March 18, 2008 10:55 AM
As I said in my earlier blog on this subject, Lawful Permanent Residents (people with a green card) and U.S. Citizens can apply for certain very close family members to come into the U.S. with immigrant visas. Permanent residents can apply for spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters. A U.S citzen can apply for spouse, children, sons and daughters, parents and brothers. Now each of these relationships has a very strict definition.
For example, your spouse is someone you are legally married to. Domestic partners are not spouses under immigration law. Nor are same sex couples even if they are legally married under the laws of their home country. Even if they are married in the U.S. in a state that recognizes gay marriage. This trick was accomplished when President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act back in the 1990s.
Of course the prejudice against homosexuals did not begin with Clinton. My students are always surprised to learn that until 1990 it was illegal for homosexuals to enter the United States. Every immigrant entering the U.S. was asked if he or she was a homosexual, if you can believe it. The U.S., like Iran, had no native born homosexuals apparently. Homosexual family relations are still not recognized today.
So if you hear someone say that gays have the same rights as straights, just remember that homosexual love still dares not speak its name in the immigration family arena.
Read other parts of this series:
Immigration 101 is a comprehensive series on American immigration law for the layperson. This series tracks my course on immigration law at Hofstra Law School and answers many of your questions about immigration policy.
Here is the current list of articles in this series.
Immigration 101 Overview of the Immigration System
Immigration 101 Employment Based
Immigration 101 Family Based Immigration
Immigration 101 So what makes up a family
Immigration 101 History We need a new Ellis Island
Immigration 101 Coming to the U.S.
Immigration 101 Stopping 'em at the border
Immigration 101 Don't Give Me Your Poor
Immigration 101 Free Speech Part 1
Immigration 101 Free Speech Part 2
Immigration 101 Keeping the Chinese Out Part 1
Immigration 101 The Chinese Exclusion Act Cases Part 2
Immigration 101 Employer Sanctions Part 1 Introduction
Immigration 101 Employer Sanctions Part 2 How employers evade the law
Immigration 101 Employer Sanctions Part 3 The impact of sanctions on immigrants
Immigration 101 ICE Storm-An on the ground look at raids
Immigration 101 Sept. 11 and immigration
Immigration 101 How the Sept. 11 Hijackers got into the United States
Immigration 101 Becoming a Citizen Pat 1
Immigration 101 Becoming a Citizen Part 2 Good Moral Character
Immigration 101 Becoming a Citizen Part 3 English
Immigration 101 Becoming a Citizen-Part 4 What is an American?
Immigration 101 Becoming a Citizen-Part 5 What does an American believe?
Immigration 101 Becoming A Citizen Part 6 A confident view of who we are
Perhaps even more astounding is immigration will not enter into the 21st C., even the 20th, in that they do not permit people with HIV to enter the U.S,, but I've heard that is to soon change. I suppose that nobody has informed them that the visitor won't pass it to by rest of the people in the plane by breathing the same air.
Not sure, but I think Carecen might apply for funds from the national gay immigration advocacy, called Immigration Rights. I'm sure you know them, but just in case you don't: http://immigrationequality.org/index.php
but I think their strong point is their very compelling stories that Wins might look at.
--mo
By mo March 19, 2008 08:52 PM