Former Bridgeport employee Wanda Geter-Pataky is in the news once again. But this time, it’s for something she’s doing in New Haven.
Geter-Pataky is also a justice of the peace, and there are questions about weddings she officiated. Specifically, weddings allegedly involving non-citizens and whether they were meant to get around immigration law.
Video from the New Haven Independent allegedly shows Geter-Pataky officiating one such wedding recently at New Haven City Hall.
“Here's this woman who is at the center of a statewide absentee ballot scandal coming in with five, 10, 15 couples at the time to rush them through a process to get married,” New Haven Independent founding editor Paul Bass said during an interview.
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NBC Connecticut independently obtained copies of 114 licenses from marriages Geter-Pataky officiated during a 30-day span ending Oct. 15.
Most licenses show one applicant per couple was born outside the U.S. and doesn’t have a social security number, indications they may not be U.S. citizens.
These occurred while she was on paid leave for her Bridgeport city job because she’s accused of absentee ballot fraud in both the 2019 and 2023 mayoral races.
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She was arrested over the summer on charges stemming from the 2019 race and has been accused of wrongdoing in the 2023 race in complaints submitted to the State Elections Enforcement Commission, or SEEC.
Geter-Pataky was also captured on camera stuffing a number of ballots into an absentee ballot drop box during the primary for the 2023 race.
She was fired earlier this month. When reached for comment today, she hung up.
Mayor Justin Elicker (D-New Haven) said the Elm City has seen a rise in out-of-town, including non-citizens, getting married there.
It can be easier for legal immigrants to obtain permanent status in the U.S. if they are married to a U.S. citizen.
“I think it’s one of the fast paths because this country, I think, believes in uniting families,” Immigration Lawyer Neal Guttenberg said.
Senate Republicans have asked Attorney General William Tong (D) to launch an investigation.
“We're simply asking for the attorney general’s office to do what they do in many cases and investigate whether there’s illegal activity occurring,” Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Minority Leader) said.
Tong said in a statement that the case would fall outside of his office’s jurisdiction because it appears to involve alleged violations of criminal and immigration law.
Elicker said the city has made changes, including a two-day waiting period, to deter people coming from out-of-state to get married.
But he also said the city doesn’t have a role in determining why two people are tying the knot.
“We're not the love police, we’re not trying to determine if they’re actually in love, if it’s a legitimate marriage or if there’s something else going on,” Elicker said.
A New Haven city employee quit last year after notifying federal officials about concerns over the issue.
