http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/opinion/louisianas-heartless-marriage-law.html 2016-10-18 09:51:58 Louisiana’s Heartless Marriage Law A law that has made it harder for immigrants to wed is discriminatory and should be struck down. === Last year, Louisiana lawmakers considered a handful of bills that sought to make the state as inhospitable as possible to new immigrants. Local law enforcement officials helped defeat one that would have penalized cities like New Orleans and Lafayette for their policies that limit cooperation between local police departments and federal immigration authorities. But There is no evidence that Louisiana courthouses have become gateways for foreign-born fraudsters or terrorists. But in recent months, county clerks Beyond deterring undocumented people from obtaining marriage licenses, the law has also prevented refugees and other lawful immigrants from marrying. Many immigrants come from countries where births are not automatically registered; others cannot easily obtain a copy of their original birth certificate. Even those who do have the document must spend money to get it translated. Louisiana appears to be the first state to have enacted a law that makes it harder for immigrants to marry. A federal Immigrants in Louisiana are singled out and “subjected to different requirements when they want to get married,” said Alvaro Huerta, a lawyer with the National Immigration Law Center. This law is a cruel affront to their dignity and should be struck down.