So Obama wants to start concentrating on deporting national security risks rather than legally married bi-national lesbian couples? OK then, why doesn’t he start today by not deporting Sujey, a Mexican lesbian who got physically and sexually assaulted in Mexico just for her sexual identity? Today an Immigration Judge in Denver will decide whether to deport Sujey from Violeta, her legally-married wife and partner of five years.
The couple met in 2006 at a gay bar called El Protrero. Sujey would help Violeta study for her degree in Criminal Justice by staying up late and reading her term papers. Within two months they moved in together and combined all their pets—four dogs: Honey, Briza, Akira and Rocko; 2 cats: Kissie and Soulen; and a red tail Boa named Destiny—in a sort of animalian Brady Bunch. They got matching tattoos with each other’s names when they got engaged and then finally tied the knot two years later when they married in Iowa on November 15, 2010. It was the happiest day of their lives.
Sujey’s grandma used to abused her for being a tom boy. One of her family member repeatedly raped her to “show her how to be a girl.” She often experienced so much physical pain that she couldn’t play sports in school; when they sent her home, her uncle would beat her up. Finally at age 16, her family threw her out of the house, which is when she called her mother in America to help her. Her mother refused, but her mother’s stepfather intervened which is how Sujey came to America.
When Sujey got pulled over in a routine traffic stop in 2008, a cop discovered her undocumented status and placed her in immigration proceedings. If Sujey gets deported, Violeta will follow her—and thus the so-called Defense of Marriage Act has made yet another hardworking, tax-paying, and legally married American citizen have to choose between their spouse and their country.
How about we take this to the next level?
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It’s interesting that Sujey came into America as an “illegal immigrant” as most of the foreign partners of bi-national gay couples we’ve heard about have entered the U.S. legally under a student or work visa. It’d be easy to paint Sujey as a criminal because of her illegal residence here, but that ignores the larger issue that if she had been a married man, she still would have become a naturalized citizen with a green card under American law. There’s no sense in dividing bi-national gay couples into “good ones” and “bad ones” as it does nothing to address the many inequities forced upon second-class citizen gay couples.
According to Violeta’s lawyer, gay immigration superstar Lavi Salloway:
I will impress upon the judge that a final decision on deportation that had been scheduled for today at 2:30 p.m. must be delayed in light of yesterday’s announcement by the administration. Both U.S. Senators representing Colorado, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, have communicated with ICE and requested feedback on the status of this case, thanks to grass roots support by the LGBT binational couple community and the immigrant rights community in Colorado.
So will Obama stay true to his own word or deport yet another gay couple and enforce DOMA while at the same time declaring it unconstitutional?
the crustybastard
“…Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)…While some say we should repeal only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does…I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans…I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership…and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans, gay and straight alike.”
– Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, February 2008
“I’ve met my commitments to the LGBT community. I have delivered on what I promised.”
-President Barack Obama, July 2011
christopher di spirito
Cue the O-Bots: It isn’t Barry’s fault, blame DOMA, blame the Republicans, blame high corn prices in Brazil, blah, blah, blah.
Cam
@the crustybastard:
Prepare to have all of the foaming at the mouth Obama defenders come in here and rather than deal with what you actually wrote, they will merely attack and call you names to avoid having to deal with what you wrote.
It’s a shame that the GOP is under the control of the Tea Baggers, it’s a choice between somebody who’s arm we have to twist to give us the slightlest step forward, then who corws about how he took ten steps forward, or the person who wants to push us ten steps backward.
And obvious choice but not a perfect one.
christopher di spirito
DOMA, the most evil law of the last fifty years, should’ve been repealed in Obama’s First Hundred Days.
But the president chose to spend all of 2009 courting U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in order to get his national healthcare bill passed.
What Obama did in 2010, well, is a mystery to many. I know he played a lot of games of hoops and golf, and he took vacations, but the pledged effort to repeal DOMA languished.
Then, best of all, Obama lost the U.S. House of Representatives to the queer hating Republican party so any hope of repealing DOMA now is pure folly.
the crustybastard
@christopher di spirito:
Don’t disagree generally, except to say that it wasn’t “healthcare.” It was health insurance reform, meaning that his bill created an unfunded mandate requiring all Americans to become customers of the greedy and poorly regulated health insurance industry.
It was scarcely better than requiring all Americans open an account with Goldman Sachs, and requiring us to deposit 20% of our money there while giving Goldman a license to siphon off as much of said deposits in fees and bullshit as they feel like taking, all the while justifying the new law by insisting that it’s good for Americans to save and invest our money.
Mike in Asheville
Perhaps there is an immigration lawyer who will read this post and provide accurate information: I question that if this were a straight couple, whether the spouse who entered the country illegally would gain automatic green card status upon marriage to a citizen.
Whether gay or straight couples are involved, I am a big believer that an open immigration policy is better than a closed one. And, of course, I hope that all gay and lesbian binational couples are treated with the due respect that all couples should enjoy irrespective of one’s sexuality.
So, anyone, is the post correct that marriage cures illegal immigration status? Thanks.
Cam
Wow, reading what the one went through with her family down in MExico will break your heart. What an evil family, thank goodness she found her partner and got away.
Gavern Lyall
Hi Mike,
I know of quite a few straight married bi-national where the spouse who fell out of status (their visa expired etc) and now they have greencards or even citizenship. When we were in court nearly all the straight couples infront of us got relief from deportation because the American spouse petitioned for a finance visa or marriage visa etc yet we, could not do this because we are a same sex couple. What stands in the way? DOMA. Even though I entered legally and was married before I entered the US to my American spouse of 10 years, we were forced into Exile. So there you have it, but there are cases too where say the foreign spouse escaped from their country, entered the US illegally, built a relationship, got married and became a legal Greencard holder because they were straight. Both my spouse and I were IT Professionals and paid our taxes, worked and contributed to the economy but that made no difference to DHS, as far as they were concerned our marriage was not “real” because DOMA states you have to be a man and a woman. So here we are, and there are thousands of us running around the world trying to find a country that will provide us temporary haven, in other words to give haven to “Americas Gay Refugees”, lovely isn’t it? Oh, and let’s just hope that you’re not from Uganda or any other country where being gay is punishable by death, in certain African countries, for instance. So yeah, try being torn apart from your family, your life, your jobs, your health, your mental and physical well being, and hope that you can stay strong enough to wait until DOMA dies, oh and where do the Exiled ones get the money to survive once they are kicked out with their American spouses following them, how do we get status in another country, who helps us in Exile? The only lawyer who I know who does a damn good thing about stopping this disgusting cruelty is Lavi Soloway and his law firm. Thank the Universe for them. Good luck to these two girls.
baizhias
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Eagle Eggs
Ugh. The illegal immigrant has to go. She doesn’t belong here.