Repeal IMBRA petition...

[ccmkoho 0]

But hey, what's a few abused, raped, tortured, and/or murdered women compared to the gutwrenching, heartbreaking inconvenience of filling out an extra form?

Imbra2005, there's no statistical proof/study that says international women are abused at a higher rate than domestic relationships. Please point me to a non-biased statistical study if it exits. Don't try to justify your position by picking and choosing individual cases. And don't tell me that ####### that American men are looking for submissive women.

This should get you started, if you are actually seeking the facts. The entire report is at:

http://legalmomentum.org/legalmomentum/files/dvusc.pdf

There is a growing body of research data demonstrating that immigrant women are a

particularly vulnerable group of victims of domestic violence. They tend to have fewer

resources, stay longer in the relationship, and sustain more severe physical and emotional

consequences as a result of the abuse and the duration of the abuse than other battered

women in the United States (Abraham, 2000; Anderson, 1993; Ammar, Orloff, Dutton &

Hass, 2005; Ammar & Orloff, 2006; Bui, 2003; Hass, Dutton, & Orloff, 2000; Menjivar

& Salcido, 2002; Raj & Silverman, 2002; Raj & Silverman, 2003; Rodriguez, 2004;

Valdez, 2005; Warrier, 2002). In particular, research studies have found that abusers of

immigrant domestic violence victims actively use their power to control their wife’s and

children’s immigration status and threats of deportation as tools that play upon victim’s

fears so as to keep their abused spouses and children from seeking help or from calling

the police to report the abuse (American Bar Association,1994; Ammar, Orloff, Dutton &

Hass, 2005; Natarajan, 2003; Orloff, Dutton, Hass, & Ammar, 2003; Raj & Silverman,

2003; Ramos & Runner, 1999; Raj, Silverman, McCleary-Sills & Liu, 2005).

Although the lifetime prevalence of domestic violence in the U.S. in the general

population is estimated at 22.1% (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), the prevalence of domestic

violence for immigrant women has been reported as being much higher. In a study of

immigrant Latinas in Atlanta; Perilla, Bakerman, and Norris (1994) found that half of

them have sought out assistance for abuse. The Immigrant Women’s Task Force of the

Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Service (CIRRS, 1990) in their study of

immigrant Latina and Filipina women in the San Francisco Bay Area found that 34% of

Latinas and 20 % of Filipinas admitted experiencing domestic violence. More than half

(52%) of the battered Latina said they were still living with the abusive partner. Taken

together, studies of intimate partner violence prevalence in Latina, South Asian, and

Korean immigrant women report numbers that range from 30% to 50% (Dutton, Orloff &

Hass, 2000; Raj & Silverman, 2002ab; Rodriguez & Duran, 1995; Song, 1996).

Yeah right, just look at the source of the link. "Legal momentum - Advancing Women's Rights". I think we all know why you're here and it's not seeking advice for immigration.

Thanks for keeping an eye on all us VJ's and educating us.

[Cristy 4]

But hey, what's a few abused, raped, tortured, and/or murdered women compared to the gutwrenching, heartbreaking inconvenience of filling out an extra form?

Imbra2005, there's no statistical proof/study that says international women are abused at a higher rate than domestic relationships. Please point me to a non-biased statistical study if it exits. Don't try to justify your position by picking and choosing individual cases. And don't tell me that ####### that American men are looking for submissive women.

This should get you started, if you are actually seeking the facts. The entire report is at:

http://legalmomentum.org/legalmomentum/files/dvusc.pdf

There is a growing body of research data demonstrating that immigrant women are a

particularly vulnerable group of victims of domestic violence. They tend to have fewer

resources, stay longer in the relationship, and sustain more severe physical and emotional

consequences as a result of the abuse and the duration of the abuse than other battered

women in the United States (Abraham, 2000; Anderson, 1993; Ammar, Orloff, Dutton &

Hass, 2005; Ammar & Orloff, 2006; Bui, 2003; Hass, Dutton, & Orloff, 2000; Menjivar

& Salcido, 2002; Raj & Silverman, 2002; Raj & Silverman, 2003; Rodriguez, 2004;

Valdez, 2005; Warrier, 2002). In particular, research studies have found that abusers of

immigrant domestic violence victims actively use their power to control their wife’s and

children’s immigration status and threats of deportation as tools that play upon victim’s

fears so as to keep their abused spouses and children from seeking help or from calling

the police to report the abuse (American Bar Association,1994; Ammar, Orloff, Dutton &

Hass, 2005; Natarajan, 2003; Orloff, Dutton, Hass, & Ammar, 2003; Raj & Silverman,

2003; Ramos & Runner, 1999; Raj, Silverman, McCleary-Sills & Liu, 2005).

