Immigration Discrimination on Gays & Gay Couples
Earlier today I blogged about Immigration Discrimination on an article from Australia. I just wanted to introduced the issue from outside first and then to the US.
In this article that follows I accomplished just that. You will have an opportunity to agree or not agree with the following article. Thank you for taking the interest to read it.
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May 27, 2010
In Wisconsin & The Netherlands, A Couple Waits for Inclusive Immigration Reform
The Capital Times, in Madison, WI, profiles a local couple separated by discriminatory immigration laws.
They met when Joey came home to find Gabi – in Madison from the Netherlands for the wedding of a mutual friend – sitting on the doorstep of her east-side townhouse, where Joey was helping put up out-of-town guests.
The attraction was immediate. After Gabi headed home, the pair continued communicating by e-mail, then visited back and forth. As the relationship deepened, the couple knew they wanted to be together. They married in April in Iowa, where same-sex marriage has been legal for the past year.
Joey Johannsen recalls that she thought at first that it would be simple to have Gabi Helfert come live with her. Then she began researching the “alphabet soup” of U.S. visas (most often referred to by initials), and the realities of U.S. immigration law began to sink in. “It’s pretty complicated,” says Helfert, a German citizen who has been living the past several years in the Netherlands, where she works as a project manager at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University.
The bottom line is this: Americans cannot sponsor a same-sex partner who is a foreigner for permanent residency in the United States, an option open to heterosexual couples in one of the least complicated and surest ways to attain the much sought “green card.” Even same-sex couples who are married do not have that right, because the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Federal law does not recognize same-sex marriages, so the immigration privileges extended to married couples do not apply.
The inability to sponsor a same-sex partner is an inequity that activists are hoping will be eradicated in any immigration reform legislation that eventually emerges in Congress. Some observers say that a provision eliminating the disparity, by injecting the controversial issue of same-sex marriage to the already controversial issue of immigration, would not likely survive what is sure to be a heated debate on immigration reform.
“I was in disbelief,” Johannsen says, of her eventual realization that there was no way for her to sponsor her partner to come to the United States permanently. “My mom asks: ‘Why doesn’t Gabi move here?’ I tell her that’s what we would love to happen.” The women juggle their schedules to fit in daily Internet video calls across an ocean and a seven-hour time difference, as they’ve researched other options.
Bi-national same-sex couples have relied on tourist visas and other temporary provisions to be together in the United States and never have had a basis to sponsor their partners, says Steve Ralls of Immigration Equality, a New York-based advocacy group focused on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and HIV-positive communities. That’s why it is so significant that a conceptual plan for comprehensive immigration reform floated by U.S. Senate Democrats includes the core provision of the Uniting American Families Act, a bill introduced last year that would extend to same-sex couples the immigration rights afforded to married couples. “That’s a breakthrough. It is a strong signal, we believe, that the leadership is committed to including it when a bill is introduced,” says Ralls.
Pressure for immigration reform surged this spring after the passage of a controversial law in Arizona that would make failure to carry immigration papers a crime and give police broad powers to detain anyone suspected of being illegally in the country. “The Senate has realized the power the gay and lesbian grass roots movement can bring to the passage of an immigration reform bill,” Ralls says.
To continue reading the full story, click here.
Photo by Mike DeVries, The Capital Times
May 21, 2010
Congressman Gutierrez Calls for LGBT-Inclusive Immigration Reform
In an interview published today in The Chicago Tribune, Congressman Luis Gutierrez (pictured) – a key Congressional leader on immigration issues – says he supports including LGBT binational families in comprehensive immigration reform.
“The underlying part of any comprehensive immigration bill is family unity,” Gutierrez said in an interview with the Tribune. “We need to speak more clearly and more articulately and more frequently that the (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, and same-sex couples and their binational relationships, are part of families.”
“We need to build bridges between the LGBT community and the larger immigrant community,” Gutierrez said. “In the end, the bigger the tent we build, the more successful we’ll be.”
