Demand Immigration Equality for Same-Sex Couples

by Antonio Ramirez · 2011-04-12 10:25:00 UTC
Topics:

It's been a harrowing ride for gay and lesbian couples that include a partner without U.S. citizenship -- and that's just considering the past two weeks.

Couples like John Beddingfield and Erwin de Leon, a citizen and a Filipino doctoral student, quickly made their 12-year relationship official when Washington, D.C., allowed same-sex couples to marry. But although the Obama Administration has refused to defend laws against same-sex marriage in court, the federal government still doesn't recognize marriages like Beddingfield and de Leon's.

So even though de Leon is married to a US citizen, he isn't eligible to start the process to become a citizen himself. Researchers estimate that around 24,000 couples are in the same situation.

That's why when US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced they would delay some immigration cases involving gay couples on a Monday two weeks ago, there seemed to be cause for celebration.

But by Tuesday, as Change.org's Prerna Lal reported, officials were already backtracking. Immigration cases involving same-sex couples would resume within a week, said USCIS.

In response, twelve US Senators sent a letter asking Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to delay immigration cases involving same-sex marriages. The letter also urged the use of "prosecutorial discretion" when gearing up to deport immigrants that are legally married to US citizens and who, if not for being gay, would otherwise be able to adjust their immigration status.

Out4Immigration, a volunteer-run grassroots organization that addresses the widespread discriminatory impact of U.S. immigration laws on the lives of LGBTQ and HIV+ people, started a petition to encourage USCIS to grant immigration status to married same-sex couples.

Click here to join the nearly 2,000 Change.org members that have told USCIS: Don't go back to denying green cards to loving, same-sex couples.

Photo Credit: Out4Immigration

RELATED PETITION

Dear USCIS: Don't Go Back to Denying Green Cards to Loving, Same-Sex Couples
SIGN PETITION
5,072 People
PREVIOUS STORY:
Victory! Maryland DREAM Act Passes, Just Hours Before Deadline
NEXT STORY:
Community Members Fight Detention of High School Graduate with a Mental Disability

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.