Although the lifetime prevalence of domestic violence in the U.S. in the general

population is estimated at 22.1% (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), the prevalence of domestic

violence for immigrant women has been reported as being much higher. In a study of

immigrant Latinas in Atlanta; Perilla, Bakerman, and Norris (1994) found that half of

them have sought out assistance for abuse. The Immigrant Women’s Task Force of the

Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Service (CIRRS, 1990) in their study of

immigrant Latina and Filipina women in the San Francisco Bay Area found that 34% of

Latinas and 20 % of Filipinas admitted experiencing domestic violence. More than half

(52%) of the battered Latina said they were still living with the abusive partner. Taken

together, studies of intimate partner violence prevalence in Latina, South Asian, and

Korean immigrant women report numbers that range from 30% to 50% (Dutton, Orloff &

Hass, 2000; Raj & Silverman, 2002ab; Rodriguez & Duran, 1995; Song, 1996).

Yeah right, just look at the source of the link. "Legal momentum - Advancing Women's Rights". I think we all know why you're here and it's not seeking advice for immigration.

Thanks for keeping an eye on all us VJ's and educating us.

yeah how horrible to try to advance womens rights. those #$%^&*@#

[Imbra2005 0]

[

Yeah right, just look at the source of the link. "Legal momentum - Advancing Women's Rights". I think we all know why you're here and it's not seeking advice for immigration.

Thanks for keeping an eye on all us VJ's and educating us.

Yes, shoot the messenger when the message isn't to your liking. You asked for the studies, and that group has compiled them. Rational discussion is out of the question, isn't it?

Oh, and you have no idea why I'm here, but I do find your conspiracy theories entertaining.

[Chuckles 0]

I am all for protecting the rights of women throughout the world, as in many cases their voices are not being heard. It is an epidemic of sorts, and I can agree foreign women coming to the US are at risk.

However, parts of the IMBRA law just doesn't cut it for me. The police check is a wonderful idea. You must realize that there was still a background check being done on the USC, and this isn't going to suddenly expose a mass of criminals. It will expose some though, and that is great!

I just can't agree with what I understand about the rest of it. Someone please explain how the background checks before you even get someones phone number will reduce the occurance of this crime? Do you think all criminals will continue to use these services? Do you think there is no other way for them to contact women? What about our American women? Shouldn't we protect them in the same manner? Why as a man am I assumed guilty until proven innocent?

[Barry2005 0]

The land of the free? Ha! I wonder what the ACLU thinks. Suddendly I need paperwork BEFORE I date someone?

[storyteller 0]

I am all for protecting the rights of women throughout the world, as in many cases their voices are not being heard. [...]

I just can't agree with what I understand about the rest of it. Someone please explain how the background checks before you even get someones phone number will reduce the occurance of this crime? Do you think all criminals will continue to use these services? Do you think there is no other way for them to contact women? What about our American women? Shouldn't we protect them in the same manner? Why as a man am I assumed guilty until proven innocent?

Well.. if i understand correctly, it doesn't even apply to all the non-american women the same way... Only to those who wish to marry in the US... apparently, marrying outside US and subsequently applying for a CR1 makes them somehow less vulnerable to abuse. Which makes this law discriminating by definition.

The land of the free? Ha! I wonder what the ACLU thinks. Suddendly I need paperwork BEFORE I date someone?

Correction. Not before you date. Before you speak to, or make any contact.

I agree though, petition is poorly written, even style- and spelling-wise, and tries to focus on the brokers-related aspects of the law for the most part, while in fact IMHO there's much more to the discrimination imposed by the law regardless whether broker was involved or not. Indeed, sounds like written by a broker's lobbyist.. Most people (at least whom i know) did not use any brokers, and the aspects of the law that would apply to most of the people are not emphasized in the petition at all. The whole tone leaves an impression that someone with a vested interest just tries to capitalize on mass resentment and back-firing issues that this law seems to cause.

