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.
I’m 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 I’m out of country at registering time, sometimes I’ve 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 I’m 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. Don’t care who’s 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.—Except as otherwise provided, the term ‘‘covered sex offender’’ 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 Megan’s 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.
I still want to know what a Green Notice actually says is there a way to post a copy of one here so we can see what they are tellimg foreign governments about us
If anyone has a copy, please share it with [email protected]. we will redact and post.
IML indicates that the USMS through a “Green Notice” may transmit “relevant” information. It does not specifically outline the required information, and leaves the USMS with a wide discretion of information the they could deem relevant. At a minimum, name, date of birth, passport information, offense(s) information, travel dates, flight information, addresses, and other identifying information. It is possible for them to transmit finger print data and DNA markers.
According to Interpol, a Green Notice is to provide warnings and intelligence about persons who have committed criminal offences and are likely to repeat these crimes in other countries.
Further, A green notice may only be published if it provides sufficient identifiers. Sufficient identifiers mean at least:
(a) either the family name, forename, sex, date of birth (at least the year), along with the physical description, DNA profile, fingerprints or data contained in identity documents (passport or national identity
card, for example); or
(b) a photograph of good quality, along with at least one identifier such as an alias, the name of one of the parents, or a specific
physical characteristic not visible in the photograph.
I like the idea of gumming up the works on a annual or semi annual basis. I’m in
Compliat! Find any other labeled offender that would comply. I went to court, owned up to my responsibility, did my sentance. All the compliance the Constitution required. Now it happen I go forward. No, I’m branded, humiliated, reputation ruined, in fear of imprisonment for the actions of others now and in the future. Unemployable, outcast, not part of sociatoral events, activities and relationships. Punished daily for being a Registered Citizen. Comply! More like fall off the earth cause im scrum of the world.
Seems to be hit and miss I traveled out of the country by cruise ship and I was nervous the all the way until the ship left port but nothing happened until I returned customs pulled me but the only questions the officer asked me was about the amount of goods and alcohol my spouse and I purchased on the ship (it was quite a bit) no separating us all was done in a fairly open area and we were done in 15 minutes
which cruise line?
Carnival
LUCKY!
i thought carnival was one of the lines that where booting RSO of ships ?
They are that’s why I was nervous I kept trying to prep my spouse for the possibility I may not be allowed to sail She said have faith she did So I see it as blessed more than lucky
People fail to get into the details of such situations to find a pattern. The real important questions to ask are:
Are you actively on a public registry?
Were you given a classification or ‘level’?
Felony or misdemeanor?
Did you give any notice of travel?
How long in advance did you purchase the tickets?
I had emailed the Registrant TAG matrix website (http://registranttag.org) and asked them to put in effort into tracking the actual important details of registrants’ details because those details are what determines who does and who doesn’t get into an international destination. There are 8-10 questions that should be asked of each person who travels overseas for us to understand how the system works internally. The current TAG travel matrix isn’t very helpful since it doesn’t track these critical details.
Well, for me, very lucky, my birth certificate from jamaica is all I need to use for travel from island to island..they know me and dont ask for anything else.
No problem mon! Dont sign a thing..just smile mon..then again, who is going to question a chef that used to appear on TV..and fed many hungry mouths and gave millions to those left unfortunate..it is about the deeds we do as humans! Bon Appetite Mon Amis
if you were subjected to the lies and hypocrisy of so-called SOTP, told to walk away from anyone in distress, (especially a child!!)…then you know the correct response…”provide absolutely no non-required information to the government”…EVER
It has been said, the more things change the more they remain the same-or their is nothing new under the sun.
When Jews in Nazi Germany had A BIG J stamped on their passports, if they wanted to travel abroad they had to first get permission from the Gestapo-the Gestapo would notify the country they were going to.
Indeed and the US government has taken a page directly from the Nazi handbook and are actively applying it to its own citizens!
There is no outrage and there will be outrage. Obama signed it and you know that he could do no wrong. What a load of sh^t!
Anyone else finding no complaint form there to open?
Must be an April Fools joke.
HA HA, like you thought we gave a shit about you, your family’s and ruined travel plans.
Signed, The Feds
Nope the link doesn’t work – that’s the biggest F U of all of this!
The page is valid though.
Tell them nothing. They already have all your travel records and know where you went and when you returned (within 24 hours if you were turned back).
They are NOT going to address specific concerns so giving them this information only legitimizes this and makes it appear that they are concerned and were NOT the direct cause of the disruption – trying to pass the buck to the other countries immigration.
