Is this a trap? US Marshals Service puts up IML Complaint form.
As part of the International Megan’s Law, the US Marshals Service has been notifying receiving countries when a registrant is traveling. You can imagine how the immigration officials in a country you are traveling to will react when they receive a warning from the US Marshals that you are arriving.
Travelers have been intercepted upon arrival, interrogated and turned back on the next flight. In most cases, they are denied entry, unable to attend to business, visit family, attend a loved one’s wedding ceremony or simply see the world. The effects of IML have been devastating.
But is it possible that the US Marshals service has a complaint form where you can tell them about your ruined travel plans?!? A link on their site indicates they do: https://www.usmarshals.gov/sex-offender-complaint-form.html
Why? What are they going to do with this? Use it for entertainment? Send thank you notes to countries who reject registrants? I’m skeptical.
What do you think? Should we share the horror stories in the belief that they are genuinely concerned about all the negative consequences of these notifications? Or should we provide absolutely no non-required information to the government, assuming they will match the complaints with the notifications in an effort to arrest anyone who failed to notify.
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Iām an intl expat employee for the last 10 years traveling back n forth from USA 3-5 times a year. My local & state registering authorities are cool with it & work with me when Iām out of country at registering time, sometimes Iāve been 2 months late without issue as long as I inform them about it & keep in touch till I arrive back home.
I never heard of this new IML. Wash DC contacted my destination country of Kuwait in June 2017 with notice of my arrival. Kuwait customs had no reason why my passport was flagged & took it but said no worries come get it in morning all will be resolved. Bear in mind I have been working in Kuwait for 7 years with valid resident visa & civil ID. But it took 3 weeks to track my passport down all the way to Kuwait Interpole. The Captain said he needed info where I stay when in Kuwait so he could relay it back to Wash DC. I had no earthly idea why at the time since I do have other felonies on my record domestic drug trafficking & weapons charges from 23 years ago. Bogus RSO requirement from 28 years ago. But the captain stated I had that lifetime registering requirement in US then I knew what he was talking about. He said Kuwait has now problem with me working & living there. Been there 7 years already no problems. He gave me his card & said call anytime if I have any issues when Iām in Kuwait. Super nice, super smart man. No more issue after that traveling to & from Kuwait until Oct 2018, attempting return trip to Kuwait & I was removed from plane in Atlanta told my passport was invalid (just renewed in Aug 2017). Rest is history reapplying for new passport & filing for new visa in Kuwait since that Oct day last year. Suspect I will lose job & career.
Thank you good ole USA Government. Donāt care whoās life they wreck.
Let me get this straight.. As RSOs, we are always talking about the fact that our voices are never heard.. so when the government gives us an opportunity to have our voices heard we all complain and suddenly think it’s a trap.. I’m not sure exactly which direction this conversation should go in but at some point we have to realize that if the government at least wants to hear from us now whether or not we believe it’s a trap or not we should take advantage of it.. Or else just stop complaining that are voices are never heard.. Just Saying..
This form only applies to USMS notifications. So if ICE or Interpol does the notifying, this form is not valid and will not be responded to.
Can you say, “Holy Layers of bureaucracy!”
I have a question concerning the IML statute itself. As I read it applies to minor victims.
(3) COVERED SEX OFFENDER.āExcept as otherwise provided, the term āācovered sex offenderāā means an individual who is a sex offender by reason of having been convicted of a sex offense against a minor. (
That is contradictory to what the Marshalls site says below:
Whom does the International Meganās Law apply to?
The IML has notable provisions that may impact all registered sex offenders who intend to travel outside of the United States.
I shouldn’t need a law degree to decipher whether or not I get arrested coming home from a family vacation to Aruba.
I have tried to contact ICE, CBP, you name it. No help at all.
Can anyone clarify, perhaps legally, that IML does apply to child victims only?
If not, how they are getting around that statutory language
It appears that they qualify a sex offender as yes a person with a child victim.. it appears that if you are just a rapist then theoretically you could probably get around it.. Good luck on getting the Marshalls Service to distinguish between the two.. Keep writing and contact a lawyer if this applies to you.. you may be the case that unravels this law which would then create a vacuum for an even more stricter law to take it’s place at which point we should wonder did we really help ourselves at all with unraveling the law..
If I remember correctly, it was actually written into the IML rules that the Feds were required to evaluate and respond to complaints from those negatively affected by the law. It could also be something of a trap, but I don’t think the Feds have any choice in the matter.