Edited June 9, 2006 by storyteller

[ppboo 0]

To me, it is really not about the law, it is really how this law being rollout and implement... Simple to say, if the process is not ready and in place for the law, it should not recall cases that already in the path and pipeline...

I think added with an additional classification, Form or VISA type might be a better solution to accommodate the law instead of impacting everyone applying for K1 VISA.

IMBRA, by the name shouldn’t it be just applicable to the International marriage broker? Why does it impacting everyone in the K1 path?

[Jersey Girl 2]

Imbra2005, is this new Act connected in some way with immigration reform in general? Is the government quietly closing many loopholes that were previously abused? (It would help if you identified yourself in order to have some credibility.)

[dwar49 0]

Imbra2005, is this new Act connected in some way with immigration reform in general? Is the government quietly closing many loopholes that were previously abused? (It would help if you identified yourself in order to have some credibility.)

Just had to put my two cents in on this one.

First of all alot of what is in the IMBRA law will have to be sorted out in the courts. Including what is the definition of "marriage broker"

Second this law is long overdue, and is part of the effort going on internationally to control the issue of trafficing in humans.

Third if USCIS would have had their act together, this would have had very little impact on those of us involved in trying to get our fiancees or spouses approval to enter the US

If you look at all the court cases already filed againest IMBRA, you will find that they are sponsored by the very agencies that this law is out to control. The Marriage Broker business is a multi million (maybe even billion) dollar business that takes advantage and exploits everyone involved with it. It is the law perfect? NO.

But it at least addresses an issue that should have been addressed years ago.

Just for the fun of it, I too like the theory of IMBRA2005 being a plant and part of some effort to control us.

Maybe we are more important than what we thought!!! (notice tongue in cheek here)

[jhags 0]

Imbra2005, is this new Act connected in some way with immigration reform in general? Is the government quietly closing many loopholes that were previously abused? (It would help if you identified yourself in order to have some credibility.)

Several people have asked the same thing of Imbra2005 but they dont respond to who they are. Sounds like what you would call astroturfing if you ask me, so I wouldn't worry too much about it...

Anyways I have to agree the law does have some good ideas in it...but there is also many loop holes as previously mentioned that its some what sad as the ultimate goal of protecting people is going to be far from achieved here.

Same thing will happen as always...criminals will still get passed that and they still can be abussive. Does that make people using K1 more abusive then others...I hardly think so and to label people as such is sad. Domestic Abuse calls make up a good percentage of emergency service calls in a day its a very common thing within the US, Canada, and most places around the world already so to label people using K1 visa's the way Imbra2005 has tried to do is some what suspect...Bottom line good law, poorly written, and people with criminal intent will still sneak through the system as always.

[Yodrak 7]

ppboo,

Because the name given to the Act reflects only one part of what the Act encompasses, the name does not reflect the full scope of the Act.

Yodrak

...

IMBRA, by the name shouldn't it be just applicable to the International marriage broker? Why does it impacting everyone in the K1 path?

[A Man of Action 0]

IMBRA is Done.

I was sponsored by hilary clinton adn signed by US President Bush.

See how it affects US Citizens:

See:

www.usaimmigrationattorney.com/nucleus/

(go to bottom and click on "Read More")

See:

http://www.latineuro.com/garybalasview.htm

Now sign the petition!

http://www.petitiononline.com/imbra05/petition.html

geez!

[Qiao - 108 days 0]

But hey, what's a few abused, raped, tortured, and/or murdered women compared to the gutwrenching, heartbreaking inconvenience of filling out an extra form?

Imbra2005, there's no statistical proof/study that says international women are abused at a higher rate than domestic relationships. Please point me to a non-biased statistical study if it exits. Don't try to justify your position by picking and choosing individual cases. And don't tell me that ####### that American men are looking for submissive women.

