lifestyles
Marrying for Convenience
Some marry for love. Some marry for money And some marry for a green card.
Story by Angie Dasbach
I
It wasn't exactly the kind of marriage my parents would approve of.
But this man was offering some interesting perks. I could date anyone I wanted. He would cook and clean. And at the end of two years, he would give me an all-expense-paid quickie divorce.
I was about to say yes. But this proposal was coming from a friend and KU teaching assistant from Italy who was in need of a green card.
"I don't believe I could do this," I told him. "I'm a terrible liar and I'm afraid of getting caught."
Even then I knew the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service would frown on the fraudulent arrangement he was proposing.
"Oh come on! It would be fun and you could see anyone that your heart desires," he said, and then added slyly, "but I'm sure that I could keep you happy enough that you wouldn't need any-one else."
I didn't think good sex in return for an illegal marriage was incentive enough to risk my future.
"Sorry, I just can't do it." I told him.
"It was worth a hair," he said with a touch of disappointment. "I was just kidding anyway."
Or was he?
Marrying a U.S. citizen isn't a joke for some foreigners in the Midwest hoping for a shot at the American dream. Mike Heston, deputy district director of the INS for Kansas and Missouri, said, the number of illegal murders in the Mid
believe how many people try to convince us that their marriage is viable."
"It happens more times than you could guess," he said.
Just how many times is that?
For starters, Heston said that out of nearly 2,800 applications for green cards, 194 were denied last year because of fraud. Students are high on the list of people attempting to defraud the INS. The potential for fraud is higher, Heston said, because foreign students' visas expire after graduation, and a pattern of impromptu marriages forms immediately before or after graduation.
Pinpointing an exact number of students involved in fraudulent marriages is difficult, Heston said, because the INS doesn't break down marriage statistics into specific groups.
Despite the fact that the INS may be looming like Big Brother, the temptation to bypass the system and marry for a quickie green card is real for many students.
--together. That wasn't an easy task
All sources in this story who have dealt with or will deal with the INS insisted on being identified by pseudonyms before they would talk.
Jason, a KU sophomore, said that he would have been temped to marry Maude, whom he met last summer. Although he hasn't married her yet, he did help her cross the
Although Canadians don't need a visa to enter the United States, Maude said she had to lie to U.S. customs officials because they wouldn't let her enter the United States for an indefinite stay.
She said she told officials that she was going to do some cross-border shopping with a friend, when in fact she intended to move to Kansas to live with Jason and his family.
Maude said she stuffed her belongings into her friend's car and then met Jason after they entered the United States. She's been in Lawrence seven months.
Jason said that they had been trying to find out how to get a visa for Maude and that they had no luck.
"She has to wait two years to get a visa and then an employer must show that there's not an American who can do the job better than she can," he said. "It's just ridiculous."
Once they realized that it was close to impossible for Maude to get a work visa, Jason's mother suggested that they get married.
"We've looked at every possible way to beat the system," Jason said. "It would be much easier if we got married."
Maude and Jason said they had thought about getting married to ease the immigration process, but they weren't sure they would want to take that kind of risk.
MUSIC AND CONCERT REVIEWS
FILTER, NINE INCH NAILS on the RECORD
By Robert Mocydlowsky Kansan staff writer
Rarely does a band dominate radio and television waves before playing in front of a live audience.
Most bands spend years working their way through the smoke-filled club circuit just to earn a decent following, not to mention a record deal. Else it's dreadful if it is that way.
The band got their start when ex-Nine Inch Nails guitarist Richard Patrick quit NIN and teamed up with their programmer, Brian Llesegang. They moved into the studio and wrote some songs, doing the brunt of their recording on
Filter didn't do it that way.
They cut a five-song demo in 1993 and pitched it to various record companies.
Macintosh computers.
Soon they were signed
Patrick and Liesegang have recruited four musicians to play with them on tour, adding guitars and a bass to Patrick's vocals and Liesegang's drums.
My number one concern before the show was whether Filter could re-create their deep-layered studio sound on stage. Inside their liner notes they openly admit their heavy reliance on electronic post-production modifications, and that usually means eight-track-tape-assisted-live shows.
On Saturday night, Filter played their first-ever live show to a sold-out Bottleneck crowd.
That's not to say that I was hoping to hear perfect CD versions of every song; I merely wanted to find out if these guys could really play.
When the lights came up, I noticed a burly dude with a shaved head in the front row. His arms were outstretched and he was rubbing his fingers together as if holding a wad of money. He was implying that Filter have already sold out.
to Reprise Records, and Short Bus — their excellent debut disc — was released. Now their single "Hey man, nice shot" is all over radio and television.
