Update: Immigration Dept Resume Deportations of American Spouses
posted by DAN SAVAGE
But just the gay ones.
We were told the "hold" on the deportations would be indefinite (or until DOMA was decided, which could be years), then we were told that it would be in force for a week, and now we learn that it's already over—in just two days.
The "hold" on same-sex married bi-national couples' green card applications—celebrated by immigration and LGBT advocates—is over, according to the spokesman for the agency that processes those requests. "The guidance we were awaiting ... was received last night, sothe hold is over, so we're back to adjudicating cases as we always have," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services press secretary Christopher Bentley told Metro Weekly this morning. The agency will continue to "enforce the law," he says, which means that the Defense of Marriage Act—which prohibits the government from recognizing same-sex marriages—prevents those green card applications from being approved.
The Obama administration hasn't "enforced the law" when it comes to the widow's penalty for almost two years now. If you marry an American citizen and you're straight and your American spouse dies before you qualify for a green card, you can stay in this country indefinitely after the death of your spouse in violation of the law. If you marry an American citizen and you're gay, the federal government will tear you from your spouse and you will be deported. Because your genitals don't clash, they match. (When is a member of the White House press corp going to ask about this?) Says Andrew:
The US recognizes the marital and familial bond as the most sacred factor in deciding immigration questions. Why? Because it is understood that the right to marry whomever one chooses is an elemental human right, and that a government that insists on breaking up such marriages, or forcing those in them to leave their own country, is violating basic human rights.Which means to say that the US government regards gay Americans as sub-human in their needs and wants and rights. Their loves and relationships mean nothing under the law every time they encounter federal authoritah. Aaron and I are total strangers to one another in the eyes of federal law. And because we are legally married, I am paradoxically more vulnerable to being deported than I would be if I were single—because it's plain that I intend to reside in the US indefinitely, even though my visa has an expiration date. So I'm a risk—hence my huge anxiety if I ever leave the country.
Many countries that don't recognize same-sex marriage still allow gay citizens to sponsor their same-sex partners for residency. Even non-citizens: when my boyfriend-at-the-time got a fellowship from the German government to study the arts in Berlin, he was able to get me a work permit. That was in 1989.
When will we catch up to the rest of the free world?
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