January 11, 2019

"Thousands of requests by men to bring in child and adolescent brides to live in the United States were approved over the past decade... In one case, a 49-year-old man applied for admission for a 15-year-old girl."

"The approvals are legal: The Immigration and Nationality Act does not set minimum age requirements. And in weighing petitions for spouses or fiancees, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services goes by whether the marriage is legal in the home country and then whether the marriage would be legal in the state where the petitioner lives.... Some victims of forced marriage say the lure of a U.S. passport combined with lax U.S. marriage laws are partly fueling the petitions. 'My passport ruined my life,' said Naila Amin, a dual citizen from Pakistan who grew up in New York City. She was forcibly married at 13 in Pakistan and applied for papers for her 26-year-old husband to come to the country. 'People die to come to America,' she said. 'I was a passport to him. They all wanted him here, and that was the way to do it.'"

Time Magazine reports.

ADDED: I assume the reason the age of marriage is so low in some states is because there are American residents who get pregnant, and marriage is a traditional option for dealing with this predicament. But these low-marriage-age laws should not be adopted as the age for bringing someone in from another country to unite with someone who's already here. That kind of marriage doesn't deal with the after effects of sex. It exposes more young girls to sexual activity!

54 comments:

tim maguire said...

Trump is ruining child marriage because fewer Pakistanis will want to come here after he's finished ruining the country with his unpresidential tweets.

gilbar said...

guys with the child brides; they're all Baptists? Right? Or, are some of them Pentecostals?
I mean, they've got to have Some Religion; right? Or are they all atheists?

Nonapod said...

The country where most requests came from was Mexico, followed by Pakistan, Jordan, the Dominican Republic and Yemen. Middle Eastern nationals had the highest percentage of overall approved petitions.

I'm guessing that most of the Mexican requests were not actually from native born Mexicans.

FIDO said...
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FIDO said...

How can you apply your provincial and pedestrian standards of what marriage should mean to these foreign born men, Ms. Althouse?

If it is not my business on what defines marriage, it is not yours either.

But in fact, these men have far more historical 'proof' that these marriages have worked in the past. Same sex marriage...not so much.

This is the problem when you use slash and burn tactics on our cultural forest of standards. You have nothing left to protect you from the winds.

FIDO said...
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Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

why, they're just kids!

you old goat!

Ambrose said...

Evil white people.

gahrie said...

Now cover all the female teachers having sex with their students.

FIDO said...

But but but...I was told that diversity and having broad spectrum non-white values was always a great good which should be embraced like a 15 year old child bride.

It is always gratifying when Lefties are forced to admit that they don't really mean what they try to force on everyone else.

FIDO said...

Different headline: American women agitate to end H-1 Marital Visa program. Still hate Trump.

Bay Area Guy said...

Do these child brides vote Democrat or not? If not, nobody cares!

Rob said...

Then there's the case of a child groom and his wife, who is also his sister. And she's now a member of Congress. Is this a great country, or what?

Rob said...
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Ralph L said...

But Scarlett, the Wilkes always marry their cousins.

WK said...

Is there a child groom issue?

Leland said...

I guess some people's rebuttal argument is that by being able to enter without going through the INS; there is no need to use marriage as an excuse. We do need common sense immigration reform, but one side seems to insist we just open our borders, let anyone in, and allow them to commit crimes without repercussion, while we arrest and jail US citizens for the same crimes.

mezzrow said...

I guess I'm to assume that Judge Roy Moore is involved in this in some way?

Otherwise, I couldn't possibly comment.

Carol said...

Funny, I just read Submission by Houllebecq and he implied this is how Islam will appeal to Western men. Up to 4 child brides! when one is worn out, she'll continue to cook for you while you're on another. What's not to like?

Glad I'm old.

Bob Boyd said...

"Glad I'm old."

Because you like to cook?

eric said...

I'm confused by this story.

The one girl with dual citizenship,she isn't being brought here, right? She is already here and being used to bring an older male here?

And the mention of Mexico throws me off too. I believe in Mexico the age of consent is 13. Are there 13 year olds coming with 40 year old men? Or, are they teens etti g married? You know, boy and girl are both teens?

Sebastian said...

Look, what's it to us that these people have a different understanding of the Meaning of Life and the Universe?

Anything goes, as Tony K told us in no uncertain terms.

Seeing Red said...

The law and the tax code haven’t caught up with being this progressive. But I’m sure they get benefits provided by the US taxpayer somehow.

rehajm said...

The law and the tax code haven’t caught up with being this progressive

Number in household-two. Married filing jointly. One child tax credit.

Seeing Red said...

And the mention of Mexico throws me off too. I believe in Mexico the age of consent is 13. Are there 13 year olds coming with 40 year old men? Or, are they teens etti g married? You know, boy and girl are both teens?



Oh are those some of the “unaccompanied minors” crossing our border?

Well IF there’s going to be open borders, we’re going to have bring other laws into compliance. Since the lefties want us to do all the bending, I guess we will have to lower marrying age back to 13.

I’m sure NAMBLA will be salivating.

Seeing Red said...

3 child tax credits.

Or would that be double dipping child and marriage?

IF he dies does each child wife get married SS death benefits?

robother said...

The last decade. Hmm, wasn't there a President who admired Pakistani (and generally Islamic) culture who took office about 10 years ago? Probably just a coincidence.

