Our brief discussion in class on Wednesday about the abuse of the immigration system reminded me of one of my personal favorite movies, which some of you may know as it was pretty popular when it came out. It’s called “The Proposal” and it stars famous actors Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. The premise of the movie, for those who don’t know, is as follows: Margaret Tate, played by Sandra Bullock, is an executive editor at a book publishing company in New York City, who is only in the United States on a work visa, because she is natively from Canada. However, when she finds out that she is at risk of being deported due to a violation of said visa, she forces her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), to marry her in order to keep her in the country, even though the two both hate each other. Of course, because this is how modern-day film always works, the pair end of actually falling in love with each other and actually wanting to get married, but that’s besides the point.
The real question here is not about their gradual transition from hate to love, but it is about whether or not their actions were ethical. We know that their actions are illegal, because marrying someone solely to keep them from being deported is considered fraud in the eyes of the U.S. justice system, but should this be the case? In my opinion, I believe that as long as the illegal party has grounds to be here and is not infringing on society in a negative way, then there’s nothing wrong with this concept. However, I am well aware that there are obviously people who think otherwise, and I’m curious to know what the rest of you think on this matter. Should Margaret be allowed to stay in the U.S.? Should Andrew be sent to prison for fraud? Are there other ways that this matter can be solved, in both Andrew and Margaret’s case and in similar cases in real life? Let me know your thoughts.
Amanda raises a good question: how should we judge someone (ethically, legally) who gets married for a Green Card?