The TSU legislative caucus yesterday urged colleagues from across party lines to endorse a bill that would give the Bureau of Immi-gration the power to investigate so its officials can help crack down on illegal immigrants from China.
The caucus, which has made unraveling cross-strait entanglements its top task, expressed grave concerns that fake marriages between people in Taiwan and China have mushroomed in recent years.
"Bogus marriages across the Strait have become an increasingly serious problem," TSU legislative whip Lin Chih-lung (
"But without proper authorization, immigration officials can do nothing when spotting suspicious activities," Lin said.
Lin and fellow TSU lawmakers held a closed-door meeting with officials from the National Security Bureau, the Mainland Affairs Council and Central Police Administration yesterday.
He suggested empowering immigration officials with certain police powers so they can help bust illegal immigrants.
Legislator Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙) also backed the need for such legislation, noting many Chinese have faked marriages to Taiwanese in order to escape China's poverty.
Liao said government statistics show that 10 Chinese men in their twenties had faked marriages to women over the age of 70 in order to work in Taiwan.
As many as 86,000 Taiwanese men, aged 70 and older, have married Chinese women less than half their age, Liao said.
He said another 46,000 men, either handicapped or with low incomes had done the same.
"Like officials at the Mainland Affairs Council, I doubt those Taiwanese men, being economically disadvantaged, can support their new family members from China," Liao said.
It is not uncommon for Chinese women to take part in fake marriages to Taiwanese in order to engage in prostitution here.
Over 3,000 such cases were uncovered between 1998 and 2001.
Human smugglers are believed to have played a key role in arranging such alliances.
According to Lin, older men who agree to take part in such marriage arrangements normally get NT$50,000 in addition to a free trip to China.
He urged the other caucuses to back the TSU's proposal to give immigration officials greater authority as a way of curbing such practices.
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