Immigration Equality

[Sparkle]

from the Boston Globe yesterday 16 October 2010

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...divide/?page=1

[Linus]

Originally Posted by Sparkle

from the Boston Globe yesterday 16 October 2010

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...divide/?page=1

That will be interesting to watch as it may be the impetus to get same-sex marriage approved in the US.

[Sparkle]

Originally Posted by Linus

That will be interesting to watch as it may be the impetus to get same-sex marriage approved in the US.

It may make headway towards overturning the Defense of Marriage Act anyway...it will be interesting to see which (if either) approach gets through first...

The Immigration Reform Bill with provisions for same-sex couples OR the crumbling of DOMA, creating the possibility for federal rights being extended.

[Sparkle]

Yesterday's announcement that the Obama Administration will no longer continue to defend DOMA offers a (little) ray of hope for bi-national couples who wish to live together in the United States.

A round up of some of the information that is flying around out there:

http://out4immigration.blogspot.com/...ding-doma.html

/snip
DOMA has stood in the way of immigration reform for LGBT families. DOMA has meant that each state in the nation chooses whether the institution of marriage can be opened to LGBT couples – and whether that state recognizes the legal union formed between two people of the same sex in other states or abroad. Getting rid of DOMA will open the way for US immigration law to acknowledge marriages between binational same-sex couples.

The "tipping point" in the demise of DOMA seems to be Edith Winsor’s lawsuit. When her Dutch-born wife Thea Spyer died, after a partnership spanning 44 years, the government sent Edith a large tax bill for Thea’s part of their shared property. Edith went to court demanding their relationship be recognized as family, in which case the state would not tax her. On reviewing the case, Obama recognized blatant anti-gay discrimination and announced he was not willing to defend DOMA.

/snip

http://prernalal.com/2011/02/what-sh...efending-doma/

/snip

Immigration Equality has forever opposed the idea of same-sex couples filing I-130 claims and adjudicating their cases in court. They have good reason to believe that federal judges will defer to DHS. For the most part, they are right since you are unlikely to win your claim and your partner may end up in removal proceedings.

But there is a better way to deal with this. Forget listening to advocacy organizations and lawyers. Stop sitting on your laurels. Ideally, I would like to see some 36,000 couples filing I-130 “Petition for Alien Relative” petitions with USCIS. Just imagine the mayhem that would cause. USCIS has to go through each claim. It will take them eons to reject them. You can file appeal upon appeal and backlog them further. You probably don’t even need to take to the streets or the courts. Start talking to the media about how President Obama is keeping you apart from your partner. Under immense pressure, Congressional leaders will have to start holding hearings. Sooner or later, DOMA will be repealed in the courts or by Congress. Even without that, DHS has to issue a memo allowing your partner to live and work legally in the country (deferred action) and Congress has to take action and pass the Uniting American Families Act.

The system is denying you equal rights so screw with it. Give them hell. Shut them down. Go all out for reverse attrition through enforcement. It’s a whole lot more fun than sitting around doing nothing.

/snip

I think this is a strategy that is well worth pursuing, particularly for undocumented immigrants who have overstayed their original visa (ie. those with the least to lose and the most to gain).

This is very similar to what happened in the UK pre-1997 (when the Blair government created an "exception to the rules" that allowed unmarried foreign partners to apply if they met certain criteria, the precursor to the immigration parity options they offer now). Prior to the Labor government coming to power bi-national couples flooded the immigration service/system with applications that remained in litigation for years until there was a legally viable process. It was a long and painful process, but worth it in the end.

With the DOMA on its way out, we should hope to be able to chip away at the iceberg of legal inequities bit by bit. Immigration may be towards the top of that list.

http://out4immigration.blogspot.com/...amas-doma.html

"there's still more work to do"
"Same-sex couples are still treated unequally under federal immigration law."
Prof. Tobias Wolff

[Sparkle]

from sfweekly.com

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/...a_could_be.php

[Soon]

Dear J,

I wanted you to be among the first to know. Our legal team is planning to file an historic lawsuit on behalf of our families.

Following the Obama Administration’s recent announcement that it believes the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional — and its refusal to defend that law in court — we are preparing to challenge DOMA in federal court, on behalf of families who face separation because of discriminatory immigration laws.

For the first time, the U.S. government has declared that Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibits married LGBT Americans from sponsoring their spouse, is unconstitutional. The end of that law will mean a new beginning for LGBT Americans married to non-citizens. Immigration Equality is seizing this tremendous new opportunity and is bringing litigation to end the discrimination those families face.

Soon, we’ll be announcing the families who will be part of our suit, and the prestigious pro bono partners who will help us fight in court. We are assembling the very best team to wage this battle and to ensure we have the best possible chance at dismantling DOMA. The Justice Department has taken a major step forward in refusing to defend the law. We intend to cross the finish line and end it once and for all.

All of us at Immigration Equality will continue to fight for our families in Congress, too.

While the end of DOMA would help many families, passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) remains critically important as well. Many states continue to discriminate against LGBT couples through state-level DOMAs. Families in those states still need a legislative victory so they don’t face separation or exile, too. While our work will expand as part of this new court challenge, our commitment to UAFA — and to ending discrimination for all families as quickly as possible — will not waiver.

This is an immensely significant moment for LGBT families, and Immigration Equality is uniquely positioned to take on this fight. With your help, we will succeed and keep our families together.

Look for more news about our lawsuit soon.

Yours in the fight,

Rachel B. Tiven, Esq.
Executive Director

P.S.: For information on how DOMA might impact your family, please visit our FAQ page, online here. And, if you are thinking of getting married, or are already married and thinking of filing papers with Immigration, or have already done so, please contact our legal department. Then, to make a gift in support of our litigation challenging DOMA, visit the Immigration Equality website.

http://www.immigrationequality.org/

[Sparkle]

http://bit.ly/gv2gvk


"This morning, Monica Alcota and Cristina Ojeda, became the first married, same-sex, binational couple to successfully argue that deportation proceedings should be adjourned until their marriage-based immigration case had been fully adjudicated. The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement attorney and the Immigration Judge agreed that the couple should be given an opportunity to fight for a green card on the basis of their marriage and generously adjourned proceedings accordingly."