"RETURN TO SENDER":
NEW MAIL ORDER BRIDE LAW IMPOSES TOUGH NEW
CONDITIONS ON U.S. MEN WHO SEEK A FOREIGN
PARTNER, BUT WILL LIKELY BY STRUCK DOWN BY
THE COURTS FOR SERIOUS CONSTITUTIONAL FLAWS
February 2006: Havertown, PA
USA - The U.S. Congress last month passed
tough new conditions on U.S. men who seek
a romance partner abroad through romance services.
The new mail order bride law, called "International
Marriage Broker Regulation Act" or IMBRA for
short, was enacted in response to the death
cases of two immigrant women in Washington
State who were abused and murdered by their
American citizen husbands. IMBRA was quietly
inserted onto the back of the widely-applauded
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to help
prevent domestic violence.
This new law requires any U.S.
mail order bride company, now called an "International
Marriage Broker" or IMB for short, to FIRST
secure from any gentleman customer extensive
background information such as criminal and
domestic violence history, and provide a copy
of this to the foreign lady client in her
native language and obtain a signed, written
consent as to that specific man from her BEFORE
the couple even communicate. There are stiff
penalties on the IMB mail order company for
any violations of these requirements, including
up to $25,000 civil fine and up to 5 years
in federal prison.
The proponents of this law, notably Sen. Maria
Cantwell (D-WA), argued that this would force
full disclosure of men's violent records,
if any, and enable the foreign lady customers
of IMB mail order companies, which they say
range up to 5000 with some charging hefty
fees, to decide for themselves if they want
to communicate and marry these men.
While the purpose of this new law is indeed
laudable, it will actually cause much MORE
HARM THAN GOOD for all concerned and is both
UNNECESSARY and probably UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
1) The law will "CHILL" the FREE SPEECH rights
of U.S. citizen men, operating as a "PRIOR
RESTRAINT" on their basic First Amendment
rights to even say "Hi" to a lady abroad.
And the forced disclosure of personal information
and documents to total strangers such as IMB
mail order company employees and foreign women
simply to communicate is a gross VIOLATION
OF PRIVACY RIGHTS. Wendy McElroy, in her "iFeminist"
Op-Ed piece for Fox News last month, insightfully
remarked that this law "brands all American
men as abusers", declaring that now "the 'Ugly
American' has become an article of federal
law, supported by Congress".
2) Most IMB mail order companies work with
hundreds and even thousands of U.S. men and
foreign women, thus making the onerous COMPLIANCE
REQUIREMENTS for individual signed releases
IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET. Many such companies will
be forced out of business, move offshore or
go underground. Many foreign women, who know
that there are thousands of happy marriages
across the U.S. and some even among their
family and friends, would thus actually have
fewer romance options with American men and
probably be less well protected from potential
abuse.
3) Existing law, which is expanded on by this
law, fully protects foreign women from potential
abuse anyway in the VISA PETITION PROCESS:
The foreign woman is provided domestic violence
information on her rights, and supplied with
the man's background documents in her language
by the Embassy Officer BEFORE she secures
a visa to enter the U.S. to see her gentleman
suitor.
END
About Gary Bala:
Mr. Bala, a member of the American Immigration
Lawyers Assn. (AILA) with 24+ years of legal
experience, has completed hundreds of family
cases, fiancée visas, spousal petitions and
consultations. His office is in Pennsylvania.
Blog Article: "The Backdoor Law
That Sabotages International Romance" http://usaimmigrationattorney.com/nucleus/index
Electronic Petition to Congress:
"Repeal the International Marriage Broker
Law"
http://new.petitiononline.com/imbra05/petition.html
Copyright©, 2006. All Rights
Reserved.
Gary Bala, USA Immigration Attorney.
