appear in court.
Joseph B. Edlow, the director of U.S.C.I.S., said at a news conference in Minneapolis Tuesday that the operation was the “first of many,” although he declined to say which cities would be targeted next.
“Any city should be prepared to be the next site for an operation of this magnitude,” Mr. Edlow said.
He added that the agency was “declaring war on immigration fraud,” and that it would use every tool at its disposal to pursue individuals who abuse the nation’s immigration system.
“You will find yourself not only without benefits, but you will find yourself prosecuted,” Mr. Edlow said.
The agency said officers scrutinized marriage and family-based petitions, employment authorization applications and other immigration paperwork as part of the operation, which was called “Operation Twin Shield.”
In one case, according to Mr. Edlow, an immigrant appeared to commit marriage fraud by taking advantage of an elderly U.S. citizen spouse who was subject to threats and “severe neglect.” In another case, he said, an American married to an immigrant admitted to investigators that the marriage was fraudulent and entered into solely for immigration purposes.
Mr. Edlow said the agency also found “troubling patterns” in the Uniting for Ukraine program, a Biden-era initiative that authorized more than 240,000 Ukrainians to live and work in the United States. Mr. Edlow said officers discovered an individual that had filed to sponsor more than 100 immigrants, although he did not provide further details of other cases of fraud in the program.
Mr. Edlow said federal officials were still trying to “determine who is going to be charged and for what.”
The agency said it was the first time that U.S.C.I.S. has “dedicated resources on this scale in a single geographical area.” The agency worked with ICE and the F.B.I. to conduct the investigation, which started on Sept. 19 and ended on Sunday.
The investigation was the Trump administration’s latest effort to crack down on immigration fraud. This month, U.S.C.I.S. said the agency would expand its law enforcement capabilities and add special agents to its force. Those officers are now permitted to carry firearms, make arrests and execute search and arrest warrants. The change will allow the agency to more effectively root out perpetrators of immigration fraud, Mr. Edlow said in a statement at the time.
The decision was met with criticism from immigrant advocacy groups, including the American Immigration Council and the National Partnership for New Americans. Some of those groups said they worried that bolstering the agency’s law enforcement authority would instill fear in immigrants seeking to apply for citizenship or other forms of lawful status.
In July, U.S.C.I.S. said that five Louisiana men were indicted on charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit visa fraud and mail fraud after the agency initiated an investigation into inconsistencies among some U visa applications. Those visas are granted to victims of certain crimes who have suffered abuse and aid law enforcement in criminal investigations.