Our Story: Eric & Jon

More Than 2,000 Days Trying to "Figure This Out"

On June 29, 2006 I boarded a flight to New York’s LaGuardia Airport that would completely change my life. It was not my first trip to New York, but it was my first solo trip. I thought that I may be a little crazy for arranging this trip, but I’m a scientist and a bit of a planner. There is always a Plan B and I will always find a solution

A few months earlier, several months into my Match.com membership, I had entered a friend’s New York zip code in the search window. One of the very first profiles caught my attention—Asian guy, blue eyes. I have always been drawn to those things that are out of the ordinary. I quickly sent a message, probably something about they eyes, but I don’t really remember.

Later that day, much to my surprise, the blue-eyed Asian boy had replied to my message. We struck up a correspondence that soon moved to video chat – where I learned that the blue-eyed Asian boy looked

EXACTLY like his profile! Well, except the eyes...it never occurred to me that people wear colored contacts, but it did not matter. We were finally talking, not just typing, and our first video chat lasted several hours.

Valentine's Day 2013 marked more than 2,000 days since Jay's work visa expired and he had to leave the US.

Over the next few months our friendship grew and we began planning a visit. Being a teacher, I had two months vacation, but Jon had just two weeks. We decided to spend a week together in New York at his apartment and I made the flight to LaGuardia. We had agreed to meet at his job, my Plan B being I would go stay with friends if our first meeting in person turned out not to be all that I had anticipated from the months getting to know each other online.

Standing on the sidewalk, in front of Jon’s office building, I nervously dialed his number. I saw a familiar face approach the revolving door, he walked down the steps, gave a big hug, and we had our first kiss. Everything was strangely familiar—we knew a lot about one another from our daily conversations, but had never so much as touched. Nonetheless, I felt as if I had come home after a long trip—my heart felt a great sense of comfort. 

The week went by quickly and comfort grew into anxiety as the 4^th of July approached—I was going home the following morning. I often wondered how I would know when I fell in love. Although there are many people that I love and care about, what I experienced with Jon was different. Being with him was home. I had found my life partner, and there is no other way to explain it, I simply knew it. 

Throwing all caution to the wind, I confessed to Jon that “. . .this may sound completely ridiculous, but I’m falling in love with you.” Thankfully, he did not run! We have been together ever since.

Over the next year and a half we scheduled trips between our respective cities every three weeks. Our daily video sessions grew to include watching TV together, just like my parents have done for the last 40 years. The only difference was that our recliners were in different cities. 

 

One year later, the day before my birthday, I had boarded my flight back to Miami when my phone rang. It was Jon and he was devastated. “I just received a letter and it says that my work visa was not renewed. I have 30 days leave.” 

My heart literally sunk. 

I quickly shifted into survival mode, calmly responding that we would “figure this out.” That flight to Miami turned out to be infinitely longer than any of my 24+ hour flights to Asia would be over the next several years. 

Valentine’s Day 2013 marked the 2033^rd day that we have spent trying to “figure this out.” The only thing that stands in our way is a law that does not consider our seven-year commitment equal to my sister’s two- year marriage to her husband.

We are thankful and very fortunate to have two loving and fully supportive families. We have three nephews and a niece that do not know of time when Jon and I were not together. They know that Uncle Eric and Uncle Jon love them and spoil them every chance they get. Our relationship is not odd or unusual to them. What is odd is that we cannot live together—try explaining that to an eight year old! They know that I will be in Asia during the summers and oftentimes we will miss holidays and birthdays while we travel to be with one another. 

Well-meaning friends often ask “Why don’t you get married in [New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington or Washington DC]?” Few realize that marriage in those states will only resolve a few state issues. Unfortunately, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) exclusively withholds 1,138 federal rights from same-sex couples, including immigration. 

We are hopeful that comprehensive immigration reform will include binational LGBT families.  Including the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would simply acknowledge us as a family and provide the means for us to finally live together. The alternative is to live in exile and leave my family, friends, career, and life that I have built over the last 39 years behind. 

We ask all our friends, family, colleagues and allies to help us and other same-sex binational couples.  Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask to speak with your senators/representative, and encourage them to include the UAFA as part of comprehensive immigration reform. If it is easier, you can email your senators at http://www.senate.gov and representatives at http://www.house.gov .  Forward this story and the others on the Out4Immigration blog to your network and ask that they do the same.  

Are you a same-sex binational couple? Do you have families / friends affected by this issue? Please contact us at http://bit.ly/O4ICountMeIn if you are interested in sharing your story.

Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) for Same-Sex Binationals Introduced in Congress

Bill with Bipartisan Support Would Give Gay and Lesbian Americans with Foreign Spouses Equal Immigration Rights

Media Contact:  Amos Lim, Out4Immigration, 415-742-1626, amos@out4immigration.org

SAN FRANCISCO – FEBRUARY 4, 2013 – The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), legislation that would provide gay and lesbian Americans with foreign partners equal immigration rights, was introduced today in the 113th Congress by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

This is the seventh consecutive Congress in which Nadler has introduced this legislation, which typically garners support from Democrats, but never enough for the bill to come up for a vote. This time, however, the bill has two Republican cosponsors, and comes at a critical juncture with comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) on the table.

