Like a lot of Americans with apparently far too much time on our hands, I have spent far too much time speculating about the home life of Natasha from America’s Next Top Model. It just really bothers me to hear that she came over from Russia at the age of 18, with no English skills, to marry a man twice her age. Mostly because it scares me a little that men seek women out in this "mail order" sort of way.
You can say what you want about love and blah, blah, blah, but it either reeks of frightening paternalism ("I want to take care of her") or control or both.
That’s why an article on law.com caught my eye this morning. Apparently, last month, U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper reversed
his own decision, now finding that the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act
of 2005 which requires male users to reveal their arrests or
convictions for violent crimes does not restrict a web site’s
commercial free speech rights. That web site, European Connections & Tours Inc., had sought an injunction arguing that the law was costly and potentially damaging to business (which of course outweighs any benefit to society, right?).
In fact, Preston Steckel (yes, I do imagine him wearing an ascot and smoking a pipe), the president of European Connections in
Alpharetta, Georgia, said he was "very disappointed in the outcome."
The law is meant to protect women who are brought to the US from foreign countries for marriage "or romance" and requires brokers to obtain certification from their U.S. customers documenting whether they have
ever been the subject of civil protection or restraining orders;
whether they have been arrested or convicted on criminal charges that
include homicide, assault, domestic violence, sexual assault, torture,
kidnapping or stalking; and whether they have any arrests or
convictions associated with engaging in prostitution or procuring
prostitutes. It also requires customers to disclose marital histories and the ages of any
children under 18. Further, it requires international marriage brokers to
search national and state sex offender registries for the names of the
men they may enlist and provide that information to the women.
The 2006 law was passed in response to a rising rate of
domestic violence against immigrant women, many of whom entered America
under temporary visas as "mail-order brides." A 1999 report to Congress by the USCIS estimated that 4,000 to 6,000 American men a year are matched with
foreign women seeking marriage – most of whom are from the Philippines where a majority of women live in poverty. By, 2004, those
numbers had doubled and there was a corresponding increase in domestic violence cases involving
"mail-order brides."
The most public of these abuse cases involved Anastasia King, who
came to Washington State from Kyrgyzstan. King was 18 when she decided to seek a husband through a broker. Her new husband did not disclose a history of violence and protective orders, who eventually murdered her. Before his arrest, he was seeking another "mail order" bride through a brokerage firm like Steckel’s.
Steckel is not in agreement with the judge’s order but has said he will not appeal. He has instead converted two of his web sites,
EastWestmatch.com and RussianLadies.com, to entertainment sites with
information and chat rooms. And yes, they are as horrifying as you imagine. His third site, Globaladies.com, will conform to the new regulation, he claims.
Me? I just don’t get it.
