A Lesbian Couple Might Be saved Because DOMA might be out
Queens couple Monica Alcota and Cristina Ojeda are fighting to stay together.
Social worker Cristina Ojeda, an American citizen, petitioned for a green card for her Argentine wife, Monica Alcota, in August - even though the feds don't give gay couples immigration rights.A lesbian couple from Queens fighting to stay together in the U.S. found new hope this week after President Obama abandoned the Defense of Marriage Act.
Now that the White House won't defend the 1996 law that bars recognition of same-sex marriages, Ojeda and Alcota hope the petition will be approved one day.
"Finally, the light of hope! Of being able to be together and live in peace," said Alcota, 35, an antique furniture restorer.
"I filed the petition because I love her, and she's my wife," said Ojeda, 25. "I should have the right to live my life with the person that I love. Those are my rights as a citizen. In a way they're being sort of violated."
The women were married last August in Connecticut, because gay marriages are not legally performed in New York.
Alcota - who overstayed a tourist visa and is fighting deportation - plans to appeal if she's turned down for a green card.
Their lawyer is planning to file petitions on behalf of other couples after Obama's announcement.
"It forces the government to take a position - to write a letter to an American citizen and say, 'We're denying this petition because you're gay,'" said the lawyer, Lavi Soloway.
Soloway and law partner Noemi Masliah have filed petitions for a dozen couples as part of a pro bono project.
They are bracing for a flood of new clients because of the White House's position change.
If the petitions are denied, they will take them to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The board is part of the Justice Department, which has been ordered to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act.
Soloway hopes the board will put the petitions on hold - keeping undocumented partners from being deported until the courts make a final decision on same-sex marriage.
"Dynamic change in this area of law is currently underway," he said. "Pretty soon we all think they will be approved."
Until then, he and other experts say gay couples should not file without legal advice because of the risk of alerting the feds to an undocumented partner.
"It is increasingly easy for the government to remove you from the country," said Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality.
"There are terrific set of potential new options on the horizon. Unfortunately, it doesn't change the game today."
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