U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a stepped-up marriage-fraud crackdown after newly unsealed Department of Justice records and major news outlets described how Jeffrey Epstein used immigration pathways, including alleged sham same-sex marriages, to secure status for people around him.
Bloomberg and other outlets on February 12, 2026 published reports headlined “Epstein’s Girlfriend Married a Woman, Showing How He Gamed Immigration,” drawing on millions of pages of newly unsealed DOJ documents that described efforts to exploit visa categories and marriages to obtain U.S. citizenship.
The reports centered on Karyna Shuliak, a Belarusian-born dentist described as Epstein’s last known girlfriend, and her 2013 marriage to Jennifer Kalin, a longtime Epstein associate, which records described as a “sham” aimed at obtaining immigration benefits. The filings and reporting framed the allegation as marriage fraud and misrepresentation, not as a challenge to lawful same-sex marriages as an eligibility category under U.S. immigration law.
Joseph Edlow, Director of USCIS, linked the Epstein disclosures to broader enforcement in testimony on February 10, 2026 before the House Committee on Homeland Security. “Fraud isn’t just a paperwork issue, it’s a national security and public safety concern. Our agency has made more than 33,000 fraud referrals to law enforcement over the last year to ensure that the integrity of our immigration system is not compromised by those who view our laws as obstacles to be ‘gamed’ or circumvented,” Edlow said.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, set out a wider enforcement message on February 4, 2026 while speaking at the U.S.-Mexico border. “We are ending the era of ‘immigration by loopholes.’ Whether it is the abuse of humanitarian parole or the exploitation of marriage laws by high-profile criminals, this Department will use every tool at its disposal to investigate and revoke status obtained through deception,” Noem said.
USCIS also pointed to an existing marriage-fraud initiative in a February 10, 2026 Newsroom release titled “USCIS Assists in Marriage Fraud Conspiracy Investigation Resulting in 11 Indictments,” describing the agency’s role in a broader “sweeping initiative” called Operation PARRIS to re-examine thousands of cases in which “sham” relationships were used to evade screening. That release described a scheme involving Chinese nationals, but USCIS officials cast it as part of a wider push on marriage-based fraud detection.
The Epstein-related disclosures, released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), landed in the middle of that enforcement framing. DOJ posted the materials on January 30, 2026, and the February 12 accounts described them as showing how Epstein “gamed” immigration rules while keeping members of his inner circle in the United States.
In the timeline described in the DOJ files and subsequent reporting, Shuliak arrived in the U.S. in 2009 on a student visa. The records and reporting said she married Kalin in 2013 as a way to pursue a Green Card, and later became a U.S. citizen in 2018.
The documents and reports said the marriage was reportedly never consummated and was intended solely to bypass immigration scrutiny. They also described Epstein coaching Shuliak on ways to maintain lawful presence, including advice on entering the U.S. as a “cleaning lady” or through English language courses until she could naturalize.
Those allegations have drawn attention in part because they place same-sex marriages in an immigration-fraud narrative while relying on a benefit category that is lawful on its face. Immigration lawyers and advocates have long noted that USCIS evaluates marriages for “good faith” regardless of whether the couple is opposite-sex or same-sex, and the government’s stated enforcement focus in this instance concerns alleged fraud and deception rather than legal eligibility based on marital status.
The case also folds immigration questions into the already sprawling disputes over Epstein’s wealth and control. Shuliak was named the primary beneficiary of Epstein’s “1953 Trust,” which bequeathed her approximately $50 million, his private islands (Little and Great Saint James), and multiple luxury properties.
Victims’ lawyers have argued the immigration dimensions mattered to the way Epstein managed people around him. Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for Epstein’s victims, said Epstein used these marriages to keep his “inner circle” in the country permanently, shielding them from deportation and making them more dependent on his financial empire.
The attention has also highlighted how resources and connections can complicate fraud detection and enforcement. While USCIS and DHS say they use interviews, document checks and other screening steps to test whether a relationship is genuine, the filings and reporting portrayed an environment in which a high-profile network could supply housing, money, coaching and paperwork, potentially helping people present as compliant while pursuing immigration benefits.
USCIS has confirmed it is reviewing naturalization records for individuals named in the Epstein files. Under U.S. law, if citizenship was obtained through a fraudulent marriage, the government can initiate denaturalization proceedings, which can unwind citizenship and trigger separate immigration consequences depending on the individual circumstances.
The DOJ investigation also includes potential criminal exposure. Prosecutors are reportedly investigating several Epstein associates for “conspiracy to commit immigration fraud,” which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Even without criminal charges, immigration findings can affect related civil fights involving money and property. Legal experts said that if Shuliak’s residency and citizenship are found to be fraudulent, her ability to inherit and maintain properties willed to her by Epstein could be legally challenged by the estate’s victims.
The government disclosures and public statements arrive as USCIS and DHS emphasize enforcement narratives that combine operational claims with broader messaging. Edlow’s reference to “more than 33,000 fraud referrals” and Noem’s pledge to “investigate and revoke status obtained through deception” placed marriage fraud in a wider push on what the administration calls “immigration by loopholes,” even as the high-profile Epstein allegations remain tied to individual conduct described in filings and reports.
USCIS’s February 10 Newsroom release about the 11 indictments in the Chinese nationals scheme provided the most concrete public enforcement figure in the agency’s own messaging during the same week. The release framed that case as part of Operation PARRIS, which it described as re-examining thousands of cases involving “sham” relationships.
The DOJ’s Epstein disclosures, posted on January 30, 2026, offered the documentary basis for the allegations described by Bloomberg and other outlets. Those reports said the unsealed material details how Epstein orchestrated “sham” same-sex marriages and exploited visa categories to secure U.S. citizenship for associates and victims.
Noem issued a separate DHS statement dated February 13, 2026, published online, that addressed immigration enforcement more broadly. No additional quotes from that release were provided beyond Noem’s February 4 remarks at the border.
For readers tracking the developing immigration angle, the core public record currently consists of the DOJ’s January 30 disclosure page, the USCIS February 10 Newsroom release on marriage-fraud indictments and Operation PARRIS, and DHS public statements from Noem’s office, alongside the accounts from Bloomberg and other outlets based on the unsealed filings. Officials have described ongoing reviews and investigations, but the public statements cited so far stop short of declaring outcomes in the Epstein-linked allegations.
Epstein, Immigration, Same-Sex Marriages: How He Gamed the System
Following the release of the ‘Epstein Files,’ U.S. immigration authorities are intensifying efforts to combat marriage fraud. Documents allege Jeffrey Epstein used fraudulent same-sex marriages to help associates bypass legal hurdles. DHS and USCIS officials have signaled a zero-tolerance policy, launching ‘Operation PARRIS’ to investigate thousands of suspected cases. The crackdown aims to protect the integrity of the immigration system and address national security concerns.
