Living in Fear of Deportation

With the recent decision by President Barack Obama to no longer defend the Defence of Marriage Act, people are wondering, what can happen now for binational gay couples? In the case of binational heterosexual married couples, one member of their marriage can apply for a US marriage visa that creates a legal status on the foreign-born partner. In the case of binational gay couples, even married, they aren't always recognized as being legally married by the Defence of Marriage Act. An article in the Guardian states:


"According to unofficial estimates, about 36,000 such couples – usually, a US citizen and a foreign-born national whose visa has expired – currently reside in the United States. They are typically cohabitating couples, wearing wedding bands, sharing bank accounts, and in 47% of the cases, raising children together. In short, living just as married people everywhere do. But with an important difference: like other immigrants who lack permanent legal status, the foreign-born marriage partner lives in constant fear of detection and possible deportation."


The US marriage visas for heterosexual couples are very easy to obtain, even for married gay couples who are legally recognized as married. There is about 500,000 US marriages visas granted annually. After President Obama stopped defending DOMA, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced a 'temporary stay of deportation to foreign nationals in marriages with US citizens, on the assumption that they would likely qualify for marriage visas in the near future' (the guardian). 


"But, for reasons that are still unclear, last week, the door closed again. After an internal review, the department of homeland security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, ordered the deportation stay lifted. According to the department of homeland security, same-sex couples can't enjoy the same visa rights as heterosexual couples – not until Doma is actually overturned." (the guardian - April 5)

This issue for same-sex binational couples staying together has been going on for a while now, but rarely gets much publicity. In 2007 director Sebastian Cordoba made the documentary 'Through Thick and Thin', which covers various same-sex binational couples who are struggling with deportation and legal status. The couples in the film have had to deal with so much fear from immigration services and have had to fight just to stay together.

Click to view a clip from the film.
Click to view the film trailer.


On a side note, I found a blogger who posts about this issue of binational same-sex couples.

Earthquake in Myanmar

On March 24, 2011 a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit a southeast Asian country of Myanmar (also known as Burma) with two aftershocks at magnitudes of 4.8 and 5.4. With the recent earthquake and the destruction in Japan on March 11,  I hadn't heard much about the earthquake in Myanmar. It hit on the Thai and Lao borders of the country, and was also felt in surrounding areas including the Thai capital Bangkok and the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

The death toll was at 73, as reported by CBC on March 25, along with 111 people injured. There was 390 houses damaged, 14 Buddhist monasteries and nine government buildings. The last update that I could find on April 5 was on Earthquake-Report.com and stated that there is in total 702 houses damaged, 3,152 people homeless and 18,000 people affected. The death toll stands currently at 74, with 111 people injured. However, these numbers could change quickly. The government has a history of keeping information from the public so they can avoid criticism. In 2008 during the Cyclone Nargis, the government delayed reporting on it and 130,000 people were killed. There was also another earthquake that hit north of the area with a 5.4 magnitude, on March 11, the same day that the 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan. (BBC)

Cracks formed in Thailand's Chiang Rai province in the buildings downtown, which is about 90 k from the the point where the earthquake hit. The cracks went through some buildings such as a provincial hospital and city hall.

The main focus is now to find the homeless shelter immediately. The Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) with Noble Compassionate Volunteer (NCV) and World Vision Myanmar found that 90 villages were moderately or severely affected. Most of the families and currently living in tents and are in need of various materials including blankets and household utensils.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

In 1971 the most dangerous man in america was Daniel Ellsberg, simply because he had the power to tell the public the real truth about the Vietnam War. He had access to documents proving that the US government was lying about the progress of the war, telling the public that things were under control when they really weren't. So Ellsberg decided to act, even though he was risking going to jail, and released the Pentagon Papers to various media sources starting with The New York Times. This brave act did reveal the truth to the public, and they appeared to be shocked, for a little while anyway. That was until they decided to re-elect the same president who lied to them, Richard Nixon, and continue the war. The Vietnam War ended in 1975, just under a year after Nixon resigned. 

Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg didn't end up going to jail and still continues today to fight for truth from the government. The documentary "The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" covers his choice to act, and is the first time that I heard of this story. Now a similar thing is happening, classified information was leaked to the source Wikileaks, except this time it's from Bradley Manning. This courageous young soldier took top secret information and handed it over to Wikileaks. Manning, like Ellsberg, knew that he was risking jail by releasing this information but felt that the truth belonged to the public. Bradley Manning was arrested in May 2010 and is currently in solitary confinement at a military prison in Quantico, Virginia. Currently there are protestors, including Daniel Ellsberg, who are fighting to free Bradley Manning.

When the media obtains this information, I feel that they have a responsibility to pass it on to the public. People have the right to know what decisions their government is making, especially in the war. Whistleblowers today should be viewed as brave, yet they always are paying consequences that they shouldn't have to pay. They are losing their jobs and risking jail time by doing the right thing, the government just isn't be fair and facing up to their mistakes. One would think that owning up to your mistakes would be something you learned when you were five, apparently not. This is the same for telling the truth, why do people feel the need to lie to the public? It just makes them look like idiots when we find out the real truth. The media should always focus on telling the truth, whether that truth is in full or part. Any information that has be accessed and is considered valid should be shown to the public, even if it's obvious that the whole story isn't there. It's better to have a hint of information than to have nothing at all.

Fox News: Controlling What People Say

After watching “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism”, I felt that the documentary had such valid facts revealing bias opinions at Fox News, that it was hard to not agree with what was being said. From the journalists and anchors to the daily memos that were issued to the Fox News staff, there is control on news set by the people who own and manage the station. Rupert Murdoch developed Fox News as having the same values as himself, by controlling everything that Fox reports. The Fox News station portrays a conservative, ‘my way or the high way’ type of view. This is definitely shown by the daily memos that were distributed at Fox News. John Moody, who was the Senior Vice President for Fox News, wrote some of these memos. The documentary gave examples of certain memos that were written for the staff. The memos were all about telling the Fox News staff what stories they should focus on, and what stories they should not focus on. The memos also sometimes went on to clarify proper wording on certain news story, so that people ‘didn’t get the wrong idea’. These memos were attempting to completely control the news that was going to be produced by Fox News. John Moody no longer works for Fox News, but continues to work for Rupert Murdoch, which may indicate that his views are similar if not the same as Murdoch. Since these memos controlled what journalists could say, the public was never really getting all the facts. Releasing memos to tell journalists what not to reveal to the public is not allowing them to report the whole story, which is basically lying. By hiding some facts from stories and events, the public is not getting the whole truth. Any memo that tells someone to perform their job, but not fully perfect their job, is not right. A journalist’s job is to report the whole story, with all the facts and the entire truth. To view some of these memos, you can click here.

Fox News is continuing to not give all of the facts because they won’t allow their guests to finish stating opposing opinions that could be valid remarks. Most anchors that work for Fox News have a tendency to cut off their guests when they begin to go against what Fox News is reporting. Before I watched the documentary though, I never really watched Fox News. I have to say the most recent time that I did watch Fox News was when I was researching my last blog post. The post was on Obama’s decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court, and the Fox News broadcast of that story was interesting to me because I didn’t find it all informative or positive. I disagree with the negative notion of this story because I find Obama’s decision very positive; I am for same-sex marriages, equal rights, and above all change. The anchor that reported the story, Megyn Kelly, was an extremely bias reporter it seemed. So I did some research on her and found that she was a similar bias and opinionated anchor as anchor Bill O’Reilly. Bill O’Reilly is a figure that is criticized hugely in the documentary simply because he argues with almost all of his guests. He continently tells them to “shut up” and is constantly cutting them off so that their opinions are not heard. The only opinions that Fox News reports on are the ones that are produced from the reporters of Fox News. If a guest on Fox News doesn’t agree with the opinions and views of the anchor, then they argue and eventually cut them off. Megyn Kelly has been known for arguing with her guests, and threatening to cut off their microphone. Kelly once reported on a story where the guest criticized Fox News as contributing to a news controversy that wasn’t real, to view the video click here.  She continued stating in the video that Fox News is seen by their viewers as the ‘least bias’, ‘fair and balanced’, and then while arguing with her guest tells him to ‘pipe down’. Fox really needs to let people voice their opinions, arguing and yelling over their guests on TV just looks childish and unprofessional. It makes me question if they are arguing simply because their guests are right, and they don't want to look stupid. Who is right? I don't think we will ever really know. It's like the quote that I have at the top of the page, "I don't know where the artificial stops and the real starts" (Andy Warhol). Maybe he was talking about art, but I think it applies to basically everything. 

