STOP THE DEPORTATIONS THE DOMA PROJECT: Sign Our Petition To Stop The Deportation of Sujey Pando

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Sign Our Petition To Stop The Deportation of Sujey Pando

On August 19th in Denver, Violeta and Sujey Pando will face the worst nightmare for any lesbian or gay binational couple: a final deportation hearing in an Immigration Court. They are legally married, but Violeta, a U.S. citizen, cannot sponsor her spouse, Sujey, who is from Mexico, because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In fact, because of DOMA, this loving, committed couple of five years, who married last year in Iowa, may be torn apart by a judge’s order next Friday if action is not taken to prevent it from happening.

The President has said that DOMA is unconstitutional and has endorsed its repeal. The President must immediately direct the Department of Homeland Security to halt all deportation of spouses of lesbian and gay American citizens to prevent DOMA from destroying marriages. If Sujey Pando is deported she will be barred from returning to the U.S. for ten years.

None of this would be happening to an opposite-sex couple in the same situation.

Urge President Obama, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Attorney General Eric Holder to take action: exercise prosecutorial discretion, respect Violeta and Sujey's marriage, and prevent this married lesbian couple from being torn apart.

Sign our petition to the President and send a message that we need immediate executive branch action to protect all lesbian and gay binational couples.

To help Sujey and Violeta further:

Follow STOP THE DEPORTATIONS: The DOMA Project for further updates
Call your elected officials to urge them to help couples like Violeta & Sujey Pando before Sujey's final hearing on August 19th

U.S. Representative Diana DeGette: 202.225.4431, Denver 303.844.4988
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet: 202.224.5852, Denver 303.455.7600
U.S. Senator Mark Udall: 202.224.5941, Denver 303.650.7820
Share our petition urging the officials to halt DOMA deportations. To share this petition via email, facebook, or twitter, use the buttons below.

3 comments:

AnonymousAugust 16, 2011 at 11:58 AM
Hi,
I want to sign the petition but there is no listing for my place of residence, Washington DC. Can you please correct this?
Thanks!
Scott
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousAugust 17, 2011 at 12:07 AM
I'm the foreign half of a bi-national couple. I signed the petition. Best wishes Violeta and Sujey!
Any idea if Sujey is allowed to stay in the US, will she be granted employment authorization? Also, what do you think of as a protest having all the Americans in a bi-national couple applying to sponsor their same-sex spouses on the same day? It could make a huge splash in the news media.
Thanks for all the work you are doing!
Bruce
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousAugust 17, 2011 at 12:50 PM
I am with you. I hope everything is going well. I hate that you two have to go through this and with you many others that get treated unfairly by US law!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?

STOP THE DEPORTATIONS is a campaign launched in October 2010 by a group of married binational couples working with attorneys Lavi Soloway and Noemi Masliah, who are founders of Immigration Equality and partners in the law firm, Masliah & Soloway. Our purpose is to raise awareness of the cruel impact of the DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT on married gay and lesbian binational couples and bring an end to that discrimination. Because the federal government denies recognition to legally married same-sex couples, they are deprived of the usual access to immigration laws that allow all other American citizens to petition for a green card for their foreign spouses.

In most cases, DOMA is the only obstacle preventing married binational couples from achieving resolution of the immigration issue. Because of DOMA, married binational couples are faced with the very real threat of being torn apart because of expiring visas or deportation orders. Many binational couples are exiled to third countries where their relationships are recognized under the law. Still others are kept apart, left to maintain a long-distance relationship on line, by phone calls and visits.

Every day in this country there are gay and lesbian Americans whose spouses face deportation proceedings. This must end. We cannot sit by while the government destroys the hopes and dreams of loving couples. Join our fight against DOMA and help bring an end discrimination against same-sex binational couples. For more information on how you can get involved email us here.

DOMA Project Participation

We invite potential DOMA project participants to contact us if they are same-sex binational couples who are married (or planning to marry) and who want to join our campaign to end discrimination in immigration law. With the exception of our DOMA Project participants, we do not encourage any married same-sex couple to file an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative as such a petition will be denied and the filing of the petition may have significant negative consequences on the foreign spouse's future eligibility for various non-immigrant visas, or precipitate removal proceedings if that person is in the United States without lawful status. Any binational couples considering marriage should consult THE DOMA PROJECT or other qualified attorney or appropriate gay rights organization to discuss the potential consequences for eligibility for non-immigrant visas and to address other immigration related concerns. To learn more about our DOMA Project, contact us here. Your story is a vital part of winning this struggle.

ADD YOUR STORY

We are actively looking for binational couples to join this campaign. Your testimonials, videos, photographs, etc. will help us put discrimination into terms that everyone can understand: its cruel impact on individual couples and families. Anyone interested in getting involved to help raise awareness of the impact of DOMA on binational couples should contact us here. All information received will be confidential. Couples who want to participate without revealing their full names or other identifying information are welcome. Binational couples who are currently in separate countries and binational couples living abroad are also welcome.