April 30, 2010

The Honorable Martin O’Malley
Governor of Maryland
100 State Circle
Annapolis, MD 21401-1925

Dear Governor O’Malley:

Soon to arrive on your desk for signature is HB65/SB129: International Marriage Brokers Regulation. I urge you summarily to veto this unconstitutional legislation.

Ironically, Charles A. Jenkins, the man you appointed in January to serve a vacated seat in the House of Delegates, is the sole lawmaker to oppose HB65/SB129.

Every law must withstand the scrutiny of three screens. It must: 1) solve a problem or provide a benefit that affects citizens equally, 2) be based on hard evidence that validates the problem or benefit, and 3) have solid constitutional footing.

Through careful analysis, you’ll make two discoveries: 1) HB65/SB129 fails all three screens; 2) the near-unanimous vote for it was based purely on political correctness.

The principal author of this civil-rights-abridging bill, Delegate Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, vigorously promoted it to her colleagues without understanding its legal basis, origins, or consequences. This is not a formula for quality lawmaking.

Ms. Haddaway-Riccio, in concert with Polaris Project and Tahirih Justice Center, set out to control how Maryland men use the Internet to meet foreign women—unconstitutional for a variety of reasons. In the process, through the pernicious combo of HB65/SB129, written in gender-neutral language, Haddaway-Riccio unwittingly penalized all Maryland citizens and legal residents—male and female—for wanting to pursue relationships with foreign nationals.

The initial version of HB65/SB129, a gross affront to civil rights, hauntingly required Marylanders to furnish their fingerprints to foreign paramours, in advance of contact. In the end, after howling protests from citizens and corporate purveyors of dating Websites, the signatories of this intrusive legislation concocted a patch quilt of unfathomable, face-saving language and “special” exemptions for the likes of eHarmony, Match.com, and Yahoo Personals.

This ill-conceived bill robs taxpayers by trying to validate a problem—after the fact. In other words, it fails screen #2 above. A last-minute provision mandates, by December 1, 2010, that the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services: 1) file a feasibility report about registering or licensing international marriage brokers; 2) recommend whether to further legislate the implementation of a registration or licensing scheme; and 3) provide draft legislation to implement any recommended registration or licensing scheme.

Haddaway-Riccio’s entire case is predicated on the wife-abuse “claims” of Nataliya Fox (nee Derkach). The truth about Nataliya Fox: 1) she made her abuse “claims” in Virginia, in 2000; 2) she never proved abuse, nor was her husband ever prosecuted; 3) the case was a civil case for a monetary award and not a criminal action; 4) the Department of Homeland Security was, at that time, moving to deport her for immigration fraud.

Because people readily believe wife-abuse claims, Tahirih and Polaris disingenuously use Nataliya Fox as their poster child for battered and trafficked foreign brides, without hard evidence to support their case. But, for those interested in the facts, instead of demagogic, knee-jerk, politically correct emotions, please note the following:

1. Public records show that Nataliya Fox is a criminal, not a victim. According to Court documents, the US was in the process of deporting her for immigration fraud, Turkey deported her to Ukraine in 1993 for prostitution; in 1995, and Ukrainian border officials detained her for narcotics trafficking.
2. The State of Maryland regulates marriages by requiring marriage licenses. How or where people meet before dating or getting married is beyond the state’s province. Furthermore, those pursuing romance are not necessarily pursuing marriage. Yet, HB65/SB129, the International Marriage Brokers Regulation, asserts control of dating activities—stripping citizens and dating Websites of constitutional rights: speech, association, commerce, and equal protection, to name a few.
3. The State of Maryland has no constitutional authority to control, regulate, inhibit, or monitor the communication, association, or dating activities of its free citizens and legal residents—within the state or across state/country lines—or to pass laws that create such authority.
4. The State of Maryland has no constitutional authority to presume the guilt of its free citizens and legal residents—or to pass laws that create such authority.
5. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) allows every immigrant spouse to falsely accuse their US spouse (man or women) of domestic violence - which can include mere emotional abuse and nothing physical - and to have their claim heard in a secret court after which they will be granted her green card. Foreigners who are savvy enough to do this usually get their US spouses arrested with a 911 call to help bolster their secret DHS court filings. Consequently, green card fraud is becoming a common method of gaining permanent status in the US, accompanied by the ruination of innocent American citizens. Green Card fraud has become a veritable industry as a result; Nataliya Fox was caught engaging in it. HB65/SB129 will exacerbate both domestic-violence fraud and immigration fraud in Maryland.

