8 Azerbaijanis Deported From United States in 2017

An increase in deportation of Azerbaijani citizens from the United States was recorded last year, according to U.S. government data, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

In 2017, 8 Azerbaijanis were officially deported as compared to 1 in 2016, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) statistics show.

Overall, deportations or foreign citizens from the U.S. totaled 226,119 in 2017, a decline of 6 percent from the previous year.

The ICE, whose officers pick up people for deportation away from the border, made 143,470 arrests last year, an increase of more than 20% when compared to 2016.

Only last month, federal prosecutors in Florida filed several indictments targeting what investigators say was a fraudulent-marriage ring, linking Americans with partners from former Soviet satellite countries, including Azerbaijan.

Nine people, two from Azerbaijan, have been arrested as a result.

Investigators allege the Americans were paid - in some case up to $20,000 - to enter into sham marriages with foreign nationals so that the foreigners could apply to become U.S. resident.

The arrested Azerbaijani citizens are: Khagan Mushfig Oglu Nabili, (24 years old) and Svetlana Vladimirovna Shakhramanyan (28 years old).

A.Raufoglu

Washington D.C.