Letter from Senator Feinstein

[maiyademama]

Dear Ms. Hartwell:
Thank you for your letter regarding background checks for individuals seeking to sponsor finace's and their children. I welcome the opportunity to respond.

What you write about is certainly disconcerting. In the 108th Congress, Senator Cantwell introduced the "International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005," which among other things, would require fiance visa petitioners to undergo a criminal background check so that cases like the you mention do not occur. Please know that I will keep your letter in mind should this legislation be reintroduced.

Again, thanks for writing. If you have any further comments regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington D.C. staff at (202) 224-3841

Best Regards,
Diane Feinstein



This is good news but I think we need to keep making noise about this issue. If you haven't sent your letter to your representatives in Congress and Senate, please do so. A nicely drafted letter posted by Bruce is pasted in below. It is really easy to send it to all of your reps at this website:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/...code=&plusfour=

Dear Congressman ______ ,

I am writing because of my concern over a very alarming case of child abuse that was recently in the news, and because I would like your help in ensuring that such a thing cannot happen again.

Last year, a man by the name of Harold Baird, a resident of Danville, New Hampshire, sponsored two immigrants from China. One was a woman who had agreed to marry him after her arrival; the other was her 5 year-old daughter. Unknown to the woman was the fact that Mr. Baird had served time for sexual assault on a child under the age of 13, and was on the state~{!/~}s Child Sex Offender Registry. Although, in order to obtain a visa, she had been required to produce a certification from the police in each place she had lived that she had no criminal record, no such proof was required from Mr. Baird.

Naturally, no loving mother of a 5 year old girl would move her into a house with a convicted child molester, especially given what we know about the rate of recidivism for this type of offender. But she knew nothing of his record, because no one had told her, and no one had any duty to tell her. Tragically, the inevitable happened. In January of this year, she called the Danville Police to report that she had caught Mr. Baird in the act of sexually assaulting her child. He was arrested and is currently being held in jail pending trial. The police believe this was not the first time this had happened.

Since that time the woman and her daughter have been staying in shelters and hoping they will be able to begin a new life with the assistance of sympathetic people who have offered help after hearing the story.

Currently the process for obtaining a visa for an alien fiance or wife, and any alien minor children, can be a long one, requiring the submission of numerous applications, documents, and financial statements, but at no time is a petitioner who is seeking to sponsor a child ever asked whether he is a convicted child molester. Certainly neither our government (nor any other) would allow such a person to adopt a child, but this loophole is tantamount to permitting such a thing. Many of the people in Danville knew about Mr. Baird, and so could protect their children from him. This woman and her daughter had no way of knowing. Mr. Baird was no doubt aware that this was a way that he could get a young child into his house, without the child's parents being aware of his conviction for child molestation.

What I am suggesting is a revision or amendment to the current law that would require any petitioner seeking to sponsor a minor child, as part of the application process, to provide certification from the local police department that he has no convictions for this type of offense, and would require that the petition of anyone who does have such a conviction be denied.

As this revision would only apply to persons seeking to sponsor children, and would only require certification with regard to sexual crimes against children, it would not create a major burden on either the government or most petitioners.

Much time and effort has been expended in enacting laws (such as Megan's law) to protect children from predators, and I firmly believe that our children are safer because of these laws. People in a community can know that such predators will not be allowed to work in schools or other settings where they will have access to children, and the people (and the police) can know where such predators live and work, and use this information to protect their children. I urge you to help make sure that child sexual offenders cannot use this oversight in our immigration laws to prey upon children who come from outside of the United States.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please feel free to contact me at any time in regard to this.

Sincerely,

Name
Address
Phone


P.S. I am attaching a copy of the news article about this case.

________________________________________________________
Man Accused Of Molesting Stepdaughter From China
Woman Marries Man After Meeting Online


POSTED: 4:50 pm EST January 13, 2005

DANVILLE, N.H. -- Police said a convicted sex offender molested the young daughter of a woman who came from China to marry him.

