VivirLatino

Earlier this week, President Obama appeared on an Univision hosted television forum on Latinos and Education. While education is an important key in the future of the growing Latino population in the US, now estimated at 50 million, immigration is tied into this future as well. During the forum, Obama said that he still had hope for comprehensive immigration reform including the DREAM Act. All the hope in the world however, cannot obscure the ugly reality of current policy and this week has proven chock full of examples of the double speak the administration is engaging in, especially to the Latino community in all it’s intersections.

False Hope for Immigrant LGB Couples

For 24 hours, immigrant gay and lesbian married couples believed that their struggle to have their marriages recognized and having that recognition work in their favor to access the same right to permanent residency green cards as straight married couples was over.
For 24 hours U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services initiated a temporary hold on on green card applications from married same-sex couples based on President Obama’s declaration that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. This meant a hold on deportations of foreign nationals in legally recognized same-sex marriages. Quickly though, USCIS declared it’s intention to return to business as usual as per Obama’s deportation first immigration policy.

Christopher Bentley, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, confirmed on Wednesday that the temporary hold on green card applications from married same-sex couples has been lifted after the agency received the anticipated legal instructions on issues that emerged after President Obama declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

“USCIS has not implemented any change in policy and intends to follow the president’s directive to continue enforcing the law,” Bentley said.

Steve Ralls, spokesperson for Immigration Equality, expressed disappointment that the Obama administration resumed its authority to deport foreign nationals in legally recognized same-sex marriages.

“Our government should be in the business of keeping families together, not tearing them apart,” Ralls said. “The Department of Justice has said it believes DOMA is unconstitutional. Immigration Equality agrees, and we believe it is inappropriate to use that unconstitutional law to separate American citizens from their loved ones.”

US citizenship does not equal safety from being separated from your loved ones, even if you are a U.S. citizen child. Just ask four year old Emily Ruiz.
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