Considering the foregoing, please veto HB65/SB129. It solves no problem and provides no benefit to the citizens and legal residents of Maryland. Conversely, it violates state and federal protections of their civil rights, unnecessarily imposes Big Government on them, and wastes their tax dollars.

Men and women rely on you to preserve Maryland’s integrity and ensure equality-based protection of their constitutional rights and freedoms. Vetoing HB65/SB129 will achieve that end.

PRO - ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

ANTI - GUN RIGHTS

ANTI 1ST AMENDMENT

ABUSE OF MARYLAND TAXPAYERS

BACKED BY LEFTIST FEMINIST GROUPS

Press Release: click link below

Maryland Tramples Constitution to Crush Men and Ironically Stomps on Women

http://www.prweb.com/releases/maryland-dating-law/20100305/prweb3689024.htm

****** !! Urgent !! ******
"Maryland Online Dating Gateway Law"

THIRD HEARING TO BE HELD BY THE MARYLAND SENATE (See information below), ACT NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, WRITE, CALL, FAX, EMAIL !!

To learn more or see what you can do please email support@voif.org

Victims Of Immigration Fraud

http://www.immigrationfraudvictims.com/

Just like "Gateway drugs" this "Gateway law" will just be the beginning

of the Goverment chipping away at your civil liberties and involving themselves in your personal life, including not only the women you date and marry but even the women you can communicate with!!

Please CALL and WRITE your State Senator and Delegates TODAY!
(See complete list below at the end of this letter)

Dear Maryland Resident,

Your right to use online dating services to communicate with foreign citizens are about to be criminalized unless you agree to invasive nanny State regulations. TODAY!! It is unimaginable that the State of Maryland first proposed requirements that a Maryland citizen (who has not been convicted of any crime) to provide their finger prints to a foreign nationals before they can write emails, instant messages or text messages to a total stranger in a foreign country. We don't even require US citizens to be finger printed to enter the country or board an airplane, but Maryland citizens will have to do this before writing letters to a person whom they know nothing about!

You will be required to submit your info to a woman you know NOTHING about... literally nothing at all! And then hope that this mystery lady agrees to let you see her photo and say "hello". Absurd beyond belief. Makes correspondence essentially impossible without taking significant risks with your confidential information and safety.

The original Bill that was proposed required Maryland residents to send personal information to a lady before:

- Seeing a photo of the lady (statistics)

- Knowing her Age, Height, Weight, Marital Status, Number of Children or. (statistics)

- Any other information at all!

All Americans have Constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of association. No State has the Constitutional Authority to require Americans to submit this type of information to strangers, simply to communicate with them. We have the right to speak and associate with whoever we choose without regulation of any kind.

Protecting women can be done in an appropriate way that does not treat all American men like criminals and putting them at risk of various schemes and financial fraud.

Yesterday, your state senate passed a bill that would effectively prevent any International Marriage agency from providing services in the state of Maryland. In an effort to "tighten" current Federal regulations of marriage agencies, Maryland has now passed a more draconian version of the Federal government's blatantly unconstitutional I.M.B.R.A. law.

Download the House Bill Download the Senate Bill

This law would severely restrict any dating site that has American men communicating with foreign women (and many US based companies) to serve customers in Maryland!

Any website that charges men more money than women for services will be essentially criminalized in Maryland. This would include such major US-based companies as:

eHarmony, Match.com, AshleyMadison.com AdultFriendFinder.com, SugarDaddy.com, YahooPersonals...the list goes on and on.