“Thousands of committed same-sex couples are needlessly suffering because of unequal treatment under our immigration laws,” said Nadler, a long-time champion of same-sex binational couples and their families. While many of these couples are legally married or partnered, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) bars them from receiving federal rights, such as the ability of an American citizen to sponsor a foreign spouse for a green card.

Nadler called this current state of excluding one class of people from equal treatment under the law “an outrage”. While the constitutionality of DOMA is currently in front of the Supreme Court, UAFA could neatly fit into immigration reform overhaul and solve a problem that affects about 40,000 couples – some of whom have been forced to leave the country or overstay a visa in order to avoid being forcibly separated by the U.S. government.

Inclusion in CIR, however, is not without controversy. While President Obama has said that same-sex binational couples fall under the category of family in his immigration reform proposal, current Senate framework omits same-sex binational couples. A Senate hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 13. 

Some Republicans have clearly voiced opposition. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a member of the so-called “Gang of 8” senators working on CIR legislation, called including same-sex binationals a “social issue” that should not be part of the discussion. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) stated that he would not tolerate Republicans looking for excuses like McCain’s to avoid supporting this legislation.

Reintroducing UAFA with bipartisan support bodes well for the House to support an inclusive CIR bill.

Said Nadler, “Any serious legislative proposal for comprehensive immigration reform absolutely must include gay and lesbian couples and their families.”

Out4Immigration, an all-volunteer grassroots group that works with same-sex binational couples and their families to empower those affected by immigration discrimination to speak out, applauded today’s reintroduction of UAFA, its bipartisan support and the commitment of Rep. Nadler to see this bill become law.

“We hear every day from couples whose lives are torn apart because the federal government refuses to recognize their marriage or permanent partnership,” said Amos Lim, Community Outreach Director for Out4Immigration. “Immigration reform cannot be considered ‘comprehensive’ unless all families are included. All families means just that all families – including those that are LGBT.”

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For more information:

Out4Immigration: http://www.out4immigration.org

Uniting American Families Act, LGBT Immigration Reform, Maintains Bipartisan Support in House: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/lgbt-immigration-reform_n_2623557.html

Reid Blasts GOP for Blaming Gays on Immigration Bill Resistance: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/02/03/watch-reid-blast-gop-blaming-gays-immigration-bill-resistance

Out4Immigration blog (featuring stories of same-sex binationals): http://out4immigration.blogspot.com/

United by Love, Divided by Law (visual protest by same-sex binational couples separated by U.S. immigration laws): http://unitedbylovedividedbylaw.tumblr.com

Count Me In / Same-Sex Binationals Share Their Stories: http://bit.ly/O4ICountMeIn

Why Out4Immigration Supports Deferred Action for DREAMers

by Amos Lim

Last week, the U.S. began offering "deferred action" for undocumented immigrants who came to this country before the age of 16 and are currently under the age of 31. This group, often referred to as DREAMers (as they were the proponents of the DREAM Act legislation that failed to pass Congress in 2010) will now be allowed to apply for "deferred action", which would mean that they can live and work in America without fear of deportation for a period of two years. Out4Immigration has always counted the DREAMers as our allies in our fight for equal immigration rights and the right for the American citizens among us to be able to sponsor our partners for green cards. Some people believe the DREAMers are getting treated better than us, but that is not the point. This is.

The immigration system in the United States is broken. Immigration has always been used politically to stop groups of people from coming in, whether it was the Chinese Exclusion Act in the late 1800s/early 1900s or the Homosexual and/or HIV Travel Ban (yes, there was once a law in this country that banned homosexuals from entering). These past  - and present - exclusionary policies result in ugly rhetoric.  And corporate media, which is frequently lazy, will repeat what is told to them without fact checking.

I'm not an immigration attorney - just someone who has been in this fight for a long time with some sense of knowledge/history; however, I welcome any attorneys to help clarify my points below.
 
THIS IS THE REALITY  
1)  The deferred action that started last week is just that. DEFERRED ACTION. It is an offshoot of the Morton Memo that came out last June and is targeted specifically at the DREAMers. It gives those who grew up here and completed their education here a chance to stay without fear of deportation for TWO YEARS. The primary reason for the administration to do this is that Congress has not acted on this bill. The DREAM Act was a bill introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (yes, that Orrin Hatch) and supported by Sen. John McCain and was once popular among both Democrats and Republicans; it is now out of favor with the Republicans after the last Congress was elected.

It DOES NOT give them a legal route to citizenship, it just gives them some peace for two years while hopefully Congress can pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill or the DREAM Act. It will not "clog up" the waiting period for green card applications or contribute to the current backlog.

The authorization to work that will be provided to this group is not a H1-B visa. According to the FAQ by the Immigration Policy Center (I encourage people to read it, it is very informative): 

"Can a person who is granted deferred action work legally in the U.S.?
>Yes. Under existing regulations, individuals with deferred action may receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Individuals who wish to request an extension of deferred action after two years will also have to apply for a renewal of their EAD."

A job authorization is not the same as an H1-B visa. An OPT visa is a job authorization document, which lasts one year for foreigners who graduated from a U.S. college and it gets processed within 45 days (when I did it 6 years ago), so please do not confuse EAD with H1-B. H1-B is an EAD but an EAD is not a H1-B.

The deferred action is not an amnesty - it gives the DREAMers 2 more years to stay here and work here while Congress gets their act together.

