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stopracism
06-15-2010, 12:38 PM
Ottawa County agrees to issue marriage licenses to illegal immigrants
mlive.com
June 15, 2010
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/ottawa_county_agress_to_issue.html

GRAND RAPIDS -- A Latino civil rights group said today it has settled a federal class action lawsuit against Ottawa County over a marriage policy that group said infringed on a couple's fundamental right be marry.

"Ottawa county agreed to revise its policy to allow any individual seeking to be married that does not have a social security number to marry so long as that person fills out an affidavit stating, under penalty of perjury, that he or she does not have a social security number," Los Angeles-based Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said.

"We are very pleased to announce the resolution of this matter, and we believe the new policy protects the fundamental right to marry for Latino couples in Ottawa County, regardless of immigration status," attorney Ricardo Meza said.

The complaint, filed May 11, said the county's policy of denying marriage licenses to couples who did not have social security numbers was unconstitutional. The former policy hurt illegal immigrants who did not have social security numbers.

Meza said all couples, regardless of immigration status, have the right to marry.

The county has agreed to pay damages and legal fees for the plaintiffs, Meza said.

Ottawa County Clerk Dan Krueger once said: "Show me where in the Constitution it says that there is a right to marriage. "

The organization filed a similar lawsuit against Kent County Clerk Mary Hollinrake. She requires those applying for a marriage license with a Social Security numbert to prove they qualify for certain exemptions. Other clerks around the state require applicants to sign an affidavit that they do not have a federal identification number.

Twoller
06-15-2010, 08:26 PM
This is bad news. This could possibly lend plausibility to the various bogus claims of birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens, especially if the illegals were married in the US.

It seems innocent enough that an illegal be allowed to be married in a country they occupy illegally. After all, can't a ship's captain marry a couple? Or is that a myth? But there are other issues involved aren't there? Is there still medical tests required in some places?

Dawes
06-15-2010, 09:45 PM
You have to get a marriage license to marry. You don't get a license for a right.

A captain would have to technically do the same thing as a priest. The couple have to be illegible to marry. You can't marry your sister. There are laws surrounding who can get married. Illegals have no privileges driving or marrying. They must have social justices instead of legal justices.

stopracism
06-26-2010, 01:49 PM
Ottawa County paid to settle lawsuit over immigrants getting marriage licenses
mlive.com
June 26, 2010
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/ottawa_county_paid_to_settle_l.html

OTTAWA COUNTY -- The county paid $13,350 to settle a recent federal lawsuit over a former county policy that required people to give Social Security numbers to get a marriage license.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/stopracism/maldefjpg-c4a81b62113bb584_large.jpg
Attorneys for the Los Angeles-based Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund were paid the settlement money, said Douglas VanEssen, an attorney for Ottawa County.

VanEssen believed the settlement was fair, on the belief that lawyers for the Latino civil rights group probably spent more than that to research the issue and file a federal class action lawsuit.

The $13,350 includes legal fees expended by the plaintiff's lawyers.

"It's hard to do anything for $13,000 in a constitutional case," VanEssen said.

The county did not want to fight the lawsuit, VanEssen said, because a state Attorney General's office opinion was contrary to the county's policy.

The civil rights group also has a pending lawsuit against the Kent County clerk for the same issue. There, those applying for a marriage license without a Social Security number must sign an affidavit stating they do not have a number because of a legal or religious exemption.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, is pursuing legislation to stop illegal immigrants from getting a marriage license.

Ottawa County, after the lawsuit, changed its policy to allow applicants to check boxes for exemptions, such as religious and legal reasons and being a foreign student.

rs232c
06-27-2010, 12:35 AM
I am confused.

One the face of it, marriage has nothing to do with citizenship. Anyone can get married in any country and not affect citizenship.

For example, if John and Mary are both US citizens but wanted to get married in Argentina, they would still be US citizens after the marriage and not entitled to become Argentine citizens through that act.

If one person intents to become a citizen, aren't they supposed to marry a citizen (regardless of what country the marriage takes place) and go through proper legal channels to become a citizen?

For example, if John was a US citizen and Mary an Argentine citizen, and they got married in Bavaria, as a married couple Mary could apply to become an American citizen through marriage.

I haven't heard about any 'Anchor Marriages' problem. Is their one?

Twoller
06-27-2010, 07:52 AM
...

I haven't heard about any 'Anchor Marriages' problem. Is their one?

Our current policy that accepts anchor babies as citizens is simple dereliction. By issuing marriage licenses to illegals, we drift further still. There is no solid legal part of anchor baby citizenship in the first place and all that is necessary is to pose illegal marriages in the US as further weight to the notion of anchor baby citizenship for them to be a problem.