In a legally-responsible nod to President Obama’s decision to stop defending DOMA in court, the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) division of Homeland Security has instructed its field offices to place on hold cases involving binational same-sex married couples in which one partner is at risk of deportation, if their marriage were legally recognized in the United States had they not been a same-sex married couple. DOMA currently bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages but there are two bills in Congress right now that would repeal DOMA, which has been determined to be unconstitutional by two federal judges.
Read: “Americans To DOMA: Drop Dead“
MetroWeekly’s Chris Geidner reports that USCIS spokesperson Christopher Bentley stresses that “USCIS has not implemented any change in policy and intends to follow the President’s directive to continue enforcing the law,” but adds that cases involving same-sex couples are being “held in abeyance while awaiting final guidance related to distinct legal issues.”
Citing earlier precedence, Bentley states, “They put a moratorium on the widows of U.S. citizens in 2009, and, in 2010, the administration announced it would defer action on the deportation of individuals who are likely eligible under the DREAM Act. So, the administration has shown that it does use its executive branch muscle when it comes to discretion about who to deport.”
Friday, Newsweek/The Daily Beast wrote it had “learned that the heads of two USCIS districts—Washington, D.C. and Baltimore—informed attorneys from the advocacy group American Immigration Lawyers Association that cases in their districts involving married gay and lesbian couples would be put on hold,” and added, “[t]he news could have far-reaching effects.”
Read: “Majority Of U.S. – Including Catholics – Now Support Same-Sex Marriage“
Mike Giglio, writing for The Daily Beast, added, “Sarah Taylor, who heads the Washington district for USCIS, gave a presentation on Wednesday night to more than 100 members of the local AILA chapter. During a Q&A session afterward, she was asked whether her office had put cases involving same-sex marriages on hold. Taylor said that it had, according to Brenda Oliver, the AILA chapter’s chair. The lawyers in the room, Oliver added, responded with claps, smiles, and cheers.”
“The change in practice, however, would have the most immediate impact in two types of cases. For gay and lesbian married couples in which foreign spouses have overstayed their legal status, filing a marriage-based green-card petition would protect them from entering deportation proceedings, and possibly make them eligible to work.”
Poltical conservative gay writer and blogger Andrew Sullivan, who runs “The Daily Dish” at The Atlantic says “This is a huge deal,” and adds, “For all those gay married couples torn apart by immigration law, this means more than I can express.” Sullivan and his partner are affected by USCIS policy.