The Obama administration has begun to take steps toward making the country's immigration policies a little fairer, and, in the case of same-sex married binational couples, a little more just.
Last week, deportation proceedings were dropped by the government against Alex Benshimol, who had married his husband, Doug Gentry in 2010. Immigration attorney Lavi Soloway, who started Stop the Deportations – the DOMA Project, had convinced for a second time an immigration judge to administratively close a case involving a same-sex binational couple. This was the first case to occur pursuant to the June 17 prosecutorial discretion guidelines issued by John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This June 17 memo is important for same-sex couples and also for children whose parents brought them to the United States when they were young and so know no other home. In fact, according to a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, DHS will concentrate its resources on the high priority cases of those who commit crimes or pose a threat to public safety. In the absence of substantial immigration reform, which we support, the administration's response is a step in the right direction.
The federal Defense of Marriage Act does not allow U.S.-born same-sex partners to sponsor their foreign-born spouses, unlike heterosexual couples.
Soloway co-founded Immigration Equality in 1993, then last year he and his law partner, Noemi Masliah, started Stop the Deportations. Soloway is cautiously optimistic that after Napolitano's announcement last week that all 300,000 pending deportation cases will be reviewed for possible closure, including those of same-sex couples. But there is still no word on the process or timeline for these reviews.
Napolitano stated in her letter that President Barack Obama has said on numerous occasions "that it makes no sense to expend our enforcement resources on low-priority cases ... . From a law enforcement and public safety perspective, DHS enforcement resources must continue to be focused on our highest priorities."
Same-sex binational couples and children who were brought to this country by their parents when they were minors should not be a priority for deportation if they have no criminal convictions and are otherwise law-abiding. Some, like a same-sex couple in San Francisco, are caregivers for their ill spouses. Others, like Benshimol and Gentry, hope to start a small business. Young children, of course, grow up and many want to attend college or get a job after high school. They should not have to uproot their lives as a consequence of a decision over which they had no control.
It is unfortunate that the partisan acrimony that currently pervades Congress will likely result in little substantive legislation being passed anytime soon, including immigration reform. Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans continue to bicker while critical legislation aimed at creating jobs or stabilizing families languish. We'll take the Obama administration's first step toward basing deportations on public safety and keeping families intact. But it is no substitute for the longer journey to meaningful reform.