This should get you started, if you are actually seeking the facts. The entire report is at:

http://legalmomentum.org/legalmomentum/files/dvusc.pdf

There is a growing body of research data demonstrating that immigrant women are a

particularly vulnerable group of victims of domestic violence. They tend to have fewer

resources, stay longer in the relationship, and sustain more severe physical and emotional

consequences as a result of the abuse and the duration of the abuse than other battered

women in the United States (Abraham, 2000; Anderson, 1993; Ammar, Orloff, Dutton &

Hass, 2005; Ammar & Orloff, 2006; Bui, 2003; Hass, Dutton, & Orloff, 2000; Menjivar

& Salcido, 2002; Raj & Silverman, 2002; Raj & Silverman, 2003; Rodriguez, 2004;

Valdez, 2005; Warrier, 2002). In particular, research studies have found that abusers of

immigrant domestic violence victims actively use their power to control their wife’s and

children’s immigration status and threats of deportation as tools that play upon victim’s

fears so as to keep their abused spouses and children from seeking help or from calling

the police to report the abuse (American Bar Association,1994; Ammar, Orloff, Dutton &

Hass, 2005; Natarajan, 2003; Orloff, Dutton, Hass, & Ammar, 2003; Raj & Silverman,

2003; Ramos & Runner, 1999; Raj, Silverman, McCleary-Sills & Liu, 2005).

Although the lifetime prevalence of domestic violence in the U.S. in the general

population is estimated at 22.1% (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), the prevalence of domestic

violence for immigrant women has been reported as being much higher. In a study of

immigrant Latinas in Atlanta; Perilla, Bakerman, and Norris (1994) found that half of

them have sought out assistance for abuse. The Immigrant Women’s Task Force of the

Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Service (CIRRS, 1990) in their study of

immigrant Latina and Filipina women in the San Francisco Bay Area found that 34% of

Latinas and 20 % of Filipinas admitted experiencing domestic violence. More than half

(52%) of the battered Latina said they were still living with the abusive partner. Taken

together, studies of intimate partner violence prevalence in Latina, South Asian, and

Korean immigrant women report numbers that range from 30% to 50% (Dutton, Orloff &

Hass, 2000; Raj & Silverman, 2002ab; Rodriguez & Duran, 1995; Song, 1996).

First off let me say that I think some of what IMBRA does is good. I have no problem with making sure that a foreign fiance knows about a past history of violence. The main problem is the implementation.

That being said, your quoted studies are not statistically supportive of this issue. If you want to give some evidence, you need to show studies of abuse where the abuser was American and the abused was an immigrant. That is the only way you can logically show support of your argument.

Again, I am not against the intent of IMBRA, but if you want to debate, you need to use statistics that are valid to the issue.

I think a lot of this debate has decended into personal attack, which does not really add much value to this forum. Those of us that have had our applications held up indefinitely are naturally frustrated by the situation that we find ourselves in, but I think that some of the ideas being posted here are counter productive. Flooding USCIS with communication will likely not serve any more purpose than to slow down our applications further.

Am I frustrated? Absolutely. Do I want to do something to complain about it? You bet. Will it help? I am not sure at this point.

[Crlsgrl 0]

I'm tired of hearing the sob stories of how this law affects only American men.... HELLO I am the petitioner and I'm female, and it is delaying the process for me in the same way as it is the male petitioners.

And can we PLEASE throw petitions and legal injunctions into the equation??.... I'm SURE it will help to speed up this whole mess.. LET IT GO. If you don't have a criminal record, then what are you so worried about? If the US gov't had their act together, nobody would even care about this law.

[A Man of Action 0]

I'm tired of hearing the sob stories of how this law affects only American men.... HELLO I am the petitioner and I'm female, and it is delaying the process for me in the same way as it is the male petitioners.

And can we PLEASE throw petitions and legal injunctions into the equation??.... I'm SURE it will help to speed up this whole mess.. LET IT GO. If you don't have a criminal record, then what are you so worried about? If the US gov't had their act together, nobody would even care about this law.

IMBRA is Done.

It was sponsored by hilary clinton and signed into law by US President Bush.

See how it affects US Citizens:

See:

www.usaimmigrationattorney.com/nucleus/

(go to bottom and click on "Read More")

See:

http://www.latineuro.com/garybalasview.htm

Here is a petition to sign:

http://www.petitiononline.com/imbra05/petition.html