Most of my fears were allayed early on. I don't
"Must be playing two sets," I thought. "They're probably just taking a break."
know how long Filter practiced before Saturday's show, but they sounded crisp and polished. They played every song with furious intensity, highlighted by particularly stellar versions "Dos" and "Hey man, nice shot."
Nope. No encore, no second set. Filter had left the building.
And then they quit.
Take a look at what's been given to them. They've got continuous airplay, an expensive-looking video and a
relentlessly promoted record. An appearance on syndicated radio's "Modern Rock Live" no doubt boosted record sales, and now they are on a sold-out U.S. tour.
I tend to agree.
Two weeks ago I attempted to arrange an interview with the band, but their company told me that they "would not have time" to meet with me in person. So, I offered to do the interview over the phone.
Remember, counting Saturday night, they've played to a live audience a grand total of one time.
No dice on that either. Hell, I've had to pull teeth just to get a biography and a CD.
I guess they think they're big time rock stars. And maybe they will be. But if the band and the record company keep up the overhype, Filter are in serious jeopardy of selling themselves right out of a fan base. It's the sweaty people in the pit who buy the tickets and pay the band.
Without fans, a music career usually doesn't last very long.
I just don't think Filter have realized that yet. Aside from the buzz that Filter generated, Saturday night also marked a great opening-act gig for the Lawrence band Grither.
The trio have managed to grab a little radio time here and there with their tune "Dig it up," and they rocked away Saturday night, earning a decent crowd reaction at the end of their set.
If they keep it up, they could be makin' some waves in the pot-so-distant future.
And back to Nine Inch Nails, Interscope Records has released Further Down the Spiral, an 11-song EP that features re-mixes and alternative versions of tracks from their platinum-selling The Downward Spiral. In addition to remixes, this disc
also contains musical cameos from such industry luminaries as License to Ill producer Rick Rubin, ex-Jane's Addiction and ex-Chil Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro, and Aphex Twin.
My fave is Rubin's disc-opening version of "Piggly", but the runaway hit is the live version of "Hurt" — which you've no doubt seen or heard countless times already.
The other re-mixes are decent, but they aren't any better than Reznor's original tracks. My copy of the disc says "Special Low Price CD," and for the mild to frantic NIN fan, it's probably a worthwhile purchase.
Next week: The Poster Children chat it up at the Bottleneck; Shallow CD Release Party at the Hurricane in Kansas City; and Vitreous Humor live from Mass. St. Staytuned.
SECTION B
JUNE 21,1995
Billboard magazine's top 10 video rentals
1. "The Shawshank Redemption," (Columbia TriStar)
2. "Forrest Gump," (Paramount)
3. "The Professional," (Columbia TriStar)
4. "Legends of the Fall," (Columbia TriStar)
5. "Quiz Show," (Hollywood)
6. "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," (Columbia TriStar)
7. "Richie Rich," (Warner)
8. "Speechless," (MGM-UA)
9. "The Jungle Book," (Disney)
10. "Bullets Over Broadway," (Miramax)
The weekend's top 10 Box office hits
Top 10 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by studio, gross, number of theater locations, receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release:
1. "Batman Forever," Warner Bros., $52.8 million, 2,842 locations, $18,573 per location, $62.8 million, one week.
2. "Congo," Paramount, $10.7 million, 2,676 locations, $4,000 per location, $44.5 million, two weeks.
3. "Casper," Universal, $6.63 million,
2,755 locations, $2,407 per location,
$66.3 million, four weeks.
4. "The Bridges of Madison County." Warner Bros., $6.57 million, 1,986 locations, $3,310 per location, $36.1 million, three weeks.
5. "Die Hard With a Vengeance," Fox,
$4.2 million, 2,200 locations, $1,017 per
location, $79.1 million, five weeks.
6. "Braveheart," Paramount, $4.1 million,
2,037 locations, $2,022 per location,
$41 million, four weeks.
7. "Crimson Tide," Disney, $3.5 million,
1,804 locations, $1,963 per location,
$76.2 million, six weeks.
8. "Pocahontas," Disney, $2.7 million,
six locations, $448,286 per location,
$2.7 million, one week.
9. "Forget Paris," Columbia, $1.68 million,
1,380 locations, $1,220 per location.
$27 million, five weeks.
10. "While You Were Sleeping," Disney,
$1.67 million, 1,242 locations, $1,346
per location, $88.3 million, nine weeks.
Compiled by The Associated Press