By
JPus Managing Member Loretta Jay was consulted on this story for both background and commentary.
BRIDGEPORT — It was a cold morning in late February. Outside of government center in downtown Bridgeport, a large group of people — men in one cluster and women in another — gathered around a woman in a light gray sweatsuit. As the woman looked at her phone, she appeared to be pairing them off.
Once they were matched up, the couples went inside to wait silently in a long line at the city office that issues marriage licenses, with little, if any, conversation between them.
Before long, they left the line and gathered in the lobby in two groups — men with men, women with women. The scene was part of a pattern CT Insider has seen dozens of times at government center in recent months: Couples — smartly dressed men and more casually dressed young women — arriving at the municipal building to wed. On several occasions, they came in groups with people who seemed to tell them where to go and what to do.
Prompted by those scenes and recent changes Bridgeport officials made to address an overwhelming flood of marriages, CT Insider examined weddings in the state’s biggest city. Reporters observed couples preparing to wed, reviewed reams of paper marriage licenses and interviewed attorneys, government officials and other experts about what could be behind the unusual pattern of marriages.
The monthslong investigation found that many of these couples share something else in common: One is a U.S. citizen, the other is not and both traveled from out of state to get married in Bridgeport.
A deep dive into the data from one recent month revealed 100 of the marriages performed in Bridgeport, or nearly 40 percent, were between an immigrant and a U.S. citizen, neither of whom were born in Connecticut or lived here at the time they received their marriage license, records show.
Generally marriages between immigrants and U.S. citizens are legitimate, but officials have raised questions about the pattern examined by CT Insider due in part to the sheer volume in Bridgeport and other communities around Connecticut in recent years. Especially when so many of the couples journeyed from out of state, the situations have prompted questions over whether at least some might be sham marriages — in which a couple does not intend to partake in a genuine relationship and marries solely for the purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit.
Marriages between a U.S. citizen and an immigrant can be one potential pathway for the immigrant to obtain legal permanent residency or citizenship. In extreme cases, experts say, bad actors charge money to arrange these marriages for the sole purpose of helping someone obtain immigration benefits — a crime that sparks concerns about the potential for exploitation of both the citizens and the immigrants involved.
Feds ask questions
The types of marriages CT Insider examined have drawn attention from federal authorities in recent years as efforts at reform and oversight have eluded state and local officials.
Bridgeport officials said U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) — a federal agency that handles immigration matters under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — has contacted the city about marriages, though Bridgeport did not say when or provide additional details.
In nearby Trumbull, Town Clerk Mary Markham told CT Insider that an investigator with DHS called within the past year looking for records related to a woman the investigator said may have married two different men on the same day, one in Trumbull and the other in Bridgeport.
“Homeland Security is well aware,” Markham said.
Asked about Markham’s comments, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations — a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which falls under DHS — said it is “actively investigating alleged fraudulent marriages” but did not specify where. The spokesperson declined to discuss specific cases, citing an ongoing investigation.
New Haven officials in March were contacted by an officer with the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate of USCIS to ask about a woman the officer said was married multiple times during an unspecified timespan, according to emails obtained by CT Insider through a public records request.
“Our records are showing 5 marriages between CT, NJ and NY to date,” the officer wrote.
Replying to the officer, New Haven attorney Patricia King said city staff don’t research the marital statuses of the people who apply for marriage licenses. There is no legal requirement for them to do so; officials rely on what couples attest to on forms they submit.
“They basically verify the identities of the applicants against the documents presented and issue marriage licenses and certificates,” King said in the email.
Officials in New Haven and Southington have also raised concerns about couples from out of state overwhelming their ability to serve local residents, according to past reporting by The New Haven Independent and The Hartford Courant.
In a statement to CT Insider, Southington Town Manager Alex Ricciardone said multiple women reported to officials that they were forced to marry men, prompting an investigation by local police. One woman also tried to marry two different men on the same day, according to Ricciardone.
“We have reason to believe there was immigration fraud due to the ‘factory line’ marriages taking place,” he said.