What happens at the end of the two years? Who knows? The next administration might not want to renew the deferred action policy or Congress might finally get their act together and pass a bill. According to the FAQ again by IPC:

"How long does deferred action last?"
>Under the childhood arrivals initiative, deferred action will be granted for a two-year period, after which recipients may request a renewal. According to DHS, individuals will be eligible for future renewals of deferred action so long as they were under age 31 on June 15, 2012.

In contrast: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed numerous times that LGBT couples (and the Morton Memo applies) are considered families through various requests from the media but as of this date, they have not actually put it in writing, so we are still beholden on the individual prosecutorial discretions of individual cases. The House Democrats (about 85 of them including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi) also sent a letter to the DHS urging for a clearer language. Rather than putting this in writing, DHS instead confirmed it to journalist Chris Geidner of Buzzfeed that LGBT couples are indeed considered families and will be entitled to deferred action when it comes to deportations.

In our last petition on Change.org, we asked President Obama to do the same for same-sex binational couples: http://www.change.org/

petitions/president-of-the-
united-states-issue-a-memorandum-to-grant-immigration-rights-to-lgbt-americans

I actually delivered about 1,200 signatures on this petition to the White House's point person on Immigration, Felicia Escobar last month in Washington DC. The petition as of today has about 1,400 signatures.

Had the deferred action been applied to us and not the DREAMers, would we feel differently?  

The argument from conservatives and anti-immigration groups is to frame/depict this and everything immigration-related as "amnesty" or "stealing jobs" or "freeloaders" and we must be careful not to repeat that divisive rhetoric. Because when it comes to us, they like to frame our issue as "fraud", "marriage of convenience", "stealing jobs", "government sanctioning of a immoral lifestyle" etc. etc. etc....

One thing of note: The last time something akin to an amnesty was done was in the 1980s by a Republican president and that was probably the last time we have had any amnesty action.

2)  BACKLOGS
There are many reasons why there are backlogs.  Yes, it is about resources but at the same time it is also about quotas.

Every country has a quota. Congress sets/determines every year how many people from each country can immigrate here (that quota system has not been changed for a long time). Congress also sets the quota based on the visa that you are applying for, whether it is under Family Visa, Work Visa, Green Card based on work etc. So, even if you are approved for a green card based on work or familial relationship, you will still have to wait for your "number" to be called. There have been cases where a green card application is approved but the waiting time for the green card can be at least a decade. There have been numerous bills and numerous organizations that have urged Congress to review the country quota over the years (as it is dated and the rationale for the quota needs to be reviewed) but to no avail. There is also the problem that some countries like Singapore (where I am from) do not usually meet the quota, i.e., less people want
to move here than what was allocated for but instead of using those unused quota "openings" for other countries that need them, they simply expire.

And don't get me going about the quotas for H1-B visas...we all know that the quotas are not enough!
 
Rep. Mike Honda has introduced a bill for the last three sessions of Congress called the "Reuniting Families Act" (RFA). The bill, if passed, will do a couple of things. 1) Pass UAFA (the language of UAFA is included in the bill; (2) reduce the backlogs - the bill will transfer the "unused" visas and transfer them to other categories/countries that have met their quotas; and (3) allow for Filipino veterans who fought in WWII (yes WWII !!!) to finally get their green card and citizenship. This is just a small sampling of what the bill will do; there are many more actions.

As a point of note, during the first and only hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Immigration about UAFA held by Sen. Patrick Leahy in June 2010, there was a conservative immigration group that testified against the passage of UAFA. One of the primary reasons that they gave was that "to allow LGBT couples to immigrate will further clog the badly backlogged immigration process...we need to prevent more people coming in as opposed to letting more people come in." (I am paraphrasing of course and if you want to find footage of that hearing, I am sure you can Google it or find it on the Congressional website.)

 
3) WHY IS OUT4IMMIGRATION SUPPORTING THIS ISSUE?
The answer is pretty simple - Why not?

There are more than 40,000 same-sex binational couples affected by this issue in this country. 40,000 couples. I am not even counting those that are in exile or living apart.

Are our situations all the same? Hell no! Some of us have partners who are undocumented, some of us have partners who are here on a student visa, some of us have partners who are here on a work visa, some of us have partners who visit us once every year for 3 weeks and some of us have partners who are unable to even get a passport to leave the country they reside in to come here. Our situations are all different and there are many solutions to our problems. Until the discriminatory DOMA is repealed or UAFA is finally passed, any solution that will let my brothers and sisters in these situations find some path to remaining in the U.S. legally will be supported by O4I.

Further, as a matter of political strategy we must be mindful that we CANNOT endeavor to fight this alone. By definition, we are a relatively small group of people. We NEED the help and support of anyone and everyone. When we support inclusiveness and fairness in reforms and relief measures, we are more likely to be included. If we do NOT support inclusiveness and fairness for others, we CANNOT expect any support - in fact it would likely be denied.

Please do understand that at the end of the day, we are an all-volunteer grassroots organization. We are not the behemoth that is HRC or any other big LGBT organization that people seem to think we are. The work that you see done by O4I is the work of a few dedicated volunteers who want to see the laws changed. We will take any solution we can get to bring us closer to that change. We support UAFA, RFA, RMA (Respect for Marriage Act), DREAM Act, Inclusive CIR (Comprehensive Immigration Reform) - anything that would create momentum and move us forward and give us a solution to allow us to be with the one we love.