“The congressman has planned a meeting with immigrant and LGBT community leaders at noon Monday at the Center on Halsted in Chicago,” the paper notes. “He will be joined by U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley of Chicago and Jared Polis of Colorado, both Democrats.”
To read the complete Tribune interview, click here.
May 19, 2010
WCT Profiles Julie Kruse
This week’s Windy City Times – Chicago’s LGBT weekly – profiles Immigration Equality’s policy director, Julie Kruse (pictured), who spent years honing her policy skills while working with progressive Illinois advocacy groups.
“Kruse came to the organization with a long background in activism behind her,” the paper reports. “After obtaining a master’s degree in education from Northwestern University, she was involved with Chicago-based social-justice groups, including, she said, community organizations in Humboldt Park and Pilsen, Chicago Women in Trades and the Center for Economic Progress, where she was Director of Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships. Kruse also served on the Illinois Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women.”
“I really do feel my work here connects with my work back there,” Kruse said. “I learned everything I’ve learned in Chicago.” Though she lives in Washington, D.C., Kruse said, she visits Chicago often: it’s where her partner lives.
Throughout the course of her political education, Kruse said, she became convinced of the importance of political lobbying. “You can’t create any social change without policy change,” she said.
Ongoing lobbying efforts by Immigration Equality, as well as other LGBT organizations, were apparent earlier this year when one of the organization’s major political goals was achieved: After two decades, a ban on immigration to the United States by HIV-positive people was lifted. Though the initial decision to change the rule had been signaled two years earlier by then-President George W. Bush, the full repeal of the ban depended on regulatory changes finally enacted by President Barack Obama.
With partner organizations, Immigration Equality has also lobbied for the inclusion of same-sex binational couples in any comprehensive immigration reform package considered by Congress. LGBT groups want to see provisions for same-sex partners to be able to sponsor one another for U.S. citizenship, an option currently available only married opposite-sex couples. The centerpiece of this legislative push has been the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) , provisions of which were recently included in the immigration reform framework set forth by the Sens. Schumer, Menendez, and Reid.
“It’s extremely exciting that for the first time ever, our community has been included in a comprehensive immigration-reform bill,” Kruse said. “It’s a complete game-changer. We’ve gone from [being] supplicants to being included.”
To read the full profile, click here.
May 17, 2010
HuffingtonPost: A Gay Immigrant Reaches for a DREAM
This evening in Arizona, a young, gay man is literally putting his life on the line.
In today’s Arizona, the fact that Mohammad Abdollahi (pictured) is willing to speak up would be cause enough for concern. Abdollahi, who has been in the United States since the age of 3, risks arrest and deportation simply by being visible. Under the state’s new, anti-immigrant law, his mere presence means risking his continued residency in the only country he has ever known well enough to call it ‘home.’
Add to that, however, the fact that Abdollahi (who currently lives in Michigan) is gay, and originally from Iran, and you can begin to understand the true courage behind his current sit-in at the office of Senator John McCain.
If he is arrested, the 24-year-old faces deporation to one of the most notoriously homophobic countries in the world. Lesbians and gays are routinely tortured, and even executed, in Iran. There is little doubt that, if he is forced to return there, Abdollahi will, too, face unspeakable persecution simply because of who he is.
And yet, he is not deterred.
As journalist Todd Heywood first reported today in the Michigan Messenger, Abdollahi is risking his very life in order to press for passage of the DREAM Act, a critically important piece of legislation which would give young, undocumented people like him a path to citizenship and an opportunity to remain in the United States.
May 13, 2010
Immigration Equality to Receive 2010 Harmony Award from Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington
On Saturday evening, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will honor Immigration Equalitywith its “Harmony Award.” The GMCW is one of Washington’s most respected, and admired, arts institutions, and recently performed at President Obama’s inaugural festivities.
All of us at Immigration Equality are honored, and proud, to be receiving this award, and will be on-hand for Saturday’s evening’s ceremony.
This year’s event, titled A Night in Venice, features live and silent auctions, dinner, live entertainment from members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, a presentation to 2010 Harmony Award Honorees, and is followed by an after-party Carnevale and dessert, reflecting this year’s Venetian theme.