Your Rights are in Imminent Jeopardy!
Do Something About It...Right Now...This Minute!

email support@voif.com

Victims Of Immigration Fraud

http://www.immigrationfraudvictims.com/

The Senate is having a hearing on the House version on March 31st..

HB 65 will be heard by the Senate Finance Committee .

See Internet: http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/HB0065.htm

House Economic Matters Committee

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Delegate Dereck Davis - Chair House Economic Matters Committee dereck.davis@house.state.md.us ( Prince Georges County District 25)

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/msa12208.html

Delegate David Rudolph - Vice Chairman House Economic Committee david.rudolph@house.state.md.us ( District Cecil & Harford Counties District 34 )

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/msa12302.html

Senate Finance Committee

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Senator Thomas Middleton - Chair Senate Finance Committee thomas.mclain.middleton@senate.state.md.us (Charles County District 28)

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/05sen/html/msa11612.html

Senator John Astle District - Vice Chairman Senate Finance Committee john.astle@senate.state.md.us (Anne Arundel County District 30)

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/05sen/html/msa12160.html

We have only become aware of this in the last 48 hours, and unfortunately, it is nearly too late as the Bill has been voted in by the State House and Senate.

Time is Critical! Please take 5 minutes to read the information below:

Page 1 - Serious problems with the Bill as passed

Page 4 - What you can do to stop this!

Attached: file of the House version of the bill

To learn more or see what you can do please email

support@voif.org

Victims Of Immigration Fraud

http://www.immigrationfraudvictims.com/

Dear Delegate Haddaway-Riccio,

I am really astounded by the speed at which this Bill is making its way through the Maryland State Legislature. (Maryland House Bill 65 and the Senate version 129)

This legislation is discriminatory against Maryland citizens in numerous ways.

Primarily it limits freedom of speech as well as association while grossly violating privacy rights. It also fails to even meet its own misguided objective by discriminating against businesses based on their billing practices and not based on any real or perceived threats to potential foreign spouses.

The issues here are basic ones of fairness, discrimination, honesty, accuracy and several constitutional rights issues. These should be of interest to all Americans regardless of their political alliances.

The special interests which are pushing this Bill have done an excellent job treating all Maryland citizens as potential / probable sex offenders or batterers.

POINT #1 - The very title of the bill is derogatory toward matchmaking services and factually incorrect

Page 1 - Title "International Marriage Brokers - Regulation" In February 1999 The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a report to Congress on "International Matchmaking Organizations". The INS (now Homeland Security) did not refer to matchmaking companies as "Marriage Brokers" which has been used deliberately in the Bill's title, to be derogatory toward these companies and their clients, and is factually incorrect. In fact, none of these Matchmaking services "broker" marriages anymore than do eHarmony.com, match.com, chemistry.com, Yahoo Personals and so on.

Similar to calling Online dating companies and Matchmakers "Brokers" foreign citizens seeking possible marriage with Maryland residents are called "Recruits" to denigrate them into some form of commercial commodity.

POINT #2- The legislation requires that that correspondence itself be regulated not specifically marriages.

The Bill originally proposed that (2) sets of fingerprints, a criminal background check, a check of the state and national sex-offender database, personal history including marital history, children, etc. be sent to each woman a man wishes to communicate with; and then get her written permission to allow the man to write to her by letter, email, or instant message. (This is all before the man has any personal contact information about the lady, this is just to say "hello" to a stranger halfway around the world.) This shows a complete lack of respect for the Constitutional rights and safety of Maryland residents - your constituents.

There are NO safeguards in the bill for potential privacy and identity theft violations. The women can do what they like with the information they receive. Even if the Bill were amended to include a non-disclosure requirement for the ladies; Maryland has no jurisdiction in the ladies' home countries to safe guard this information. The ladies can do what they like with the data.

There are no reciprocal requirements. The US citizen / Maryland resident would receive no information at all about the foreign national they were communication with.