4) WHY IS DEFERRED ACTION AN LGBT ISSUE?
Because it is a civil rights, human rights issue. Are LGBT rights a civil rights and human rights issue? You bet they are! If you have been following the news, you would know that NOM, the National Organization for Marriage, has a strategy that they put forth a couple of years ago to divide and conquer - to pit ethnic groups against LGBT groups and to have them come out and say that marriage equality is not a civil rights issue because well, they cannot change their skin color but we can change our sexuality. And like it or not, the same strategy is still being used to separate us as opposed to uniting us. If we don't support issues that are in our favor because it is not specifically an LGBT issue, why should our allies and straight people support LGBT issues because it is not about them?

Personally for me, being documented or undocumented is a very thin line. If you are on a H1-B visa and got pink slipped tomorrow, you have 10 days to pack up and leave the country or 60 days to find a job and get another H1-B visa.  (Something like this happened to me just after 9/11.) If you have a spouse here and perhaps a kid... maybe you are fortunate to buy a house when the economy is good...what's your choice? Do you just pack up and leave or do you try to find ways to stay? Becoming undocumented means you cannot leave the U.S. at all if your parents fall ill or, God forbid, pass away. Becoming undocumented means you have to live your life in the shadows just so you can stay here to be with your husband, wife or partner or kids. Becoming undocumented means you have to stay silent and not make noise or someone might report you. It is not a life anyone would choose but the broken system (and in our case, our discriminatory laws) often force this choice.

The DREAMers however did not have a choice. Most of them were brought here by their parents or families when they were young. Most of them do not have family ties back home.I have met families where two siblings are Americans and one is undocumented. I met the Pulitzer Prize winner, Jose Antonio Vargas, who is gay and undocumented and many other DREAMers who are gay and undocumented, too. Their stories mirror our own tragic tales.

Deferred action might not be a solution for some of you, but it is a solution for some of us in this community in this struggle. This might mean that for the next two years, someone can work legally without fear and work tirelessly to change the laws for all of us. For that I celebrate the relief it provides for the short time that it does.

That said, this election is also pretty important because we need to carefully examine who are the people who are supporting our issue and who are the people who want us gone. At Out4Immigration, we are not allowed to endorse any candidates so it is important for all of you to go find information about the candidates in your district and where they stand on the issues of the repealing DOMA (Respect for Marriage Act, or RMA), the passage of UAFA, RFA, Inclusive CIR, ENDA and marriage equality.

I hope I have addressed some issues that have been percolating among some of you over the past couple of days. I just want to leave you with a quote that I saw recently that I love from Mr. Nelson Mandela:

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." - Nelson Mandela.

Out4Immigration Goes to Washington, Headlines LGBT Immigration Panel in San Francisco

Out4Immigration is an all-volunteer, grassroots group made up of people in same-sex binational relationships and our supporters. We typically raise a small amount of money each year to cover the costs of sending volunteers like Gina Caprio to Washington DC for the PFLAG National Conference last month.

Gina took part in a panel discussion at the conference that also included author Judy Rickard ("Torn Apart: United by Love, Divided by Law") and Immigration Equality. The panel took the opportunity to educate PFLAG members about same-sex binational couples. Once again, we were reminded that even LGBT people and our strongest allies often do not know the difficulties faced by LGBT Americans with foreign partners.

Gina spent 2 days at the conference and did a great deal of outreach work from our information table. She had many conversations with people who wanted to know more about same-sex binationals and how they could help. One conversation in particular stuck out - Betty DeGeneres - Ellen's mom - introduced herself and spoke with Gina for several minutes.

Yes - we know Portia has her green card - but will Betty remind Ellen that getting a green card is not that simple for most foreign partners of gay and lesbian Americans? We hope so!

While in DC, Gina also attended an official briefing with Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA-15), sponsor of the Reuniting Families Act. Read all about that experience in Gina's Examiner.com column.

This Monday night, Erik Schnabel, another Out4Immigration volunteer, organized a panel discussion on LGBT immigration and the faith community in San Francisco. The panel included Erik, Chris Barnett (also an Out4Immigration volunteer), Blanca Hernandez (a DREAM Activist), Father Richard Smith of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist and Rachel Tiven, Executive Director of Immigration Equality. Kathy Drasky, another long-time Out4Immigration volunteer stepped up to moderate.

Erik and Chris shared their stories as the respective halves in same-sex binational relationships. The crowd was genuinely moved to hear the struggles these two men have endured over many years to keep their families together. (Erik, Chris and Kathy all shared their stories with their partners earlier this year in the DeVote Campaign's video about same-sex binational couples).

Blanca then talked about life as a DREAM Activist and the number of LGBTQ youth who are leading the movement. Father Richard discussed the role of religious leaders and church members in assisting the undocumented - and the awareness that LGBT people often straddle both groups. His parish, in particular, has a lot of LGBT and immigrant members and obviously, some are LGBT immigrants facing unique challenges. Finally, Rachel Tiven talked about the role a national organization like Immigration Equality plays. Immigration Equality assists LGBT immigrants with asylum cases and has been instrumental in getting faith leaders around the country on board to support the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). To date, according to Rachel, 1,508 clergy members in the US have signed on as supporters.

Note: UAFA added two new Congressional co-sponsors last week - Rep. Janice Hahn (CA-36) and Rep. Christopher Murphy (CT-5) - bringing totals to 127 in the House and 23 in the Senate.

