AWA & IML punish love, relationships across international borders

I just read some of the posts on this website and wanted to share a bit of a personal story.

Like many who come to this website, I am a registrant. I too, have been lucky enough to do a little bit of travel. While I have never been to Europe, I hope to do so soon, and look forward to the mostly hassle free travel.

That being said, I’ve been denied entry into Indonesia twice, which has been unfortunate because that’s where the woman I love, my fiance, lives. But that’s a different story for a different time.
For now, I’m writing about the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) and the International Megan’s Law (IML). These laws are guilty of legislating relationships not only in the US, but in the world. Because of the AWA, my fiance cannot come here to be with me as it prohibits me from petitioning (sponsoring) a family member into the US. The IML may not prevent me from traveling everywhere, but it does stop me from going to the one place I want to go most.

To be clear, the AWA doesn’t tell me that I cannot fall in love with any one I choose. It does, however, essentially tell me that if I want to marry that person, then that person should be a US citizen. And while the IML doesn’t say that I cannot travel, its effect is that I may not be able to stay in the country that I travel to.

This is all very maddening, but what’s worse, to me is that this precious woman who has never done anything illegal in her life is being punished for only falling in love. Her heart is broken because she cannot be with the one she loves. This law was written, ostensibly, to protect children. But in our relationship, no children are involved or coming with her. So why should a law meant to “protect children” have any application in this situation?

The thought is that it will help protect women from foreign countries, but this is a protection that US women (or spouses) do not get. And by preventing families from being together or give them the ability to travel and see one another, these laws hurt families (and hearts) more than they help.

I could go on but I’ll stop here. Visit https://fightawa.org/ to learn more about the AWA, and www.registranttag.org to learn more about the IML. And then, write to your legislators and demand that these types of laws be put to an end. They violate human rights and the US Constitution. Love and relationships have been protected by US law for decades, so says the Supreme Court. Don’t let the laws tell you who you can love or where you can go.

– Darrin ( darrinswait@gmail.com )

1 thought on “AWA & IML punish love, relationships across international borders

  1. Its getting more intense soon too. They are pulling passports that don’t have the sexoffender stamp. IMHO renewing is legal with it, but pulling is messed up and a taking. Not equal in my mind.

    Its to protect the world from people traveling to places where its “legal” (or at least not enforced laws ) to have sex with kids. In the 90s’ they made it illegal to travel for that reason. This is just the next evolution of that.

    Its kind of like your home state saying its not a felony to go to Nevada to get a prostitute and gamble. But THAT would never happen………………yet.

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