Protecting women (and men!) can be done in an appropriate way that does not treat all American men like criminals and passing blantantly sexist discriminatory laws/

POINT #3- The Bill only provides rights and protection for foreign citizens; not US citizens and residents of the State of Maryland.

There are no protections in this bill to address the myriad of problems that US citizens face when marrying either US or foreign citizens. There are no provisions to protect American women from the alleged dangers of on-line correspondence.

The INS reported that domestic violence in marriages of US citizens to foreigners was approximately seven (7) times lower than comparable domestic rates. The sponsors of this Bill promote the false idea that the rate of domestic violence is higher in international marriages when in fact the opposite is true.

POINT #4- The description of "International Marriage Broker" services is incredibly vague and broad.

a. Exchanging names (first only?)

b. Exchanging "statistics"

c. Exchanging photographs (a mobile phone picture text?)

d. Providing a Social Environment for introductions (a private party or event?)

The Bill will require Maryland residents to send personal information to a lady before:

- Seeing a photo of the lady

- Knowing her Age, Height, Weight, Marital Status, Number of Children or.

- Any other information at all!

You will be required to submit your info to a woman you know NOTHING about..literally nothing at all! And then hope that this mystery lady agrees to let you see her photo and say "hello". Absurd beyond belief. Makes correspondence essentially impossible.

POINT #5- Paragraph 2 (I)-Excluded is a "Traditional Marriage Broker" that operates on a nonprofit basis.

What is a Traditional Marriage Broker? And if Maryland men are so potentially dangerous to foreign women, why not regulate all organizations regardless of business model?

POINT #6- Paragraph 2 (II & III) This is an attempt, in clever wording, to avoid litigation by dating giants like eHarmony, Match, Yahoo, and the huge dating applications on Facebook and MySpace

If the protection of foreign citizens was the primary concern, than there would be no exclusion for these major companies. There are tens of thousands of profiles of foreign citizens on major US online dating sites and MILLIONS on Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Under this legislation all of these organizations are excluded from this regulation.

Although the sponsors of the Bill insist foreign women must be protected from Maryland residents, they have written a Bill which would allow a Maryland resident to easily avoid the entire issue by using the excluded companies to write, call, text, video chat, exchange photographs, meet, date, and marry without complying with ANY of the regulations in this Bill.

This Bill does NOTHING to protect women, it simply chooses which Matchmaking companies live and which die; based on nothing more than their business model, not the risk a woman faces in using the services.

POINT #10- It is unimaginable that the State of Maryland would require a Maryland citizen who has not been convicted of any crime to provide their finger prints to a private company in the dating industry before they can write emails, instant messages or text messages to a total stranger in a foreign country. We don't even require US citizens to be finger printed to enter the country or board an airplane, but Maryland citizens will have to do this before writing letters to a person whom they know nothing about!

(2) What to Do to Stop This:

Immediately contact all the Maryland State Delegates and Senators that sit on the sponsoring committees!!
(See Contact Info Below)

The next vote in the Senate committee is coming soon!

Don't wait another minute! Email! Call!
Make Your Voice Heard Today!

support@voif.org

Victims Of Immigration Fraud

http://www.immigrationfraudvictims.com/

Senate Finance Committee Members

Chairman,

· THOMAS McLAIN (MAC) MIDDLETON - Democrat, District 28, Charles County
e-mail: thomas.mclain.middleton@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3616

Vice Chair,

· JOHN ASTLE. - Democrat, District 30, Anne Arundel County
e-mail: john.astle@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3578

· GEORGE W. DELLA, JR. - Democrat, District 46, Baltimore City
e-mail: george.della@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3600

· NATHANIEL EXUM - Democrat, District 24, Prince George's County
e-mail: nathaniel.exum@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3148

· ROBERT J. GARAGIOLA - Democrat, District 15, Montgomery County
e-mail: rob.garagiola@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3169

· BARRY GLASSMAN - Republican, District 35, Harford County
e-mail: barry.glassman@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3603