Find out more about how you can get involved with Out4Immigration as a volunteer by contacting us at info@out4immigration.org. If you would like to make a donation to Out4Immigration to help us cover costs like sending volunteers to national conferences and the printing of materials to distribute at events we speak at, please click here.

Building Bridges: A Discussion about LGBT, Immigrant and Faith Communities

One of our volunteers, Erik Schnabel, has been working with the immigrant and faith coalition in the Bay Area for the past 2 years on behalf of Out4Immigration. He is co-organizing an event on Monday night, Dec 5th, in San Francisco. The detailed information is as follows:

Monday, December 5th; 6-8:30pm at Episcopal Church of St. John The Evangelist
110 Julian Ave., San Francisco, CA 94103
(Julian Ave is between Mission St. and Valencia; and between 16th St. and 15th.) 1 block from 16th Street BART station
Panelist: Father Richard Smith, Erik Schnabel, Rachel Tiven and an LGBT DREAM Activist (TBC).

The panels will be discussing how we could work with the faith communities that supports LGBT issues to help us fight for LGBT Immigrant Rights.

For those living in the Bay Area, we hope you can make it to the event. You can RSVP and get last minutes updates to the event on facebook. (The event on Facebook is public so you do not have to be a member to view them.)

Entry Denied: A Documentary about Us

by Amos Lim


To date, there have been just a handful of projects that tell our stories to the world. Entry Denied, a documentary film by Machu Latorre, currently in post-production is almost ready to join the ranks with Judy Rickard’s book Torn Apart and Sebastian Cordoba’s film Through Thick and Thin.

Machu’s film has been a labor of love and determination. For 10 years she has followed three same-sex binational couples through their various journeys and documented their struggles and glimpses at happiness. As the years go by, their stories unfold to the point that today one couple is currently living in exile in Vancouver, one couple maintains a long distance relationship and one couple has been able to stay in the US.

Machu has primarily self-financed this project, with some support from friends and grants. As she prepares to finish the film and get it ready for submission into a series of high-profile film festivals festival (like Sundance, Telluride Film Fest and various LGBT film fests) she has launched a campaign on kickstarter.com. Can you help Machu finish telling these stories and get the message out to a larger audience? Please make a donation if you can (even if it is $10). You can also help by sharing this link on your Facebook page or other social media. We have always lamented the fact that our stories are not often told by the media. Projects like Entry Denied that have the potential for wide distribution increase the chance of more people learning about the discrimination we face and taking an active role in changing the laws that continue to separate our families.

Machu has provided a synopsis of the documentary on the kickstarter website - http://kck.st/nx98eP - this is also the link where you can contribute to help finance her post-production costs.

On a personal note, I’d like to tell you a little bit about Machu. My husband Mickey and I have known her for 10 years (almost the entire time she has been working on Entry Denied). Machu is from Spain and has also been in a same-sex binational relationship. When our house caught on fire, just 3 weeks before my OPT visa was about to expire, Machu was the first person to rush to our aid and offer us accommodation in her one bedroom apartment. She has been a wonderful friend and is the godmother to our daughter. I have seen the passion and commitment she has devoted to Entry Denied and know that this film will be very important to us all. If you believe as I do that there is no better way to raise awareness about what same-sex binational couples must deal with to stay together in this country than by telling our stories, please help support getting Entry Denied finished and shown to as many people as possible.

LGBT Organizations Rally for Binational Same-Sex Couple Facing Deportation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 8, 2011

CONTACT:

Michael Talon, 202.631.9830 or michael@lunamediagroup.com

Erik Schnabel, 415.377.0387 or erikschnabel@hotmail.com

Amos Lim, 415.742.1626 or Amos@Out4Immigration.org

Media Advisory

LGBT Organizations Rally for Binational Same-Sex Couple Facing Deportation

While DOMA Remains Law of the Land, Couples Are Being Torn Apart

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – On July 13 in San Francisco, Doug Gentry and Alex Benshimol, a married California couple who have been together for six years, will face every same-sex binational couple’s worst nightmare: a deportation hearing. Doug, a U.S. citizen, filed a marriage-based "green card" petition for Alex in July 2010. It was denied in March in a one-page letter citing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as the only reason. The couple re-filed the petition in June, citing changes in the administration position on DOMA that took place in February, and the Attorney General's intervention in a Board of Immigration Appeals case in April involving a gay binational couple facing deportation which was made public on May 5.

Alex came into the U.S. 12 years ago from Venezuela and overstayed a tourist visa, an immigration violation that straight binational couples can easily remedy once married; as a gay married couple, Doug and Alex do not have that option. Many binational couples are legally married like Alex and Doug, but they are still treated as legal strangers in the eyes of the federal government. There is only one reason Doug and Alex are facing deportation proceedings at all. That reason is the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, a law that the President of the United States himself has determined to be indefensible and unconstitutional.

On July 13, Doug and Alex will ask the immigration judge and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorney prosecuting the case to put these deportation proceedings on hold pending the outcome of efforts to repeal DOMA or a final definitive ruling on DOMA's constitutionality by the federal courts.

