Abuse of the J-1 Visa Was a Sidelight of San Bernardino Attacks A Russian woman was in U.S. illegally when she married Enrique Marquez Jr., accused of buying rifles By Miriam Jordan
http://www.wsj.com/articles/abuse-of-the-j-1-visa-was-a-sidelight-of-san-bernardino-attacks-1451212207
The San Bernardino attacks this month put the spotlight on a type of visa issued to a wide swath of foreigners, from camp counselors to physicians, and how easy it is for recipients to remain in the U.S. after the visa has expired.
A Russian woman who married Enrique Marquez Jr., the man accused of buying rifles used in the Dec. 2 attack, entered the U.S. six years ago on a three-month educational-exchange visa, known as a J-1 visa.
Once that visa expired, she remained for several years in the U.S. without legal status, according to law-enforcement officials.
In late 2014, Mariya Chernykh and Mr. Marquez were married, according to Riverside County, Calif., records. Last week, Mr. Marquez was charged with entering into a sham marriage to enable her to apply for permanent residency in the U.S. Mr. Marquez is also charged with conspiring to support terrorism.
Ms. Chernykh isn’t suspected of involvement in the attack, according to law-enforcement officials. But her case highlights the challenge to deter and identify visa overstays, those who enter the country legally and fail to leave by the stipulated date.
“The J-1 category is a huge, catchall category for all sorts of purposes, and it’s relatively easy for people to use,“ said immigration scholar Margaret Stock. ”Some J-1s come here, they love America and they hear the misinformation that nothing is going to happen if they overstay.“
About 11 million people reside in the U.S. without legal status, according to the Pew Research Center. It estimates between 40% and 50% of them are overstays. Among them are people who entered on tourist, student and educational-exchange visas. The rest typically sneaked into the U.S. from Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security in 2013 began comparing entry data for foreigners with flight manifests of those who leave. But this doesn’t address the problem of those who remain in the country illegally, and Homeland Security agents don’t typically track down visa overstays.
“Visa overstays are a long-standing challenge for immigration enforcement,“ said Marc Rosenblum, deputy director for U.S. immigration policy at the Migration Policy Institute. “Overstay enforcement has never been a top priority, and completing a system to reliably identify and track overstayers remains years away.”
The mission of the J-1 exchange visitor program, which is run by the State Department, is to promote interaction between foreigners and Americans to advance academic or professional pursuits and foster cultural understanding.
There is no limit on the number of J-1s. In fiscal 2014, U.S. consulates issued 331,068 such visas to applicants from 200 countries, a typical annual allotment. It rejected 42,792 applications. It’s unclear how many visa overstays are J-1s, one of the larger among dozens of visa categories.
According to law-enforcement officials, Ms. Chernykh came to the U.S. on a J-1 program offered by the Center for International and Educational Exchange, among many organizations accredited by the State Department to match foreigners with opportunities in the U.S.
In response to questions about Ms. Chernykh, the Portland, Maine-based nonprofit said in a statement that it doesn’t disclose information about individual participants. It said the exchange center had sponsored 29,000 individuals on J-1 visas last year and that most of them came for summer work-travel programs that last three or four months.
Once a visitor’s program ends, the sponsor is required to update their status in a database maintained by DHS, known as Sevis, or Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
DHS reviews Sevis records for potential violations and refers cases that pose security concerns to field offices for further investigation, according to a spokesperson.
As with other foreigners in the country illegally, DHS doesn’t attempt to locate visa overstays, unless they have committed a crime or are in police custody, in accordance to agency priorities, the spokesperson said. Thus, it’s unlikely that Ms. Chernykh would have raised any red flags.
After overstaying her three-month visa by several years, Ms. Chernykh married Mr. Marquez on Nov. 29, 2014. According to their marriage certificate, the witnesses were Syed Rizwan Farook, brother of the alleged gunman in the San Bernardino shooting, and his wife, Tatiana Gigliotti, who is Ms. Chernykh’s older sister.
Once married, Ms. Chernykh became eligible to apply to adjust her status to that of a legal U.S. permanent resident.
A day after the attack, she was due at a DHS office in southern California for a green-card interview, according to law-enforcement officials.
They wouldn’t comment on whether she might face any charges or deportation because of the continuing investigation.
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