The Moral Duty To Marry An Immigrant
We shall overcome, if we will it
In America – and in many other places, but I am concerned here with an American audience – immigration law is unusually lenient toward spouses. If you are a citizen, you can essentially marry anyone, and they will be able to live in the United States. Once they have a ten year green card – or even while they have a two year, conditional green card – a divorce does not lead to them being expelled from the country. They are free to stay.
Isn’t it obvious, then, what we must do? The value of immigrating to the United States is very large, so large that I am not even going to bother quantifying it. I – you – we – can greatly help people. We can admit one person to the United States every two years.
I do not see many Effective Altruists talking about this, though I am sure that my memory is not comprehensive. I suspect that it is not due to bias, but simply that no one has really seriously considered it. So, I, Nicholas Decker, pledge to marry whoever gets in contact with me and needs it to come here. I think that if Effective Altruists pursue this seriously, then we can get at least ten thousand people here over the next five or so years.
Wanting to learn everything is a good thing, and I certainly would like to join you in omniscience. But not doing some basic research, which would involve learning a lot less than everything, pertaining to what you advocate for as a practice in defiance of a nascently authoritarian administration is at least irresponsible. Not only is it a blogger’s malpractice, but if followed would likely lead to the ruin of personal lives, both of those of US citizens and the unwitting victims of their do-goodery.
Nick, here’s something you should know: the US Citizenship and Immigration Services takes very seriously the prospect of fraudulent marriage for immigration benefits. There is an investigation of every case, and there is an interview. I know because, unlike you, I have gone through that mill. There are severe penalties for fraud including jail time.
To post plans for committing fraud on the Internet and under your real name is, um… Is “unwise” a kind word for “stupid” you’d be fine with?
Do not do this unless you have a genuine relationship with a person born outside the US. Don’t get me wrong: it would be awesome if you do! But the idea that you could start a conveyor belt of marriages is a fantasy. If you’re not caught on the first fraudulent marriage, you’ll be caught on the second one a few years later. (You don’t seriously think that people have not thought about this before you, do you?)
Do not break the law, and do not attempt to cheat the system.
And if you are already married, so much the better: “The Moral Duty to Divorce Your Spouse and Marry a Foreigner Who Wants to Immigrate, While Trying to Persuade Your Ex-Spouse to Do Likewise.”