Nothing but a lie as I was denied entry into Argentina and the immigration officials told me “your paperwork is all in order to enter Argentina but the United States is requesting your return.”
Another potential issue I see is that we are all in the boat because of government and law enforcement lies already. This is simply an attempt to violate RSO for some technical violation – Never give LE anything you are not legally required to.
I wonder if the US actually requested your return or if that just the way the Argentines interpreted based on past experience with “green notices?”
I think it can not be a good thing. We could all band together and instead of filing specific complaints instead regale them with “What did you think would happen?” – laugh at them etc. Or we could just put do you think we are all stupid? lol Remember too then they will will have email addresses etc. However, we also run the risk that if it is legit they will think it has not hindered anyone. Also, they must have those statistics available – you can not tell me they do not get notification when a citizen is turned away from a country. Perhaps, they have realized that by doing this they have violated the right of every citizen holds to travel.
As much as I would love to put a comical spin to which they get the complaints from registrants, have meetings with coffee and doughnuts, and have good laughs per every complaint(which I’m sure they do anyway among themselves anyway). I don’t trust any level of law enforcement, especially when it has to do or deal with citizens that are already convicted/felons and even more so with IML and the Marshals.
The Marshals Service is the primary agency for “fugitive operations”. I’m sure they have other services(minor or secondary), but this is their main function. It seems to me, this would be just another avenue to provide them information on what you did during the travels by providing details of your complaints. Details that are not included or left out when asked basic questions. It is like you answering the questions in an interrogation without the actual interrogation – If you get me. Another form of Good cop/Bad cop. This is would be the pretentious Good cop. Oh, you don’t need a lawyer, just tell us and we can help you. We’ll vouch for you in court.
A complaint form where you can tell them about your ruined travel plans?!? As if they had a customer service department for those who are already convicted felons ?? Is almost laughable if you believe that.
I could be wrong, but I would rather take my chances in Federal court.
Just my 2 cents since you asked at the end of the post.
” but I would rather take my chances in Federal court. ”
Yup, same here. With an actual defense attorney and not the Marshal’s customer service department for ex-felons, as you put it quite humorously. lol.
Tell them nothing! Not a single thing!
Indeed, and/or a civil rights attorney as well.
Take your chances in Federal? Court? Seriously now fellas, the SAME Federal Courts that have allowed this monstrosity of all institutionalized hate to grow, nutured it, protected it? Like the Federal Courts give a goddamn about us. Let me remind you, this is the same legak system that brought you such banner cases as Dredd Scott, the Same Constitution that allowed LEGAL slavery, denied the vote from citizens convicted of NO crimes, stole all the Indian lands, broke EVERY SINGLE treaty they signed with them, the same government that ignored a legal Suprene Court order…Andrew Jackson? Friends, the ONLY rights you have are the ones you are willings to fight for, and, rest assurred, somebody is at this moment fighting desperately to take them.
That’s liability control, like when your work hangs up a “call to report safety violations” sign after someone gets hurt.
The page indicates they will only process complaints that regard the actual USMS notifications, no other part of the IML, and they even link to a FAQ.
What is expected to happen is that RSO’s who travel and wish to file a complaint will file improper complaints not exclusively related to USMS policies. If the USMS is called into court they can then demonstrate quantitatively that in spite of receiving one, or a hundred, or a million complaints, none clearly articulated a harm or restraint caused by the legislated obligation of the USMS.
What the solution is, is for FAC or NARSOL or John Q Registrant to draft a specific complaint about the USMS methods of notification, that only addresses the USMS’s obligations in clear direct examples, and make it available for all traveling registrants to sign and submit.
They are inviting any feedback, but they are only programed to receive very specific feedback. So we need a standardized way to send on their wavelength so that 100% of complaints address the USMS instead of the 1% if we all just toss out a grouchy letter about how it’s unjust.
…
Alternately we could all just pledge to announce out of country travel, and cancel our trips 20 days latter and make some poor clerk at the Angel Watch Center send out a thousand green notices a week for the indefinite future, and let the State Department deal with foreign governments being alerted to traveling RSO’s who never arrive.
OOOOOO, I like that idea. Can we implement an FAC holiday for that? Like August 1st is ‘Make Fake Travel Plans Day’?
That is a great idea maybe twice a year or even quarterly
Yes a FAC fake travel plan day! Good thinking, give them something to do!