These Are the Unusual Rules People in the Witness Protection Program Must Obey

A witness may imagine protection as a chance to abandon an unwanted relationship and begin again with someone else. The government does not allow participants to treat relocation like a secret divorce service. Officials examine who is actually endangered before deciding which family members should disappear.

Gerald Shur described recognizing that one married witness hoped to leave his wife behind and enter protection with his mistress. The plan did not work. A witness may receive a new identity and home, but cannot use federal protection simply to replace one partner with another.