In New Haven, Health Director Maritza Bond said in a statement that the city “does not condone fraud of any kind” and follows guidance from state officials when issuing marriage licenses.
At least two federal criminal cases related to marriage fraud in other states also have ties to Connecticut.
In April, USCIS announced the breakup of a nationwide marriage fraud ring, with “more to come.” Court records show at least two of the spouses involved traveled to Connecticut for sham marriages from out of state. The records did not say where in Connecticut those marriages took place.
At least one marriage officiated in Bridgeport in 2021 led to a conviction for immigration fraud. Testifying in federal court against the man she’d married, a woman said she didn’t know she was getting married until she arrived in Bridgeport, where she felt pressured to go through with it by a relative, who offered her money to do so.
The woman said she was so distraught afterward that she threw the roughly $450 she was paid back at the relative who brought her to Bridgeport.
“I was tripping, literally losing my mind,” she said on the witness stand, court records show. “I want to lose my mind now.”
The man later claimed in an immigration application that the woman physically, sexually and emotionally abused him while they were living together in Florida. But the two never actually lived together; thus, the court found, the alleged abuse had never occurred and the man’s immigration application was fraudulent. If his application had been accepted, the man could have potentially been awarded a visa for domestic violence victims.
Local officials weigh in
It’s not clear why couples are choosing Connecticut — perhaps because unlike in some other states, including neighboring New York, couples here can obtain a license and get married on the same day.
A spokesperson for Bridgeport said it’s not the city’s responsibility to police marriages. The Connecticut Department of Public Health, which maintains state marriage records, said it is not its responsibility, either. Both pointed the finger at law enforcement.
The Connecticut State Police said it is not investigating the issue. The State’s Attorney’s Office for Bridgeport said it has not received any related criminal referrals.
State law places strict limits on when and how local and state law enforcement agencies can cooperate with federal immigration officials. Some cities also have their own prohibitions. An official in New Haven retired last year after an outside investigation commissioned by the city found that she may have violated state and city policies in how she reported her suspicions about certain marriages to USCIS.
The investigation found many New Haven marriages “were raising red flags, indicating a larger operation involving individuals and officiants, who were possibly connecting the couples for immigration purposes.” However, it also said the official acted inappropriately “as a self-appointed agent for the USCIS.”
Aside from the statement from ICE, federal officials were mum. USCIS, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Connecticut all declined to comment.
But in addition to the criminal conviction and fraud ring bust announced this spring, federal officials have prosecuted other cases across the country over the years — including the breakup of a marriage fraud ring in California last year.
Such marriages carry the potential for abuse or coercion, USCIS has said.
“Marriage fraud is neither a trivial nor victimless crime,” the agency said in a past press release. “The marriage can become abusive in many ways, including physically, financially and/or emotionally.”
Legal experts said the consequences for entering a sham marriage can be devastating for the immigrants involved — including potential criminal charges and a permanent ban from receiving immigration benefits like a residency visa, legal permanent residency or citizenship.
And unlike many other violations of immigration law, experts said, almost nothing can fix it.
“It is an absolute ban,” Hartford-based immigration attorney Dana Bucin said, speaking in general terms.
In Connecticut, two state agencies — the office of Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas and the office of Connecticut Attorney General William Tong — expressed strong concerns about potentially fraudulent marriages.
Tong said any possible wrongdoing “should be fully investigated and prosecuted to the extent of the law by criminal authorities.” Unlike many other state attorneys general across the country, Tong does not have jurisdiction to investigate or prosecute potential criminal violations.
Concerns in Bridgeport
Concerns about out-of-state marriages have swirled in Bridgeport and other communities in recent years, causing officials in Bridgeport, New Haven, Trumbull and Southington to change their rules for issuing marriage licenses.
Detailed data on marriages is not readily available in bulk from city or state officials.
To examine the issue, CT Insider reporters spent weeks in Bridgeport combing through reams of paper marriage licenses at government center. Reporters examined every license for a marriage performed in the city in May 2025, which at the time of reporting was the most recent full month of records available.
The records showed that of the 269 marriages performed in Bridgeport that month, nearly 40 percent were between an immigrant and a U.S. citizen neither of whom were born in Connecticut or lived here at the time.
