By Juan Mann
09/12/2005
[Related by Juan Mann:
The marriage visa racket is alive and well as a means of circumventing immigration law.
And, since the 1996 amendments to the Immigration Act came into effect, visa fraud has been blossoming under a new guise — the use of "domestic violence" charges by aliens as both a weapon against American citizens and a path to a green card.
Under Section 204(a)(1)(A)(iii) of the Immigration Act, an alien spouse who claims that she or her child has been battered, or has been the subject of extreme cruelty perpetrated by her American spouse or fiancé, can get permanent resident status on her own. It can be and is granted by the alien-friendly U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without any proof or even further contact with the American.
(Men can claim spousal abuse too, but as a practical matter it’s usually women.)
The USCIS even publishes a "how to" guide for the self-petitioning spouse.
This raises the specter that the federal government is in effect facilitating a new breed of immigration fraud — false battery accusation against its own citizens.
I have been posting detailed letters on this subject from VDARE.com readers for years now. It never ceases to amaze me how men take the time to share their experiences of being hoodwinked and harassed and even possibly jailed through false accusations.
So over the years, these pages have become an unlikely forum for sounding a warning for unsuspecting American men: Beware Illegal Alien Women!
As the latest tragedy in this continuing saga, consider Dave’s story, e-mailed to me on August 30:
"I'd like to tell you my story and how my illegal immigrant wife is currently using our own American legal system to perhaps get me incarcerated, and also a permanent green card!
"I met my wife about a year and a half ago, when she arrived from Argentina as an au pair. We dated for eight months before getting married, because she started pressuring me. I was deeply in-love with her, felt like I had met the woman of my dreams and gave in. On top of this, I was about to graduate with a degree from college and her already being a professional in her home country (an M.D.), I thought that together we would live well and start a good, healthy family.
"BOY, WAS I WRONG! I've since had to drop out of school, due to the below case and all the money I've had to spend so far.
"As soon as she moved in with me a month later (she had to finish her work contract first), she became another person. She would physically and verbally abuse me, emotionally attack me, destroy my property and cause me pain and suffering almost every day. She hated the way I was and my living arrangements, the friends I had, everything about me!
'Funny thing is, she knew all of this while we dated. Now I realize all she was trying to do was provoke me into doing to same to her.
"Our short-lived marriage only lasted three months. She moved in with me in December, and in March I had had enough, so during our last argument (or should I say her last argument), which lasted five hours and during which she completely destroyed my apartment and physically abused me, I called the cops and filed a domestic violence report against her. They ordered her out of the house. Score one for the good guys.
"We still kept seeing each other for the next three months and kept being intimate, but she would sometimes show up at my house un-announced during the wee hours of the morning and break into my apartment through a back window. She said she just wanted to ’surprise' me and we always ended up having sex. Little did I know I was being set up by her all along!
"Then during the first week of June, she finally came clean and told me the only reason why she broke into my apartment continuously was to catch me off guard with another woman and to provoke me into calling the cops to report her break-ins. The last time she did this I told her 'no more,' so she started insulting, swearing, cursing and hitting me, then asking me to hit her back and or physically abuse her.
"When I called in my roommate to witness the event, she left and I didn’t hear back from her again.
"A month later, towards the end of July, I ran into her at a local public establishment (we were both hired to work at said place coincidentally) and she started the same pattern of provoking me, pushing and shoving and insulting me, until I again filed another police report on her. But this time, she acted.
"About a week after the above incident, a sheriff showed up at my house and served me 'restraining order' papers, claiming emotional abandonment, pain and suffering, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, harassment, stalking and physical abuse. I couldn’t believe it! The same day, I retained an attorney who had me file a restraining order against her to be used as leverage, using both police reports I had filed before.
"We went to court and she showed up with her mother, both in tears, claiming they didn’t speak any English (again, my wife is an M.D. in Argentina and a elementary school teacher here in the states) and also that they didn’t have any money for an attorney, when I know for a fact my wife has at least $10,000 saved up in her baNk account (I receive her statements).
"The court of course, appointed a lawyer for her. The case got continued until my attorney got my defense ready.
"So a week later it’s time for my restraining order against her, and guess what? She hadn’t been served yet, so they continue the case.
"Now let me get this straight: it took the police 4 days to find and serve me from the day she filed, yet she still hasn’t been served and it’s been four weeks for me already, and I gave the police three different addresses where she could be found (one home address and two work addresses). Can you believe it?
"Right now I am still in court proceedings to get her restraining order dropped and mine enforced. In the meantime, I've sent the USCIS evidence of the marriage fraud (she’s since been dating an old college friend of hers from Medical school from Argentina, coincidence or what?), but have not heard back from them.
"I have harassing e-mails from her mother and her, pressuring me into divorcing her, even though North Carolina law says we have to be living separate and apart for a year, change of address confirmations from the U.S. Postal Service, police reports against her, pictures of her and her new 'hubby,' friend’s testimonials, all kinds of stuff. Yet, when I met with an Immigrations officer to report her, all he said was: 'Just submit the paperwork to the main office and we'll take care of the rest.'
"Is there any way we can stop this scam that all foreign women know they can get away with? We need to raise public awareness and let our Congressmen take action!
"The USCIS is even aware of these scams, yet they protect 'battered and abused immigrant women' under false allegations, and hurt innocent U.S. citizens in the long run!"
The Mainstream Media is constantly running stories about deserving immigrants and how they are oppressed by the current system.
How about some publicity for Americans who have been victimized by immigrant marriage fraud?
Juan Mann is a lawyer and the proprietor of DeportAliens.com.