m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 1 By Andrew Harmon
Ryan Truman 390x | Advocate.com
Lucy Truman (left) and Kelli Ryan, who along with four other binational
couples filed suit against DOMA on Monday
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of married, same-sex binational couples has sued
the federal government, claiming that the Defense of Marriage Act, which
has long barred equal immigration sponsorship privileges, is
unconstitutional.
Five couples — one of whom first met more than 30 years ago, another who
had shuffled between the United States and South Africa for over a decade to
avoid breaking immigration law — filed suit earlier today in U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of New York. They allege that the 1996 law,
deemed unconstitutional and unworthy of further court defense in 2011 by the
Obama administration, violates their equal protection rights under the U.S.
Constitution.
Multiple challenges to DOMA are already well under way in the courts: An
appeals court panel in Boston is set to hear arguments Wednesday in one such
case, where a judge ruled nearly two years ago that a section of the law
prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriages is unconstitutional.
But the new case is among the first to challenge the antigay law as it
applies to immigration rights and is the first to be filed by an LGBT rights
organization on behalf of gay immigrant families. A year ago the group
Immigration Equality first announced it was planning its lawsuit against
DOMA, which denies Americans the opportunity to sponsor a foreign-born same-
sex partner for permanent residency.
Three of the couples Immigration Equality represents in the case live in New
York State. A fourth lives in Connecticut, while a fifth resides in Vermont
. All three states have enacted marriage equality.
“Whether the federal government recognizes a couple’s marriage can
determine whether a family may remain in the United States and live together
, or may be torn apart,” attorneys for the couples wrote in the lawsuit
against named defendants Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, Secretary of Homeland
Security Janet Napolitano, and officials with U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (click here for a PDF of the complaint). “The ability
to maintain their families together is, of course, of the highest concern
for the plaintiff couples and for thousands of other binational couples in
this country.”
DOMA’s discriminatory nature as it applies to same-sex couples, the
attorneys wrote, directly conflicts with the long-standing principle in
immigration law of keeping families together.
Immigration Equality executive director Rachel Tiven said Monday that her
group had long sought an out-of-court resolution — namely, for immigration
officials to put a hold on deciding green card petitions submitted by
binational couples rather than reject them outright. “We spent a year
working very diligently with a lot of different people at both DOJ and [the
Department of Homeland Security] to find a solution,” she said.
The back-and-forth Tiven described included a January meeting in Washington,
D.C. between administration officials and LGBT legal advocates. Despite the
administration’s position against DOMA, officials stood firm against
putting a blanket hold on green card applications for members of gay married
couples. Publicly, officials have maintained for months that while the
administration believes DOMA to be unconstitutional, it must continue to
enforce the law and therefore has an obligation to reject such petitions.
That position has duly frustrated LGBT immigration advocates nationwide. “
The Obama administration's continued refusal to stand up for lesbian and gay
binational couples is a purely political calculation that denies security
to thousands of LGBT families,” immigration attorney and Stop the
Deportations cofounder Lavi Soloway said in February following news of the
meeting.
A Justice Department spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment,
though it’s likely that DOJ will decline to defend DOMA in Immigration
Equality’s suit, as it has done with other DOMA suits that have been filed
on behalf of various gay married couples, including military service members
and their spouses. The House Republican-led Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group
has intervened to defend such cases and will argue one, Gill v. Office of
Personnel Management, before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston
later this week.
The new lawsuit is the third known case to challenge DOMA from an
immigration standpoint. Last year an Indonesian man and his same-sex
American spouse sued after the couple’s green card petition was denied.
Another gay immigration case is currently pending in U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of Illinois.
The binational couples who sued Monday have all filed for marriage-based
green cards and have either received rejection letters for their
applications or expect to receive them soon.
Kelli Ryan and Lucy Truman received theirs in the mail last week. Married
two years ago in Connecticut, where they now live, the couple had sought
permanent residency for Truman, a British citizen and immunologist who is
currently on a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University.
Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal has previously spoken out for Ryan
and Truman, writing in a November letter to Secretary Napolitano that the
country “stands to lose two highly intelligent and talented women to the
United Kingdom if Lucy — a talented clinician, scientist, and valuable
member of our community — is not able to stay in the United States.” (Ryan
is also an immunologist and works as a senior scientist for a
pharmaceutical company in Ridgefield, Conn.)
But immigration officials rejected Ryan's green card petition for Truman,
writing, “DOMA applies as a matter of federal law whether or not your
marriage is recognized under state law. Your spouse is not a person of the
opposite sex. Therefore under DOMA your petition must be denied.”
Ryan and Truman said despite the unwanted publicity that can come with
participating in a high-profile legal case, the opportunity to stand up for
other binational couples — particularly ones who have children or who are
not so lucky as to obtain a work visa, as Truman has — prompted their
decision to sue.
“We’re both proud to do this,” Ryan said. “I think it’s one of the
biggest things we’ve ever done in our lives. We find that when we talk to
people about this, they’re shocked that I can’t sponsor Lucy. This
particular aspect of DOMA may affect a smaller percentage of people, but the
impact of the law in these cases is huge.”
The legal complaint notes in detail each couple’s love story: Where they
met, when they married, and how the federal government has served as a
roadblock in their attempts to remain together. Lead plaintiffs Edwin Blesch
and Timothy Smulian, who also have seen their green card petition denied,
have gone to extraordinary lengths to live together, splitting time between
South Africa and New York State (where they now live) until just a few years
ago, when Blesch was no longer able to do so due to declining health.
The case has been assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon,
who was nominated to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1990
. The law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison, which has served
as outside counsel in an American Civil Liberties Union case against DOMA,
is co-representing the couples on a pro bono basis. |
p***2
发帖数: 374 | |
z**********2
发帖数: 6143 | |
p***2
发帖数: 374 | 4 Gay marriage or not, they should at least honor same-sex immigration. |
r******8
发帖数: 1486 | 5 republicans won't let this happen easily...immigration means potential
voters
【在 p***2 的大作中提到】
: Gay marriage or not, they should at least honor same-sex immigration.
|
p***2
发帖数: 374 | 6 I hope GOP splits into 2 parties:
1) Tea party (totally all conservative and heavily religious)
2) The other: socially liberal but economically conservative (New England
GOPs??)
The sooner the better :-)
【在 r******8 的大作中提到】
: republicans won't let this happen easily...immigration means potential
: voters
|
m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 7 "socially liberal but economically conservative" 不就是民主党吗
【在 p***2 的大作中提到】
: I hope GOP splits into 2 parties:
: 1) Tea party (totally all conservative and heavily religious)
: 2) The other: socially liberal but economically conservative (New England
: GOPs??)
: The sooner the better :-)
|
r******8
发帖数: 1486 | 8 That's why I don't understand most gay republicans. Basically, you can using
your own money and efforts to discriminate against yourself.
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: "socially liberal but economically conservative" 不就是民主党吗
|
m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 9 我觉得GAY共和党的价值观都挺拧巴的。。或许经常在心里自己和自己debate
using
【在 r******8 的大作中提到】
: That's why I don't understand most gay republicans. Basically, you can using
: your own money and efforts to discriminate against yourself.
|
p***2
发帖数: 374 | 10 I don't see democratics are economically conservative... Any examples?
