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Claims of polygamous Muslim families draining welfare benefits in Michigan in particular have been the subject of e-mail forwards for several years, but a YouTube video originally posted on 26 August 2014 appears to have catapulted the rumors to new levels: Examples: [Collected via email, September 2014] The clip, titled U.S. WELFARE PAYS FOR 4 'WIVES' PER HUSBAND, is a narrated version of a popular email forward claiming that many Muslim families support up to four wives per household courtesy of the generous United States welfare system. The brief video is amusingly stirring the American outrage pot whilst the text is read in a British accent: It's important to note that a number of issues are threaded together in the 4 wives piece. First of all, it is true that some state and municipal government agencies in Michigan (such as the state Electronic Benefit Transfer program, whose phone number is listed in the example above) provide phone services and printed material in Arabic. However, this phenomenon is hardly surprising, as Michigan is home to a large population of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries (over 115,000 as of the end of 2013), nor is it unique: plenty of government offices throughout the U.S. provide information and services in non-English languages other than Spanish (e.g., Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole) in areas where significant numbers of speakers of those languages reside. As for the claim about Muslim men claiming public assistance benefits for up to four wives, one must consider the plausibility of the situation proposed and understand that the circumstances span multiple issues including marriage, immigration, and the range of benefits commonly dubbed welfare in America. While marriage laws have been modified in some states to include same-sex couples, plural marriages (i.e., more than two spouses) are still not legally sanctioned in any state. It's common knowledge that many families do engage in polygamous or polyamorous household arrangements, but only one partner can be legally recognized as a spouse in such circumstances. The claims made in the e-mail rely on the belief that immigrating to America (or claiming asylum) is a simple process, with many new entrants flowing across our porous borders each year. However, getting into the United States for the sole purpose of taking up residency here is not so easy, and relatively few who make their way here are afforded the opportunity to permanently reside in the U.S. For starters, sponsoring a spouse for an immigrant visa is a complicated (and often lengthy) process, one that requires the applying party to have (or have access to) a specified minimum amount of resources before immigration officials approve the non-resident spouse's visa application. The process can take months or years, and many lovelorn husbands and wives find their petitions initially rejected. On top of that, U.S. Department of State regulations specifically state that In cases of polygamy, only the first spouse may qualify as a spouse for immigration, so nobody is bringing multiple wives into the United States from far-flung lands via immigrant visas. Should a hopeful foreigner be lucky enough to legally emigrate to the U.S. and obtain the necessary visa for a spouse, he or she had to have supplied proof of ability to support that spouse. But if one or both parties should fall upon hard times afterwards, all involved are subject to standard assistance eligibility guidelines to qualify for services such as a SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, or temporary cash assistance. In order to receive these forms of assistance in Michigan, all residents (Muslim or not) must meet basic eligibility requirements, among which are that they are must be either U.S. citizens or have acceptable alien status. As a representative of the Michigan Department of Human Services told us, although immigrants may bring and/or sponsor relatives (e.g., spouses, children, parents, siblings) for permanent residency or citizenship in the U.S., they cannot claim multiple wives as relatives for that purpose because U.S. law does not recognize plural marriages. Nothing codified in the law says that Muslim men are allowed to have as many as 4 wives and sign them all up for welfare and other free government programs. Although a Muslim man (or any other man) might live in a polygamous relationship after taking up residency in Michigan, he may only legally claim one wife as his own — he cannot simply list additional (not legally recognized) wives as members of an extended household and claim public assistance benefits for them on that basis. Those other wives would have to qualify for immigration/residency status (if they were immigrants to the U.S.) and apply for public assistance benefits on their own (as single mothers or heads of households), independent of their status as unofficial wives or household members of someone already residing in Michigan.
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