Yes, the system is broke.
A friend of mine married a woman four years ago. She is from another country. It took 18 months for him to get permission to bring her here. Every six months they have to "prove" they are still married and together.
They even a child now.
She is still trying to get a permanent visa.
.
The system is not BROKE.
If your friend won't be CHEAP he would hire an immigration lawyer FIRST and find out that it is much more advisable to bring the woman here on a fiance visa than to marry her abroad.
But he was CHEAP, wasn't he?
and you seem to think that getting a permanent residency is an overnight procedure. Hold your horses - there is a line. And there is a lot of fraud as well - what is wrong that they have to prove they are still married - it is a process and they should go through it.
It seems that you would like some to be more even than the others, because they are your friends.