To support the couple and to show widespread public support for their right to remain together, legally, in the United States, several organizations working for full federal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans will hold a rally outside the courthouse in San Francisco where the hearing is scheduled to take place. Those organizations include GetEQUAL, Marriage Equality USA, Out4Immigration, and Stop the Deportations

As part of their campaign, Doug and Alex were featured recently in an article by the Associated Press (http://stopthedeportations.blogspot.com/2011/06/associated-press-highlights-doug-and.html). There is also an online petition, directed at President Obama, to save Doug and Alex's marriage: http://bit.ly/dougalex

Details about the rally are below:

WHAT: “Rally for Doug & Alex” (For more details on the rally, see the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130583703690415)

WHO: GetEQUAL, Marriage Equality USA, Out4Immigration, Stop the Deportations

WHEN: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 from 7:30am-8:30am (prior to Doug & Alex's hearing)

WHERE: 120 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA

Doug and Alex have waged a public campaign to focus attention on the impact of DOMA on binational couples facing the imminent, irreversible harm of deportation. Doug and Alex are fighting to be together and save their marriage. They they are also fighting for their family: Doug's two children from a previous marriage consider Alex to be their stepfather and are heartbroken at the idea that he may be deported to his native country, Venezuela. Clearly, there is no option for Doug and his children to move to Venezuela, where life is not only dangerous for LGBT people but where Doug and his children would be unable to obtain any legal status, since Doug's marriage to Alex is not recognized in that country for immigration purposes. DOMA will tear apart this California family unless we stop this deportation.

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Founded in 2010, GetEQUAL is a national grassroots organization whose mission is to empower the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community and our allies to take bold action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way. For more information, go to www.getequal.org, www.facebook.com/getequal, or www.twitter.com/getequal.

Founded in 1998, Marriage Equality USA is a national grassroots organization whose mission is to secure legally recognized civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation.

Out4Immigration is a volunteer grassroots organization that addresses the widespread discriminatory impact of U.S. immigration laws on the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV+ people and their families through education, outreach, advocacy and the maintenance of a resource and support network.

Stop the Deportations is a campaign launched in July 2010 by a group of married binational couples working with attorneys Lavi Soloway and Noemi Masliah, founders of Immigration Equality and partners in the law firm Masliah & Soloway. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of the cruel impact of the Defense of Marriage Act on married gay and lesbian binational couples and bring an end to that discrimination.

Historic Victory for Josh & Henry and Important July Events

If you have been following the news, Henry Velandia was facing deportation even though he is married to an American, Josh Vandiver. Earlier this year, Henry's case was put on hold - yesterday, his deportation was suspended! This is an amazing breakthrough for same-sex binational couples, and all those working to repeal DOMA.

In Henry's case, after review, the Newark Immigration Court granted a motion to administratively close deportation proceedings against based on President Obama's instructions to Attorney General Holder earlier this year that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional and should stop being defended in court. You can read more about the historic victory here:

NY Times: US Drops Deportation Proceedings Against Immigrant in Same-Sex Marriage

Stop The Deportations: Government Drops Deportation Case Against Henry Velandia

BACK-TO-BACK EVENTS IN JULY

As Pride Week comes to a close, Out4Immigration, Marriage Equality USA, GetEQUAL and Stop the Deportations Project are busy again prepping for two back-to-back events in July. If you live in the Bay Area, we hope you can come out and join us!

"United by Love, Divided by Law - How DOMA Impacts Same-Sex Binational Couples"

July 12th, 6pm - 7.30pm

San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch (Civic Center BART/MUNI)

100 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

For the first time ever, Out4Immigration is proud to be organizing an event with the San Francisco Public Library's James Hormel LGBT Center titled "United by Love, Divided by Law - How DOMA Impacts Same-Sex Binational Couples". The event listing can be found on Facebook (you do not have to be a member of Facebook to see the details as it is a public event).

Come out and hear from Attorney Lavi Soloway (Stop The Deportations Project), Attorney Ilona Turner (National Center for Lesbian Rights), Judy Rickard (Author, Torn Apart) and listen to stories from same-sex binational couples as they discuss this very important topic!

Rally In Support of Doug & Alex

July 13th, 7.30am

120 Montgonmery Street

On July 13th, 2011 in San Francisco, Alex Benshimol and Doug Gentry, a married California couple, will face every same-sex binational couple’s worst nightmare: a deportation hearing. As anyone following this issue knows, for years there has been little hope for same-sex binational couples seeking to reside together in the US. Many are legally married like Alex and Doug, but are still treated as legal strangers in the eyes of our own government.

Out4Immigration is co-organizing this event with Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA), Stop The Deportations & GetEQUAL on July 13th, the day after the library event, in support of Doug & Alex as they head into the immigration courts for their deportation hearing.

For more information about Doug & Alex - you can read their story here: http://stopthedeportations.blogspot.com/2011/06/doug-alex-face-doma-deportation-hearing.html

Doug and Alex are also featured in our Change.org petition this week! http://www.change.org/petitions/save-doug-and-alexs-marriage-and-stop-deporting-our-spouses

Complete details and the event listing can be found on Facebook. We hope you can turn out in support of Doug and Alex as they walk into the court house for their deportation hearing!

After the historic victory of Josh and Henry yesterday, we need to keep the pressure up and ensure that no LGBT families will be broken apart because of a discriminatory federal law called DOMA!

VISIT THE O4I BLOG TO READ ABOUT OUR WORK AND ACTIONS TO END DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SAME-SEX BINATIONAL COUPLES.

