Then it’s misnamed. ‘Bigamy’ means ‘two wives’. It should be labeled a form of marriage fraud. I’ve sauid this before, but it’s time to separate concerns about lying about existing relationships when entering new ones, from concerns about the number of people involved.
And it’s not a crime in the US to have relationships outside what the US would consider the two-person marriage, if everyone involved consents? Is it?
But what about aardvark abnegation? Or zucchini zymurgy?
Don’t leave us hanging, Giant List, wherever you are.
Here in Minnesota, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, we frequently have Muslim leaders arrive for medical work, along with a multitude of wives, advisers, & attendants. They often rent a whole floor or two in a nearby hotel for them.
It’s well known that they have multiple wives along with them, but nobody in the Federal government, the State Patrol, or the local Sheriff or Police Department takes any notice of this. They certainly don’t arrest them for having multiple wives. (Maybe it helps that they are very rich.)
The Mayo Clinic/St. Marys Hospital do pay more attention, but only concerned with who has the legal authority to make medical decisions for the patient if needed. Absent any other direction, they will go with the decisions of the senior wife. (But in fact, Muslim disdain for women usually means that some man, usually a relative of the patient, will have been given a Medical Power of Attorney to make these decisions.)
Explain please. Since polygamy is not something that is all that common in most of the muslim world I find that VERY hard to believe.
I mean that in the entourage that accompanies the patient, there is a man, usually a younger relative of the patient, who can make medical decisions for the patient, rather than the senior wife. This is required by the clinic/hospital, since there are times when the patient is unconscious or otherwise unable to effectively make decisions for themself. So they require someone else to have this authority. (This is pretty standard; if you go to your local hospital for an appendectomy, the hospital will require this.)
If it’s not the normal family member or spouse, they generally have to have a legal document, a Medical Power of Attorney. It’s a pretty standard legal document, any lawyer can do this easily. (There are even downloadable versions available online.)
When a Muslim patient wants someone else to make medical decisions, they will have to sign such a form, and provide it to the hospital. Any lawyer in Rochester can do this, or they might even be able to get it done & notarized right at the hospital.
Oh, I just realized – I’m not saying that everybody in the Muslim world carries around such a completed document. It’s a requirement of the Mayo Clinic/St. Marys Hospital, and one is filled out at the time they are admitted. They aren’t likely to have had one prepared in advance, unless this is a repeat visit.
And there’s nothing particularly grand about grand theft. And women can be the victim of manslaughter. And statutory rape does not necessarily involve rape as commonly understood.
Besides, a bigamist doesn’t have two wives, since his second partner is not his wife.
[quote=“Sunspace, post:21, topic:510213”]
It should be labeled a form of marriage fraud. I’ve sauid this before, but it’s time to separate concerns about lying about existing relationships when entering new ones, from concerns about the number of people involved./QUOTE]
Bigamy doesn’t necessarily involve deceiving your partner, who may be well aware that you are already married to someone else. Arguably, it involves deceiving the registrar/celebrant/wider community, since you can’t get married without affirming that you are not already married. But I think the fundamental problem, the reason why bigamy is a crime, is not the deception but the fact that the relationship you want is inconsistent with marriage, which is conceived of in the US (and many other countries) as inherently an exclusive relationship.
No, it isn’t, which is why a person who has bigamously married outside the US does not commit an offence simply by having a relationship with both his wives within the US. The offence lies in getting married, but only if that is done within the US.
And a gloss. An extramarital relationshop is not necessarily a crime even if everyone involved does not consent. Adultery without the consent of your spouse is not generally an offence.
Visiting is one thing, and immigrating is quite another. The Form I-485, Application for Adjustment of Status (aka green card application) lists practicing polygamy right along with committing genocide, previous deportation orders, etc. among the reasons for which one can be barred from eligibility for permanent residence. There is an analogous question on the DS-230, Part 2 (immigrant visa application), which is used in applying for an immigrant visa outside the U.S. via consular processing. (See p. 2, question #40(i).)
As a paractical matter, it’s very difficult to enforce a polygamy prohibition, at least for temporary visa purposes; if one is applying for a nonimmigrant visa outside the U.S., in a category that allows for dependents, all you need to do to document your relationship with your spouse is provide a marriage certificate - you don’t need to show that you’ve ended any previous marriages. One former colleague who used to be the head of the office for foreign students and scholars at a local university swears there was one foreign scholar who used to rotate wives - he would bring one in one semester, and then go home over Christmas break and bring back Wife #2, etc.
Eva Luna, Immigration Paralegal