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: "socially liberal but economically conservative" 不就是民主党吗
|
|
|
m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 11 民主党提倡贸易保护政策、政府有限度的介入市场调控，而共和党提倡自由经济、全盘
市场调节
【在 p***2 的大作中提到】
: I don't see democratics are economically conservative... Any examples?
|
k*****e
发帖数: 22013 | 12 自由经济才是conservative
政府调控才是liberal，你把定义搞反了。
不要看到自由两个字就顾名思义，
新自由主义neoliberalism也是conservative。。。
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: 民主党提倡贸易保护政策、政府有限度的介入市场调控，而共和党提倡自由经济、全盘
: 市场调节
|
m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 13 就看你在这里怎么理解conservative这个词了，保守派奉行的是自由经济，自由派奉行
的是贸易保护主义，这是没有错的。
【在 k*****e 的大作中提到】
: 自由经济才是conservative
: 政府调控才是liberal，你把定义搞反了。
: 不要看到自由两个字就顾名思义，
: 新自由主义neoliberalism也是conservative。。。
|
k*****e
发帖数: 22013 | 14 一般来说，说economially conservative就是指自由经济
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: 就看你在这里怎么理解conservative这个词了，保守派奉行的是自由经济，自由派奉行
: 的是贸易保护主义，这是没有错的。
|
p***2
发帖数: 374 | 15 second this... and smaller government, lower tax.
Dems are going the other direction of europeanize USA.
【在 k*****e 的大作中提到】
: 一般来说，说economially conservative就是指自由经济
|
m******8
发帖数: 2153 | 16 自由经济本身就行不通，自由经济有很多externalities; 共产经济也不现实；大多数
国家多介于两者之间。 个人认为美国经济需要更多的政府调控。每每到经济危机再靠
政府打鸡血， 就太晚了。 |
m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 17 cannot agree more.
【在 m******8 的大作中提到】
: 自由经济本身就行不通，自由经济有很多externalities; 共产经济也不现实；大多数
: 国家多介于两者之间。 个人认为美国经济需要更多的政府调控。每每到经济危机再靠
: 政府打鸡血， 就太晚了。
|
p***2
发帖数: 374 | 18 I agree economy need be controlled by government to some extent. But
government should be relatively small and with high efficiency. Right now
it is not the case in USA. Too much tax goes to government operations and
social securities.
WRT this, I support GOP's policy.
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: cannot agree more.
|
m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 19 共和党就是说的好听罢了，其实他们的政府最大了、最有ｐｏｗｅｒ了。。都拿着你的
钱就打伊拉克了。
【在 p***2 的大作中提到】
: I agree economy need be controlled by government to some extent. But
: government should be relatively small and with high efficiency. Right now
: it is not the case in USA. Too much tax goes to government operations and
: social securities.
: WRT this, I support GOP's policy.
|
p***2
发帖数: 374 | 20 It matters to me as long as they can lower the tax, which usually leads to
reduced budget for government?
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: 共和党就是说的好听罢了，其实他们的政府最大了、最有ｐｏｗｅｒ了。。都拿着你的
: 钱就打伊拉克了。
|
m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 21 其实民主党提税主要影响的都是高收入阶层，对中产影响不大
另外，交税是一方面，怎么花钱是另一方面
我宁愿多交点钱，让他们把钱都花在正道儿上，也不愿意他们把钱都花在军费上
另外一点，我讨厌共和党也是因为他们制定政策太靠ideology，什么堕胎问题、stem
cell问题、同性恋问题。。。当ideology凌驾于科学之上的时候，是特别不可理喻的一
群人
【在 p***2 的大作中提到】
: It matters to me as long as they can lower the tax, which usually leads to
: reduced budget for government?
|
p***2
发帖数: 374 | 22
i don't agree...
that is tea party. I hope GOP splits.
【在 m******1 的大作中提到】
: 其实民主党提税主要影响的都是高收入阶层，对中产影响不大
: 另外，交税是一方面，怎么花钱是另一方面
: 我宁愿多交点钱，让他们把钱都花在正道儿上，也不愿意他们把钱都花在军费上
: 另外一点，我讨厌共和党也是因为他们制定政策太靠ideology，什么堕胎问题、stem
: cell问题、同性恋问题。。。当ideology凌驾于科学之上的时候，是特别不可理喻的一
: 群人
|
