Published: July 20, 2006 09:52 am      

Marriage law an ‘unnecessary bureaucratic entanglement’

Jeanne Smoot’s recent Op-ed (“Marriage Broker law seeks to protect women”) grossly misrepresents the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) with outrageous distortion, deception and exaggeration.

The highly controversial law is the first federal law designed to regulate the dating behavior of American citizens by requiring clients of International marriage (dating) agencies to submit personal and criminal information before communication can occur between an American and a foreigner. The new law amends the application form for fiancée Visas, requiring submission of background information including: Whether or not the applicant has ever been accused of various crimes, including arrests not resulting in convictions, and whether the marriage was arranged by a marriage agency.

IMBRA has already been passed and now Jeanne Smoot, from the Tahirih Justice Center (primary proponent of the law) suddenly appears desperate and defensive by responding to my article published in the Cumberland Times, June 20. Did they forget the law is already in effect? Are they concerned the deception used (by sponsors) to pass the law will be truthfully exposed?

On March 3, European Connections obtained a Temporary Restraining Order against IMBRA. Meanwhile a federal judge in Dayton, Ohio denied a TRO for a different group of marriage agencies, saying Americans have no “fundamental liberty interest” in Americans meeting foreigners in relationships. The Tahirih Justice Center intervened in both cases.

The various exaggerated “problems” associated with “international marriages” seem very unlikely considering IMB clients are typically in their 40s and well established in their careers, including many veterans who have served their country.

Ms. Smoot claims “abuse rates in marriages between U.S. citizens and foreign women are approximately three times higher than in the general U.S. population.” That’s a sensational statement falsely concocted to try and drum up support.

On March 22, Smoot‘s co-hort, Ms. Layli Miller -Muro stated on the “O’Reilly Factor” they had “no definitive way of knowing” how many of these International marriages would be involved in abusive relationships. So how can they (Tahirih Justice Center) determine the violence rate if they “have no definitive way of knowing?”

Ms. Smoot claims provisions of the new law are “reasonable — even modest,” with “criminal history disclosures being commonplace for an apartment or job.” Her statement is absurd considering the United States government has NEVER before required criminal history disclosure in order for two people to communicate.

IMBRA mistakenly assumes correspondence will result in marriage when 99 percent of correspondence is nothing more than “friendship letters” the government wants to regulate. Unreasonable!

Sponsors of the bill include Sen. Maria Cantwell (D- Washington), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Rep. Frank Wolf (R- Va.). Apparently the sponsors are foolhardy enough to believe clients of dating agencies should have their correspondence regulated while convicts can write letters to women that are uncensored by the government. How absurd!

IMBRA is an unnecessary bureaucratic entanglement that has destroyed thousands of marriages. There are already laws passed to protect immigrant women and their children from violence, including background checks done by Customs and Immigration since 9/11; self petitioning residency status for battered women (VAWA), U and T Visas; and state and federal laws to punish perpetrators of domestic abuse. The implementation of IMBRA is a fiasco that has destroyed the lives of thousands of law abiding-marriage minded men and women. IMBRA must be repealed.