Bob Boyd said...

The problem isn't limited to immigrants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvZgwtpPmLY

Yancey Ward said...

Line drawing is hard once you have declared line drawing is morally reprehensible.

jimbino said...

Our stupid and discriminatory pro-marriage immigration rules are partly to blame. If you or your family wishes to be joined in Amerika by a friend or future cook, the only answer is to marry him or her, since a foreign young person without job and house is almost always denied even a tourist visa that can be extended for up to 6 months.

And in the case of a resident who has serially married up to 5 different spouses in a lifetime, every one of them, if married for 10 years or more, plus all their common minor or studying children, no matter how indolent, will be entitled to social security benefits based on the earnings of the one working spouse.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Perhaps its time to close some loopholes?

Nah - the left are too busy salivating over impeaching Trump and hiking taxes.

Seeing Red said...

since a foreign young person without job and house is almost always denied even a tourist visa that can be extended for up to 6 months.

Perhaps the hosting family be required to file 3 years of tax returns and be responsible for all expenses of said “tourist.” Including health insurance?

But don’t some other countries require one to have a job before one enters their country?

Carol said...

3 child tax credits.

Right now the extra wives don't pass the Relationship Test. (Actual younger relative.)

But that can be fixed.

Drago said...


The political left and their house-trained lap-poodle LLR's continue their lock-step march in alliance with their islamic supremacist allies.

European courts outlawing criticism of Islam, Euro authorities allowing zones of Sharia courts for civil matters, European "law enforcement" actively covering up horrific islamic gang rape and assault violence, US lefty judges ruling FGM is a-ok, lefties/LLR's refusing to call islamic attacks for what they are, lefties in our schools pushing Islamic dogma and training, etc etc etc.

This list is endless and ever-growing.

And now this.

The left/LLR's think they can ride the islamic supremacist tiger and "reform it" long after it serves its purpose by devouring islamic supremacy opponents and helps deliver permanent political power to the dems.

They literally believe they can do that.

bagoh20 said...

Thousands of young women are being raped continuously becuase we have an immigration system that entices them here. I don't care about much of anything else until we shut that atrocity down. The damned Dems in congress need to build the fucking wall or get another job. Nothing else they could do would stop as much evil as fast as that would. Maybe they don't care about rape-rape. Nice message you got there: Break up your family, get raped, risk death, and spend thousands dollars you don't have so you can vote for us, becuase we care about you.

Rick said...

Then there's the case of a child groom and his wife, who is also his sister. And she's now a member of Congress. Is this a great country, or what?


Since half of America's legislators openly advocate subverting the law why would anyone think it a problem to commit fraud?

Unknown said...

> It exposes more young girls to sexual activity!

You say that like there is something wrong with it.

You mean like every pop song, tv ad, music video, and online forum?

Go back to re-education camp till you admit

"who are we to judge..."

Unknown said...

Didn't Steven Tyler adopt his underage paramour?

He's a cultural leader.

Arc of history.

Seeing Red said...

So was Jerry Lee Lewis. We as Americans, just aren’t that sophisticated yet.

Seeing Red said...

> It exposes more young girls to sexual activity!


Who wrote it here?

Available for sex and taxes.

FullMoon said...
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FullMoon said...

Well, some men do not date girls from America,unless they are closet freaks, so ......

Matt said...

Anybody catch this: "Amin, now 29, said she was betrothed to her first cousin Tariq when she was just 8 and he was 21."

Pedophilia, immigration fraud, and incest. Quite a trifecta.

William said...

Let us pause at this moment and reflect on the sterling example of Jeff Bezos. He's the world's richest man, and he cheated on his wife with an age appropriate mistress. It's this kind of self discipline and innate sense of decorum that allowed him to become the world's richest man. Feminists should be extravagant in their praise of this saint.

Howard said...

Fortunately the tremendous Wall of concrete steel paper mache whatever will stop this cold

FIDO said...
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Ken B said...

Good thing you have retired or your “Added” would paint a targeton your back.

Wince said...

Sen. Robert Menendez and Clinton buddy Jeffrey Epstein had the "Lolita Express" backwards, apparently.

And Clinton donor Ed Buck wants to know how these rules apply to "black dudes".

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Men are attracted to younger women (that includes teens, biologically speaking). Women are attracted to successful men. It usually takes time to become successful, often decades.

This is natural selection at work. Younger men and older women deny science.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Wait... all cultures are equal! Pedos don't bother dumbocrats as Howard has attested. Short eyes abound!

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"I do".

Kids say the darndest things,eh? especially under duress

FIDO said...

Do you remember that gorgeous Afghani girl on the cover of Nat Geo in the 80's?

They found her decades later and her life looked...rough. Horrible actually.

Question: do you think she would have preferred coming to America as a 16 year old 'child bride' or staying in Afghanistan for 3 governments, 2 refugee crisises, the Taliban, and American War there?

FIDO said...

Because let us not forget: these girls imported as child brides here would still be children brides in their own countries. Shabrat Gula, an orphan, was wed at at 13.

So these girls WILL be sexually active regardless, but I suppose it is harder to remain pro Islam when the deflowering happens here.

A Feminist might actually have to think about the plight of poor Shabrat instead of mythical wage gaps and manspreading.

FIDO said...

Oops. Sharbat