Who Could Oppose Child Marriage?

New Jersey and Delaware have outlawed marriage for anyone under the age of 18, with no exceptions.  While more and more states, including Pennsylvania and Massachusetts advance bills that would eliminate marriage for anyone under the age of 16, federal law permits fiancee visas to issue without regard to the age of the requesting spouse or the spouse seeking legal US status. 

To remedy this situation, three senators submitted a bill that would prohibit either party to a fiancee visa from being under the age of 18.  The bill reads: This bill requires an alien who seeks to qualify for a nonimmigrant visa as the fiance or spouse of a U.S. citizen to be at least 18 years old, and the sponsoring U.S. citizen must also be at least 18 years old. The bill also establishes that the terms “spouse,” “wife,” and “husband” shall not apply to any individual less than 18 years old for the purposes of the immigration and nationality laws.

“So why is this bill languishing?   Fraidy Reis and her organization, Unchained at Last, have been documenting child marriage across the United States and advocating with states to pass anti-child marriage legislation. Between 200-2015 over 200,000 minors were married in the United States.   87% were girls and 86% of those girls married adults.  Many of the minors report that they were abused during the marriage. Rachael Clement, chair of Girls not Brides, an organization tackling child marriage internationally, said that  “In U.S. foreign policy we don’t support child early or forced marriage.” and she noted that  the role of states’ rights can make those policies difficult to navigate.”

“Child marriage, almost always between a male adult and a female minor, can rob young girls of their education, personal development, and physical and mental health,” said Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas. “Our immigration laws shouldn’t be used to encourage child marriage.”    The bill is languishing in the Senate Judiciary and reportedly has not made an progress since March.  This easily could be a bi-partisan effort.  Citizen’s inquiries to their senators might cause the bill to move forward.