Let's Keep the Pressure On: Other Actions You Can Take This Week

Online activism: Sign our weekly petitions at change.org urging Congressional and Executive Support of Equal Immigration Rights for Same-Sex Binational Couples! We got a total of 12 new co-sponsors since the bill, Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) has been introduced on April 14th .

Devote Campaign - Out4Immigration: Did you see the video about Out4Immigration's volunteers that was shot by Devote Campaign recently? Check it out here!

Stay tuned: To our Yahoo! Groups list, Facebook page or follow us on Twitter to keep up with breaking news and urgent actions. It seems something is happening to tear down the barriers same-sex binational couples face every day. Be a part of the change!

Recent UAFA Co-Sponsors

A number of new co-sponsors have signed onto the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the past month and a half. Since the bill was reintroduced in Congress on April 14, 10 new co-sponsors have added their names in the House and 2 more have come on board in the Senate. This brings cosponsor totals to 112 in the House and 21 in the Senate.

House:
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 5/5/2011
Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] - 5/5/2011
Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17] - 5/5/2011
Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 5/5/2011
Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 5/5/2011
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 5/13/2011
Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 5/13/2011
Rep Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [VA-3] - 5/26/2011
Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27] - 6/14/2011
Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] - 6/14/2011

Senate:
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 5/2/2011
Sen Udall, Mark [CO] - 6/7/2011

While lots of our work and attention has been focused on stopping the deportations of the foreign spouses of Americans and asking the Obama Administration to clarify DOMA's unconstitutionality in regard to "spouse" or "fiancee" visas and green cards, we can still continue to raise awareness and bring more legislators on board with UAFA as well as the Reuniting Families Act (RFA).

To check and see if your representative has signed onto this legislation, visit the Library of Congress Thomas website: UAFA and RFA.

If they have already co-sponsored, call their office to thank them, but let the person who answers the phone know that there is lots more work to do. If they have not sponsored this legislation yet - ask them to please do so.

Anyone in a same-sex binational relationship who is so able, should meet with their Representatives (or aides at their local in-state office) to tell your story. Out4Immigration can coach you beforehand and make sure you bring the right materials to illustrate your story and the current status of same-sex binational couples in the US. Contact us at info@out4immigration.org.

Senator Feinstein, please be a champion for ALL families!!!

by Chris Barnett

http://www.change.org/petitions/senator-feinstein-please-be-a-champion-for-all-families

Much of Out4Immigration’s efforts over the years has been focused on securing equal immigration rights for same sex binational couples. The Uniting American Families Act is bill seeks to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to add the words “and permanent partners” wherever one finds the word “spouse”. Binational couples, families, and their respective communities need to encourage members of the House and Senate to become cosponsors.

Senator Dianne Feinstein of California has repeatedly rebuffed requests by community members to cosponsor UAFA. Historically, the concerns she has stated include the contentiousness of issues related to same-sex marriage and immigration –especially voicing concerns about fraud, even though UAFA stipulates tough penalties in those instances, just as for heterosexual couples. On a larger point of immigration reform, she has expressed her preference to support comprehensive immigration reform, rather than piecemeal legislation like UAFA to deal with specific communities or issues. Out4Immigration and its supporters have taken issue with this stance of the Senator’s, believing this to be an issue more relevant to civil rights and equality than immigration—and thus an issue worthy of her support—not to mention the feeling it leaves behind, that she does not get how injurious current laws are for many Americans and their families.

Feinstein's intervention in 2009 on behalf of Shirley Tan and Jay Mercado, a California couple with two sons, is exactly the response we would hope for from her in the face of the discrimination our families face. Sadly, when it comes to every other family affected by this issue, Senator Feinstein has shown little interest in making this issue a priority, even as many lives are torn apart by it.

In a recent interview with Frontiers Magazine, Senator Feinstein spoke about the need for DOMA repeal--and as some may be aware has authored The Respect for Marriage Act to that end--yet rejected family reunification for LGBT as relevant to that effort. Considering the years in which we have been appealing to Senator Feinstein through letters, phone calls, and meetings with aides to support UAFA, we found her lack of knowledge and awareness on this issue disheartening and disturbing—and grounds for this week’s petition letter calling on her to champion this issue at last as she works to seek The Respect for Marriage Act’s passage.

By treating one group as if they should wait for their civil rights, our elected representatives perpetuate conditions that give rise to inequality in our society. Demand better! Please sign this letter, and please share and promote however you can!

http://www.change.org/petitions/senator-feinstein-please-be-a-champion-for-all-families

And the letter:

Senator, the time has come to be a champion for ALL families!

Dear Senator Feinstein,

For years, Out4Immigration has been working to secure passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA, H.R. 2221 / S.1328) and, more recently, Congressman Mike Honda’s Reuniting Families Act (RFA, H.R.1796).

Over the years, members of Out4Immigration and many of your constituents have appealed to you for your signature as a co-sponsor of the UAFA. As a politician, your concerns about “contentious” bills like this one are understandable. However, your intervention on behalf of the family of Shirley Tan and Jay Mercado in 2009 inspired and gave hope to all who are touched by this issue. It affirmed for us your knowledge that many Americans face similar hardships. The fact that some Americans have a mechanism to sponsor their foreign-born spouses for legal immigration, while members of the LGBT community do not, points directly to the issue of equality.