· DELORES GOODWIN KELLEY - Democrat, District 10, Baltimore County
e-mail: delores.kelley@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3606

· ALLAN H. KITTLEMAN - Republican, District 9, Carroll & Howard Counties
e-mail: allan.kittleman@senate.state.md.us phone: (410) 841-3671, (301) 858-3671

· KATHERINE A. KLAUSMEIER - Democrat, District 8, Baltimore County
e-mail: katherine.klausmeier@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3620

· E. J. PIPKIN - Republican, District 36, Caroline, Cecil, Kent & Queen Anne's Counties
e-mail: ej.pipkin@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3639

· CATHERINE E. PUGH - Democrat, District 40, Baltimore City
e-mail: catherine.pugh@senate.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3656

support@voif.org

Victims Of Immigration Fraud

http://www.immigrationfraudvictims.com/

House Economic Matters Committee Members

Chairman,

· DERECK E. DAVIS - Democrat, District 25, Prince George's County
e-mail: dereck.davis@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3519

Vice Chair,

· DAVID D. RUDOLPH - Democrat, District 34B, Cecil County
e-mail: david.rudolph@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3444

· CHARLES E. BARKLEY - Democrat, District 39, Montgomery County
e-mail: charles.barkley@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3001

· AISHA N. BRAVEBOY - Democrat, District 25, Prince George's County
e-mail: aisha.braveboy@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3707

· EMMETT C. BURNS, JR. - Democrat, District 10, Baltimore County
e-mail: emmett.burns@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3352

· BRIAN J. FELDMAN - Democrat, District 15, Montgomery County
e-mail: brian.feldman@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3186

· JEANNIE HADDAWAY-RICCIO - Republican, District 37B, Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot & Wicomico Counties
e-mail: jeannie.haddaway@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3429

· HATTIE N. HARRISON - Democrat, District 45, Baltimore City
e-mail: hattie.harrison@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3486

· C. SUE HECHT - Democrat, District 3A, Frederick County
e-mail: sue.hecht@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3472

· RICHARD K. IMPALLARIA - Republican, District 7, Baltimore & Harford Counties
e-mail: rick.impallaria@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3334

· SALLY YOUNG JAMESON - Democrat, District 28, Charles County
e-mail: sally.jameson@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3337

· JAMES J. KING - Republican, District 33A, Anne Arundel County
e-mail: james.king@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3510

· RUTH M. KIRK - Democrat, District 44, Baltimore City
e-mail: ruth.kirk@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3802

· CAROLYN J. KRYSIAK - Democrat, District 46, Baltimore City
e-mail: carolyn.krysiak@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3303

· MARY ANN LOVE - Democrat, District 32, Anne Arundel County
e-mail: maryann.love@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3511

· ROGER MANNO - Democrat, District 19, Montgomery County
e-mail: roger.manno@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3883

· JAMES N. MATHIAS, JR. - Democrat, District 38B, Wicomico & Worcester Counties
e-mail: james.mathias@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3431

· BRIAN K. McHALE - Democrat, District 46, Baltimore City
e-mail: brian.mchale@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3319

· WARREN E. MILLER - Republican, District 9A, Howard County
e-mail: warren.miller@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3582

· JOSEPH J. (SONNY) MINNICK - Democrat, District 6, Baltimore County
e-mail: joseph.minnick@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3332

· DONNA STIFLER - Republican, District 35A, Harford County
e-mail: donna.stifler@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3278

· HERMAN L. TAYLOR, JR. - Democrat, District 14, Montgomery County
e-mail: herman.taylor@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3380

· MICHAEL L. VAUGHN - Democrat, District 24, Prince George's County
e-mail: michael.vaughn@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3691

· MARY ROE WALKUP - Republican, District 36, Caroline, Cecil, Kent & Queen Anne's Counties
e-mail: mary.roe.walkup@house.state.md.us phone: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3449

support@voif.org

Victims Of Immigration Fraud

http://www.immigrationfraudvictims.com/