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Abstract: 

This piece describes a fact sheet developed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that alerts women who are contemplating immigrating into the U.S. as foreign brides to look long and close before they leap. With increasing globalization along with the explosive growth in online resources, the market for mail-order brides has skyrocketed, especially over the past decade. Yet early on, this explosion came unaccompanied by the precautions obviously needed to prevent the abuse and exploitation so commonly endured by these highly vulnerable females. In the eyes of the typical abusive male, at least, these women have been bought and paid for, rendering them a mere piece of property. The USCIS fact sheet emerged from the 2006 International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, which provides potential brides with the kind of disclosure (e.g., of potential groom’s marital history and criminal background) and information needed to allow them to enter into such a risky scenario with their eyes wide open.

Keywords: International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA)

Affiliations:  1: Tahirih Justice Center .