Woman Turns To Neighbor For Help


Harold Baird, 68, of Danville, was accused of molesting his 5-year-old stepdaughter. Neighbors said they had their suspicions about Baird's relationship with his new family from the beginning.

"At first he said he was going to marry a woman," neighbor Gary Forcier said. "Then when he showed up with a woman and a little girl, everyone started saying, 'Oh, there's something wrong here.'"

Forcier said he's convinced Baird didn't have good intentions when he brought his bride and her young daughter over to the United States from China. Investigators said Baird met the woman online.

"I think it was perfect that he married a woman from China because she would say nothing, and her daughter would say nothing. She hardly spoke English," Forcier said. "So, he was hoping she would maybe shut her mouth and not say anything."

Police said Baird may have assaulted the girl more than once.

"It's very disturbing, especially in our community," Chief Wade Parsons said. "It's a bedroom community with approximately 4,500 people. These things happen, but when they do, it's very upsetting to the community as a whole."

Baird is on the state's sex offender registry list, convicted of a similar offense in 1990. Police said Baird's new wife probably had no idea of his previous conviction. They said she was disturbed, scared and confused when she allegedly caught Baird molesting her child.

With her family and friends far away, the woman turned to a neighbor for help. That neighbor called police.

Forcier, who was not the neighbor the woman approached, said Baird's wife and the young girl are now staying at a women's shelter, but they have nowhere else to go.

"And she's got nothing and her daughter with her," he said. "They must feel terrible. Everything is odd over here. You come from China, and this is what happens to you."

In court Thursday, Baird's lawyer asked a judge to lower his bail. The judge refused, saying that he's a threat to the community. Bail remained set at $100,000.

Copyright 2005 by TheWMURChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Dan R]

Unfortunately this bill failed and the Senator is not willing to propose an alternative. She says if it comes up again she would remember your letter when she considers a new bill. That is just governmentese for thanks but no thanks.

 

THe Bill she mentioned is not what we are looking for. It was for additional regulation of Marriage Broker businesses which the government believes are a major source for the sex trade. Currently Marriage Brokers are advised to require criminal checks on their clients but there is no enforcement. Making the government responsible for checking was not something congress wanted to do.

Also because of the privacy act the Marriage Brokers only have information available which is public record and/or the client chooses to reveal.

 

They didn't want to do this yet a Massage Therapist applying for a license in the U.S. must supply fingerprints and wait 60 days for the results of an FBI criminal check.

 

If this check is to be added to the process, we must always make it clear that it should be run concurrently with the present processing beginning at the time the application goes to USICS. If this is not the case the government will treat it as a step in the process. Thus extending the current process by another 60 days minimumly.

 

Be careful what you wish for.

[ptcrusier333rph]

This could also add a month to the process, unfornately government like to add more work than what needed, a FBI check at the same time as your SO would be ok but to have one done after the spouse is done is not, most FBI Checks take 2 to4 weeks,

 

not sure if I had a FBI check on my real estate liciense when I got it 2 years ago but my background check took 4 weeks

 

 

 

Robert

[oregonknl]

Those of us adopting children in China go through a criminal background check, including the FBI fingerprint database (reguired by China, if memory serves, not US State Dept....)

 

...... but keep in mind, if you paint this with a broad brush ---- unless there is a minor involved in the K visas ---- this is going to add a huge new burden (and of course, TIME and expense) to the visa process....

[Feathers268]

Maybe the aproach should be to look at K visa involving children also starts adoption proceedings as well. I am very sensitive to the idea of prolonging this process but after all of the BS they look at and put us through, this is one thing I feel should be very important to follow up on. If I was required to provide police records at the original filing, the burden would not have been much to do so. I am not involed with children in my case but even so, a violent past or criminal record should be addressed. Besides, if such thing were required at the start of the process, I'm sure a lot of offenders would back out as soon as they learned what was required.