The GMCW Harmony Award recognizes individuals and organizations that exemplify the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s mission to “affirm the place of gay people in society.” Previous recipients have included Hon. Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor, District of Columbia; The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit , GLBT community activists Peter D. Rosenstein and Frank Kameny; the Washington, DC, Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); The Mautner Project, the National Lesbian Health Organization; Food & Friends; Councilmember David Catania; and the international law firm of Holland & Knight.
Other honorees for the evening include John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Deacon Maccubbin and Jim Bennett, founders of Washington’s legendary Lambda Rising bookstore; and Jeff Buhrman, artistic director of the Gay Men’s Chorus.
Tickets for A Night in Venice are still available, and can be purchased at the GMCW website.
The Journey Home
Judy Rickard said the news made her cry.
The California resident, who had been traveling through Europe for six months after being forced to leave her home in the United States, was sitting in the terminal at JFK airport on April 29th. She had just made it through customs and spent a harrowing few hours waiting for her British partner – who was returning to
the U.S. with her – to be granted entry as well. Judy, who cannot sponsor Karin for residency under current U.S. immigration law, was pacing and worrying that her partner was not emerging from the customs questioning area.
the U.S. with her – to be granted entry as well. Judy, who cannot sponsor Karin for residency under current U.S. immigration law, was pacing and worrying that her partner was not emerging from the customs questioning area.
Then, Karin appeared and Judy breathed her first sigh of relief. The two would be able to remain together, on U.S. soil, for another six months, before leaving again.
A year earlier, Judy took early retirement from her job so she could leave her own country in order to keep her family intact. Because Judy and Karin are a lesbian couple, Judy has no ability to keep her partner in the country, as straight Americans are able to do. Instead, Karin stays in the United States for half of each year. Then, when her visa forces her to leave, Judy packs up and leaves with her. It has made building a home together, to say the least, a little difficult.
So the news on April 29th was a very big deal for both of them.
Safely settled in the JFK terminal, Judy went looking for an internet connection. When she logged on, the headline stood out on her laptop screen like a neon “welcome home” sign.
“Senate Immigration Reform Principles Include Lesbian and Gay Families.”
That’s when Judy emailed me to say she had started to cry.
May 12, 2010
Safe Haven Awards: Announcing our 2010 Honorees!
Invitations to the Safe Haven Awards are arriving this week.If you haven’t done so already, please mark your calendars for Tuesday June 8th, and buy your tickets today!
We’re especially excited to be joined by this year’s headliner: New York Timesbest-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert (pictured), whose book Eat, Pray, Love is currently being turned into a film starring Julia Roberts. Her new book Committed chronicles her experience as the American half of a binational couple.This year’s event promises to be our best ever! Last year, more than 400 attendees raised nearly $200,000. In the same year, Immigration Equality’s hotline answered more than 1,700 inquiries and won a record 76 asylum cases for LGBT people fleeing violence and persecution in their home country.
This year’s awards will honor five pro bono firms for their outstanding service to LGBT immigrants and their families. Our Safe Haven Awards honorees include:
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which stood out for the high volume of cases it took on – and started winning! – in its very first year in Immigration Equality’s pro bono program. Kirkland formalized its LGBT Asylum Project as a firmwide program in partnership with Immigration Equality in 2009, taking on seven different cases and providing more than $750,000 in pro bono services last year alone.
- Paul Weiss, which has continued its record of excellence since 2004, when it accepted its first case for a gay, HIV-positive Jamaican man. The firm currently has six more challenging cases pending, in addition to significant wins for Immigration Equality clients in 2007 and 2008.
- Linklaters, which joined Immigration Equality’s pro bono program one year ago and took on — and won — six cases, including asylum for a gay man from Uzbekistan and two gay men from Trinidad who all had challenging one-year filing deadline issues. The firm also won asylum for a gay man from Jamaica, a gay man from Paraguay and a lesbian from Botswana.