Those numbers are likely an undercount. CT Insider only counted someone as a noncitizen if their marriage license said they were born outside the United States and did not include a Social Security number. If it had a Social Security number, CT Insider did not count the individual as a noncitizen, even though many noncitizens have a Social Security number for employment purposes.
Typically, the immigrant was the groom. They hailed from a host of countries, records show. But India stood out.
Spot checks of marriage licenses from other months and years and observations of couples at government center going back months suggest the pattern dates back further.
To get a marriage license in Connecticut, a couple has to apply in person with the vital records office or town clerk in the municipality where they plan to exchange vows. They must present identification and swear that the information they provide — including birthplace, current address and number of prior marriages — is true. Whoever officiates the wedding signs the document, certifying that they performed the ceremony in the same municipality that issued it, though they don’t have to give a precise location.
There are several categories of people who can officiate marriages under state law — including clergy, judges and justices of the peace.
Bridgeport has about 130 justices of the peace, according to the city’s website — officials who are authorized under state law to officiate marriages at their discretion.
Of those, four women officiated the majority of weddings in Connecticut’s largest city in May, records show: Wanda Geter-Pataky, a former city employee and the vice chair of the Democratic Town Committee; City Councilwoman Eneida Martinez, also a Democrat; and two of Martinez’s daughters, Jazmin Cooper and Jimeesha Cooper.
On many weekdays, either Geter-Pataky or Martinez was found camped in community rooms toward the back of government center’s first floor waiting for couples to come back for quick marriage ceremonies.
In May, over 60% of the weddings in Bridgeport were officiated by one of the four, the records show. Well over half of those were between a citizen and a noncitizen who appeared to come from out of state.
Of the 94 marriages performed by other Bridgeport justices of the peace in May, two fit that pattern, records show.
The volume of marriages — especially those between a citizen and noncitizen — could increase the likelihood that some of these marriages were shams intended solely to obtain an immigration benefit.
But Loretta Jay, head of the Justice of the Peace Association, a national membership group marriage officiants can voluntarily join, cautioned not to jump to conclusions.
“Just because someone is not a U.S. citizen does not make a fraudulent marriage,” she emphasized.
CT Insider’s investigation found no evidence suggesting any particular marriage in Bridgeport between a citizen and noncitizen was in fact a sham marriage or fraudulent, nor any evidence that Geter-Pataky, Martinez, or Jazmin or Jimeesha Cooper knew any marriage they officiated may have a been a sham marriage or fraudulent.
On numerous occasions, CT Insider reporters have observed couples arrive at government center along with people who appeared to be directing them; they first walked into the Vital Records Office to get their marriage licenses and then went back to the conference rooms to meet a justice of the peace.
Justices of the peace involved in the Bridgeport marriages said it’s not their role to police who gets married. Indeed, state law requires only that justices of the peace verify a couple has the appropriate paperwork.
In an interview with CT Insider, Martinez said it’s not her place to question people who come to her for marriages.
“I don’t get into all of that, to be honest with you,” she said. “I just perform the ceremony. They go about their business. I can’t judge who comes in to get married. I can’t police them.”
Her daughter Jazmin Cooper took a similar stance.
“That’s something (the city) is responsible for,” Cooper said. “That’s what the state is responsible for.”
Geter-Pataky declined to comment through an attorney. Jimeesha Cooper did not return requests for comment.
Jay said her association has backed tougher state regulations for justices of the peace.
“It’s not necessarily we’re looking for JPs to be judge and jury as to who can get married,” she said. “It’s that we want a thoughtful process.”
Ricciardone, the Southington city manager, said the marriages that raised concerns there were performed by two justices of the peace who did not come from Bridgeport.
A report commissioned by New Haven last year also raised potential concerns about weddings officiated by at least one justice of the peace in that city.
There’s no limit on how much justices of the peace can charge to officiate weddings.
For example, Martinez said she charges between $100 and $150 per wedding, though she said she doesn’t charge elderly couples. She officiated 80 weddings in Bridgeport in May, records show. A ceremony, she said, typically takes about 10 minutes.
