Thursday, April 28, 2011

STOP THE DEPORTATION OF HENRY VELANDIA, HELP JOSH & HENRY SAVE THEIR MARRIAGE



Josh and Henry are in the fight of their lives. For eight months they have tirelessly campaigned to raise awareness of the cruel impact of the Defense of Marriage Act on binational lesbian and gay couples. Fighting to save their marriage and stop Henry's deportation to Venezuela, they have organized petition drives, collaborated with many organizations, and shared their story with national and international media.  Josh and Henry's story is familiar to readers of this site because they have spearheaded and inspired so much of our strategy. They lead the effort to involve elected officials to call on the Obama administration to stop the deportations of spouses of gay and lesbian Americans. In 2010, Josh became one of the only gay Americans to have ever filed an I-130 marriage-based green card petition for his spouse.  Josh and Henry have sought the co-operation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to terminate proceedings and have had the backing of their Congressman, Representative Rush Holt who has publicly called for a stop to deportations.  We are only a week away from Henry's final deportation hearing. On May 6, a Newark, NJ immigation judge will decide whether Henry can stay or whether he will be ordered deported. Help Josh and Henry stop this deportation, and stop the deportation, separation and exile tearing apart binational lesbian and gay couples every day.  Deportations are the catastrophic result of DOMA, a law which President Obama refuses to defend and believes is unconstitutional. Deportations bring with them a ten-year bar on return to the United States.  Deportations destroy LGBT families.  It is time to stop the deportations once and for all.

Sign Josh and Henry's petition to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano here and ALL OUT's petition here.


(Video by AllOut.org and Courage Campaign)

1 comment:

  1. Good for you guys!

    I'm an American who has lived in Holland for 25 years. Never in all that time have I even considered moving back to the States with a Dutch partner. For this very reason. It's ridiculous.

    I wish you success!

    Sincerely,

    ReplyDelete