On another note here is a video that I found amusing, it mocks Fox News by saying there is really only one reason that some people watch it. Apparently Fox News is known for its "Foxy" female anchors. 

Obama No Longer Defends Anti-Gay Marriage Act

Same-sex couples are celebrating after hearing the news that President Barack Obama has decided to stop defending the Defence of Marriage Act. The Defence of Marriage Act, also known as DOMA, states that marriage is defined as a union only between a man and a woman. This act has been in effect since 1996, when it was passed by President Bill Clinton. It discriminates against same-sex marriages, and does not recognize them as legal. However, some states choose to recognize these marriages and give same-sex couples the rights as other couples. These states include Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Hawaii is also going to recognize legal same-sex marriage in the near future. The information regarding President Obama's decision to stop defending the act was in a letter from the Attorney General Eric Holder. 

Attorney General Eric Holder

The order from President Obama was specifically placed on the Obama Administration, to no longer defend DOMA in court. Eric Holder agrees and fully supports President Obama's decision, since they both find the act ‘unconstitutional’. The act, as said by Eric Holder, is unconstitutional because it follows discriminatory actions that the federal government has dealt with in the past. Various rights groups have been against the act for years, and are pleased that there has been a decision made. However, along with those who support it, there are also those who are against it. Many Republicans find Obama’s decision to be at a bad time because they find he should be focusing on employment issues. There are also controversial issues that are arising, which is why Republicans are not supporting President Obama’s decision. They find that this is just 'not the right time' to be bringing opinions on this act up. Although this point of view usually just doesn't agree with the decision at all, whether now or in the future. There is never a 'right time' to bring up equal rights debates, so it's now or never. 

Although there are many who oppose the decision, the majority of people are for it. Discriminating against same-sex couples is an issue simply because in most places it is not illegal. Discriminating against marriage of any kind is just not right. However, same-sex couples and marriages are moving forward on being recognized and given the rights same as marriages between a man and a woman. Marriage between two people of the same-sex is not wrong, it only makes people 'uncomfortable'. There shouldn't even be a question or argument about it today; when two adults love each other they get married, why should we stop them?

Works Cited

MacAskill, E. (2011, February 23). US closer to recognising gay marriage 
            after White House announcement. The Guardian. Retrieved from 
            http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Obama Administration Drops Defense of Anti-Gay Marriage Law. (2011, 
            February 23). Fox News. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/

Oliphant, J., & Parsons, C. (2011, February 23). Obama administration 
            drops defence of anti-gay marriage law. Los Angeles Times. 
            Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/

Santoscoy, C. (2011, February 23). Obama Drops Gay Marriage Ban 
            DOMA Defense; Calls Law ‘Unconstitutional’. On Top Magazine. 
            Retrieved from http://www.ontopmag.com/

The CNN Wire Staff. (2011, February 23). Obama drops defense of law 
            against gay marriage. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/

US gay marriage ban: US government drops defence of law. (2011, 
            February 23). BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Yost, P. (2011, February 23). Gov’t drops defense of anti-gay marriage 
            law. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from 
            http://www.huffingtonpost.com/