Geter-Pataky and Martinez came under scrutiny two years ago in an unrelated incident after a video emerged that purported to show them and other supporters of Mayor Joe Ganim stuffing a drop box outside government center with absentee ballots ahead of the 2023 Democratic mayoral primary. Geter-Pataky has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges; Martinez has not been charged. Geter-Pataky lost her job as the greeter at government center over the allegations in October 2024.
Federal cases tied to Connecticut marriages
In April 2025, a federal jury in Vermont convicted Nasir Hussain, an Indian immigrant living in Florida, of marrying a Hamden woman in an unsuccessful attempt to get immigration benefits. The jury deliberated for less than an hour, delivering its verdict before lunch on the second day of Hussain’s trial.
Bridgeport marriage records show Geter-Pataky officiated Hussain’s wedding in October 2021, though she was not charged, nor was she alleged to have engaged in any wrongdoing in the matter.
The woman Hussain married testified during his trial that she only met him that day and never saw him again, though Hussain had stated in an immigration application that the two lived together in Florida.
“She basically did our marriage, but she cut to the chase,” the woman said of the justice of the peace who married them. “She got through it fast. She skimmed through it.”
The woman testified that she felt pressured into the marriage by a family member. CT Insider is not naming the woman or the family member because they have not been charged with a crime in connection with the marriage.
Months later, after returning to Florida without his new wife, Hussain went to an urgent care facility and said she had physically abused him, prosecutors said — despite the fact that the two never saw each other after their wedding day. Hussain then used those medical records to support his application for a special visa set aside for victims of domestic violence under federal law.
Hussain had been in federal custody since his arrest in May 2023 on a separate wire fraud charge until he was sentenced for the marriage fraud conviction in April of this year. U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante sentenced him to time served and a $100 fine. Hussain’s attorney in that case declined to comment, saying he’s no longer in touch with his former client. Attempts to reach Hussain directly were unsuccessful.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment on whether Hussain has since been deported. ICE’s online detainee locator does not show him in custody.
In a separate federal case in Maryland, prosecutors allege a New Jersey woman arranged fraudulent marriages between immigrants and U.S. citizens as part of what they called “a nationwide marriage fraud operation.” The woman has pleaded not guilty.
At least two of those marriages were officiated in Connecticut, according to a charging document. It does not give details on where in Connecticut those marriages took place or who officiated them.
‘Nicer than New York’
One out-of-state couple sitting together outside the Vital Records Office in the lobby of government center in July told CT Insider they got married in Bridgeport because they planned to move to the city together.
“Because we get married, so we need to live together,” said the husband, an Indian immigrant in his 20s from California.
The wife is a U.S. citizen from New York City, according to the couple’s marriage license, while the husband is not. Martinez officiated their marriage the same day they spoke with CT Insider, city records show.
The couple said they did not get married for immigration purposes and that no money had exchanged hands between them. CT Insider is not naming them because they have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
A woman who identified herself as the bride’s friend was sitting next to them. She said she’d introduced the couple to each other. She did most of the talking.
“New York is the best place to get married at,” she said. Told she was in Connecticut, the friend quickly corrected herself.
“Yeah, but it’s more nicer than New York,” she said.
She also said getting married in Bridgeport is a faster process than in New York City. New York state law requires at least 24 hours between when a license is issued and when the marriage can take place. Under Connecticut law, they can both happen the same day.
It’s not as easy to get married in Bridgeport as it once was. In April 2024, the Vital Records Office began requiring non-Bridgeport residents to fill out an online marriage license application in advance and make an appointment before going to government center in person.
Then, in November 2024, the city implemented a 48-hour waiting period between getting married and receiving a copy of the marriage license. The city said the waiting period was meant to cut down on staff making errors in the rush to get same-day licenses out the door.
Even with those changes, the friend said it’s still worth the trip from New York.
“In Bridgeport, you literally get your license, and you get married the same day,” the friend said. “We don’t have to do all that extra work.”
Read original article in the Connecticut Post.