Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Same Sex Spouse Deportations Resume

Sadly, the Immigration Department has already rescinded the temporary halt of deportation proceeds against foreign spouses in same sex marriages. So much for suspending proceedings pending a resolution of the validity of DOMA in the courts. I'm sure the Christianists are rejoicing. Meanwhile, it sickens me. The Advocate has details on the about face by the Immigration officials. So does Andrew Sullivan who gets to the underlying purpose of DOMA: treating gay Americans as sub-human in their needs and wants and rights. What is distressing is the fact that should DOMA eventually be struck down, it will likely not undo the deportations that have already occurred. And the lives of the couples involved will have been turned upside down with American citizens having to leave the USA to remain with their spouse. It's a case of religious based discrimination at its worse. Here are some highlights from The Advocate:
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Immigration officials say they will no longer put a hold on the cases of binational married gay couples, just two days after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that action on such cases would be halted pending further legal guidance.
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“It’s business as usual,” Bentley said.
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"This regrettable decision reverses a policy of abeyance that was already in place in at least two USCIS District Offices. While DOMA remains the law of the land, the policy of holding applications by married gay and lesbian bi-national couples in abeyance is the ideal interim remedy to provide necessary protection to those bi-national couples and is consistent with enforcing DOMA," immigration attorney Lavi Soloway told The Advocate in a statement.
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And as for what's really at work here, these comments from Andrew Sullivan which I concur with 100%:
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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.
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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 authority. 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.
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If this isn't wrong, what is?

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