In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments (IMFA) to counter the perceived problem of immigrants entering into sham marriages to receive priority immigration status. Part II of this Comment reviews the history of the IMFA. Part III highlights the IMFA's unintended consequences. Part IV examines the Immigration Act of 1990, which was designed, in part, to correct flaws in the IMFA. Part V discusses the problems left unresolved by the 1990 Act. Part VI examines the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which also was designed, in part, to correct flaws in the IMFA. Part VII discusses the problems still left unresolved by the 1994 Act. Part VIII offers suggestions for reforming U.S. immigration policy to eliminate the unintended negative consequences of the IMFA. Finally, Part IX concludes that because of its continued disastrous impact on alien spouses, the IMFA should be repealed.