In the course of your recent Frontiers Magazine interview, you expressed surprise on the issue of same-sex binational couples and what DOMA repeal would mean for them, asserting that this issue was “a whole different set of laws.” The fact is, immigration through family reunification IS an important federal right – one of the 1,138 federal rights legally married gay and lesbian citizens are currently denied due to DOMA. As Attorney Lavi Soloway states in Frontiers,

"The growing call for a moratorium on deportations that are tearing married same-sex binational couples apart every day in this country is not solely, or even primarily, an immigration issue, but rather an equality issue. No other civil rights issue of our time intersects with our broken immigration system in this manner.”

Senator Feinstein, we stand firmly behind you in the conviction that the Respect For Marriage Act must become law. It’s time for America to join the more than 20 other nations on the side of fairness and human rights by providing same-sex binational couples a legal way to sponsor their spouses for permanent residency, along with all the other rights afforded heterosexual married couples under federal law.

You stated in your interview that you would “look into” the binational issue. This petition is our effort to help you do that, because our families urgently need your help, and this injustice has gone too long without being set right. America’s LGBT citizens in binational relationships have been asking for your help for a long time. It is our hope that through the Respect for Marriage Act, you at last take advantage of the opportunity to become the champion our families so critically need.

Respectfully,

[Your name]

http://www.change.org/petitions/senator-feinstein-please-be-a-champion-for-all-families

Two New Co-Sponsors for Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)

Two new co-sponsors added their names to the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) this week.

They are:

Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA-2)
Rep. John Tierney (D-MA-6)

Both representatives sponsored this legislation in the past. It's good to see them back on board. UAFA now has 109 co-sponsors.

Every week we send a petition to Congress asking more members to sign onto UAFA. Have you signed this week's petition yet? Click here to sign!

Five New Co-Sponsors for Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)

Good news! Last week the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) picked up 5 new co-sponsors in the House. That brings the total of co-sponsors to 107 in the House and 20 in Senate. The bill was re-introduced less than a month ago by Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Sen. Patrick Leahy.

The new co-sponsors are:

Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 5/5/2011
Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] - 5/5/2011
Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17] - 5/5/2011
Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 5/5/2011
Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 5/5/2011

Also last week, Rep. Mike Honda re-introduced the Reuniting Families Act in Congress. This is the bill that advocates to to restore one of the tenets that the US immigration system was built on -- "family reunification". The bill includes same-sex binational couples in its description of what a family is -- and underscores it with language from UAFA. RFA has 80 co-sponsors in the House.

Out4Immigration especially thanks our volunteers like Chris Barnett, who puts out our weekly petitions and some others behind the scenes who track the legislative co-sponsors and tally up the totals for us. While there has been lots in the news about the administrative and judicial headway we are making in tearing down the laws that keep LGBT Americans separated from our partners -- the legislative course underscores that the laws are wrong and need to be changed. Keep up the good work, everyone!!

Urge Congressional and Executive Support of the Uniting American Families Act--Petition 4

by Chris Barnett

This is cross posted at Daily Kos, as part of O4I's efforts to build Congressional support for the rights of Americans in same-gender relationships to sponsor their foreign partners.

Since the entire text, cover and petition letter, is repeated on Change.org, I will withhold that text here to share a few thoughts about our struggles for immigration equality--but let me start by giving you the link to this week's Change.org petition to urge congressional support of the UAFA:

http://tinyurl.com/3d29nv9

Needless to say, we are in a new chapter of our struggle for the right to choose who we bring into our families, and where we wish to live. We are seeing clear signs that our issues are gaining traction, whether from the stayed deportation of Henry Velandia, the actions of AG Eric Holder on a similar case--or the fact that the issue was on the front page of the national section of the New York Times yesterday. Not to mention the President's remarks on DOMA or the amazing attention Lavi Soloway is bringing to the issue. For years we've wished for this kind of press and attention to our plight. The long years of seemingly futile pushing are beginning to bear the fruits of momentum.

One of the things that has always struck me over the years is how people only seem to key in to the injustices of binationals when they fall in love with someone from another country. Only then do they find that, because of DOMA, they have no right to sponsor their loved one. And what's harder is that many of us don't wish to be activists, and without taking action we so often feel powerless, and so it can go in a vicious circle with damage being done and great stresses arising for the couples. I just know there are many of us out there. This is a fast world and this is a big country, and many of us are scattered with our loved ones to other lands--even as those of us who actively dialog on the issue seem so often to be small in number.

So we want love, but many of us have no interest in being political or activists, or showing ourselves to the world because we know how terribly this society has let itself treat us, and continues to do, whether though our deportations or separations or exiling or hiding. Being in a binational couple today I hate to say, at least in the US, kind of demands that you become an activist. You need to find the best way to be the citizen who shows how to live in opposition to how we are treated. At least to the extent you sign this petition. And get some people you know to do the same, whether by posting on Facebook, Twitter, emailing the above link to friends and family, or however you communicate with the people in your life.

Our moment is coming and we must keep up momentum. We must start finding our voice to say no to the way society has let itself treat us and our loved ones. Asking our elected representatives is one way to do this. People are beginning to take note in ways we've not seen before, even as the issue is being talked about on MSNBC and elsewhere. The culture is changing, many individuals know what we face is wrong, and the laws need to catch up with it. We have to continue to encourage our respective communities to support us and demand, along with us, respect for all families as an American value. We are making that happen. So sign! And pass that link along!