While a border wall certainly will help matters in curtailing illegal immigration, the federal government might want to take a look at revisiting a current loophole in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that allows for pedophiles to legally enter the U.S.
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, headed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), released a report on Friday that reveals the astounding number of foreign “child brides” who had requests approved by the U.S. government to gain entry with their older “spouses” or “fiancés.”
According to the "How the U.S. Immigration System Encourages Child Marriages" report:
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), a U.S. child may petition for a visa for a spouse or fiancé living in another country, and a U.S. adult may petition for a visa for a minor spouse or fiancé living abroad.
Obtaining a visa for a spouse or fiancé involves the approval of two federal government agencies. A petition is first made to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). If a petition is filed by or on behalf of a minor, USCIS does not require parental or judicial consent. Once USCIS approves a petition, the decision to actually issue a visa is made by the State Department. The State Department returns or rejects few spousal or fiancé immigrant visa petitions after they are approved by USCIS. USCIS reported to the Committee: “Between [Fiscal Year (“FY”)] FY 2007 and FY 2017, approximately 2.6 percent of fiancé and spousal petitions [were] returned to USCIS. Of that total, approximately 37 percent [were] revoked.”
Over the last eleven years (FY2007 to FY2017), USCIS approved 3,595,447 petitions for spousal or fiancé entry in to the United States. Of those, 8,686 involved a minor. Two minors whose petitions were approved were 13 years old; 38 were 14 years old; 269 were 15 years old; 1,768 were 16 years old; and the remaining 6,609 were 17 years old. Girls were the younger party in 95 percent of the petitions approved by USCIS.
Dual citizen of the U.S. and Pakistan, Naila Amin spoke out about her experience of being passed around by her family so that her cousin could gain entry into the U.S.
“I was his lottery ticket out of Pakistan,” Amin said, “and he was my first cousin.”
Amin was only 13-years-old at the time when she was “forced to marry her adult cousin" who was 26 years-old at the time.
The report noted that 2,926 “minors” who were looking to bring their adult spouses to the U.S. had their visa petitions approved by the U.S. government in a 10-year span from 2007 to 2017, while 5,556 adult petitioners looking to bring their “child spouses” to the U.S. had their visas approved.
“In one case, a 49-year-old man applied for admission for a 15-year-old girl,” an Associated Press (AP) YouTube video noted of the report.
With reports like this, it could be said that the U.S. not only needs a border wall, but serious immigration reform as well.
For more details on the report, watch below:
H/T: Fox 32 - Chicago