An Independent story about factory-line marriages involving out-of-state couples including Indian immigrants has sparked calls for investigation and reexamination of how municipalities process licenses.The story, published Thursday, revealed that the number of monthly marriages processed by New Haven’s Office of Vital Statistics has almost quadrupled over the course of this year to nearly 400.The increase comes largely from out-of-state couples, many of them brought to City Hall in groups by ​“frequent flyer” justices of the peace, most of all a Bridgeport politico currently being prosecuted for alleged absentee ballot fraud named Wanda Geter-Pataky. Geter-Pataky conducted 114 marriages in New Haven in one recent month-long period alone. Almost all involved out-of-state couples with one immigrant spouse, most often from India. Geter-Pataky shepherded as many as 10 couples per day through the licensing process and then exchanging vows.The Independent also found that similar waves of out-of-state half-immigrant couples have tied up work at marriage-license offices across the state, from Trumbull to Bridgeport to Southington. An attorney contacted by arrangers of some of the marriages said they tend to involve graduate students seeking permanent permission to stay in the country.State Senate Republicans issued a statement calling for the state attorney general to conduct a ​“thorough review” of the situation.The Independent article ​“raises a host of troubling red flags. An experienced immigration attorney who was quoted in the article described it as ​‘a classic indicator of marriage fraud,’ ” read the Republicans’ statement, issued by Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding and State Sens. Rob Sampson and Eric Berthel.“So, is he correct? Is anyone investigating it? This story raises serious questions about our broken immigration system and its impact on Connecticut taxpayers. It also calls into question possible abuses of the system which involve non-citizens and potentially vulnerable young women.”In response, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong stated through a spokesperson that ​“if these allegations are true, they should be fully investigated and prosecuted to the extent of the law by criminal authorities.”Kica Matos, who serves as president of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF), cautioned against using this instance to attack undocumented immigrants, who have nothing to do with this case. Nor does this involve immigrants based in Connecticut.“This is not about undocumented immigrants in this country,” she said. ​“These appear to be people who are in the country legally right now and are desperate to remain and become citizens. More than anything else, this is an example of how hopelessly broken our immigration system is.” A New Haven justice of the peace who has stopped accepting offers by arrangers to conduct these marriages, Matt Fantastic Loter, cited unintended consequences of efforts like New Haven’s (and other municipalities’) offices to slow down the process of applying for and then obtaining licenses.“It’s incredibly frustrating that this has forced the office to institute new policy that does make the service worse for legitimate New Haveners looking to get married,” Loter, who still conducts 50 – 75 other City Hall weddings a year, wrote in a comment posted to the Independent article. ​“It used to be a very quick and easy process, but now it’s a roll of the dice if there will be 10 couples lined up on the assembly line and causing huge delays. … It was so nice for couples to be able to come in with nothing and walk out married with their certificate in hand in under an hour, but that’s no longer the case and it sucks for actual city residents that need to do regular business. It’s certainly not our business as JPs or city employees to play detective on the validity of a marriage, and that’s a can of worms we absolutely shouldn’t open, but it’s totally absurd what’s been going on here and something has to change.”