- Ropes & Gray, which won asylum for ten Immigration Equality clients in 2009 — more than any other firm. Their victories included asylum for a lesbian from India, a gay HIV-positive Jamaican and his son, a gay HIV-positive Ghanaian in proceedings, a gay Ukrainian, and a gay man from Dominica.
We will also be honoring Fragomen with our “Defender of Freedom Award,” for devoting hundreds of hours to tireless legislative research and analysis in support of Immigration Equality’s advocacy for binational families.
All of these champions have literally made all the difference in the world for the Immigration Equality clients they have represented. I hope you’ll join me in saluting them on June 8th.
Invitations to the Safe Haven Awards should be in mailboxes soon. If you didn’t receive one, you can RSVP, reserving your spot for this year’s event, by purchasing your tickets online.Just click here to buy tickets, or join our host committee.
Your generous support will be put to immediate use in our work to end discrimination against LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants and their families.
To reserve your spot for this incredible evening, please visit us online today. I look forward to seeing you in New York on June 8th.
May 5, 2010
The view from New York
Growing up, when the evening news reported a crime committed by a Goldberg or a Cohen, my parents would groan. That combination of shame at the misdeeds of one of our own, mixed with anxiety that it would reflect badly on us all, flooded over me when I heard that an immigrant had been arrested in the Times Square bombing.
We are on the cusp of real immigration reform, and accusatory headlines like “Suspect is Naturalized U.S. Citizen” feel like a knife in the back. We all need reform so desperately – everyone from the gay man who is spending his life savings to keep his partner in school here, to the teenager who grew up and came out in the Bay Area but can’t go to college or get a job for lack of status, to the single lesbian mom who has been waiting years for her sister to immigrate and help her raise her son – to the millions of other people with whom we share this struggle.
I want to believe that most Americans – 98% of us once immigrants ourselves – are not so foolish as to conflate the actions of one crazy individual with all immigrants, or all South Asians, or all Pakistanis . . . but when I read the vicious comments online, I’m not so sure.
What a roller coaster week. Just yesterday I was so proud Governor Patterson showed that pro-immigrant states can play Arizona’s game. He announced that New York will create a special pardon board to consider vacating minor crimes that can cost long-time New Yorkers their green cards, with absolutely no way for the immigration judge to exercise discretion. Immigration Equality sees the results of this policy because it affects some of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people we represent.
• We represented a gay, HIV-positive man who was going to be deported because after the bank mistakenly deposited money in his account, he spent it. He was charged with grand larceny and was going to be stripped of his green card and deported to an anti-gay country.
• L., a Colombian gay man with AIDS was about to lose his green card because of shoplifting arrests. He stole Tylenol and nutritional supplements from a drugstore – the only “treatment” he was getting for his illness.
• We are currently representing F., a 19-year-old from Jamaica who may be deported for shoplifting a scarf – because he was cold – and jumping the subway turnstile. For those two offenses he was considered a “mandatory detainee” who was held in immigration custody until we took his case.
I want to be clear – it’s wrong to steal, be it from the bank, a store, or the MTA. I hope that when my kids are F.’s age, the fog of adolescent bad judgment doesn’t lead them to do stupid things like that. However, if they do, they won’t be exiled from their country as a result. One of the many great things about our system is that we believe in proportionality, that the punishment should suit the crime. The Eighth Amendment protects all of us against excessive or cruel and unusual punishment. (Please don’t write to say that non-citizens aren’t covered by the Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments tell the federal government – not its subjects – what it can and can’t do. Citizenship wasn’t even defined until six amendments and 90 years later.) When current law wrenches people from their families for petty crimes – in many cases retroactively, for crimes that had no immigration consequences at all when they were committed – the Eighth Amendment is being ignored. Thus Governor Patterson offers another, this time humane, example of what so many have been saying for weeks: Congress must act to fix our broken immigration system.
In the meanwhile, I fear for my South Asian friends, and pray we don’t see a resurgence of the murderous hate crimes their community faced after 9/11.
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