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.