Immigration Equality and DOMA

We’re asking you to sign a change.org petitionbegun by the LGBT immigration equality organization Out4Immigration.  The petition is directed at President Obama and asks for an executive directive to have  USCIS continue prioritizing green card applications from same-sex partners of US citizens.          

  Same-sex marriage and DOMA are not just domestic issues—they affect couples around the world in which one or both partners wish to immigrate to the United States.  Under existent immigration regulations, for binational heterosexual couples (couples in which one partner is a US citizen and the other is not), the non-citizen partner is afforded priority in immigration hearings through marital sponsorship.  Same-sex couples are not afforded those benefits, a fact particularly relevant for asylum seekers. 

As you may know, in February, President Obama declared that the federal courts should stop defending DOMA’s constitutionality.  Binational same-sex couples were accordingly excited that their immigration cases would be more quickly resolved in a manner similar to the procedures enacted for heterosexual couples.  Instead, on March 28^th, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reneged on the positive change and stated that because there has been no official policy shift with respect to same-sex marriage, they will continue upholding discriminatory immigration procedures.