Rodrigo Martinez Receives Official Stay of Deportation from Immigration Judge

We learned today that the Immigration Court in Baltimore has granted Rodrigo Martinez's request for an official stay of his deportation. (The decision, shown here, was signed by the Immigration Judge on March 7 but was not posted by the Immigration Court until March 10.) Readers of this site will recall that Rodrigo Martinez was scheduled to surrender to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore on March 9. When he surrendered on that day he was taken into custody, but several hours later he was granted a discretionary release under an Order of Supervision. ICE was willing to give him time to pursue all legal options including a Motion for Emergency Stay of his Removal (deportation) with the Immigration Judge, a Motion to Re-Open his Proceedings and an opportunity for him and his husband, Edwin, to fight for approval of their marriage-based immigration petition.  Rodrigo and Edwin expressed relief today that the Immigration Court had issued this official order, and are hopeful that proceedings will be re-opened. They are grateful to everyone who called and wrote to elected officials in the last two weeks to help keep Rodrigo from being deported.

Masliah & Soloway: Dueling with DOMA

Full story here.

"Two New York attorneys have taken up arms in the battle for immigration reform and gay marriage equality. US Immigration lawyers Noemi Masliah and Lavi Soloway are committed to fixing what they see as a broken country.

These high-profile attorneys, who are fighting to keep gay couples and families together, are prominently operating at the nexus of two of the most politically charged issues on the American public agenda: immigration reform and gay marriage equality. Their New York based firm is prominent in the US on issues affecting the unification of gay and lesbian binational couples and in handling sexual orientation and gender identity-based asylum claims.

Last summer, they decided that the time was right to launch an attack on US immigration laws and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), in an attempt to keep binational lesbian and gay couples together. Passed in 1996, DOMA defines marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman.

Masliah and Soloway say they expect to bring a suit against agencies of the federal government within two years.

Masliah & Soloway were among the founders of Immigration Equality, a non-profit organization begun in 1994 to provide protection and advocacy for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) immigrants. “When Noemi and Lavi created the organization, they committed themselves to filling a void. There were scarce resources and virtually no identifiable advocates in this area. They were pioneers and they continue to do crucial work,” Joseph Landau, an associate professor at Fordham University School of Law and the current board chairman of Immigration Equality and the Immigration Equality Action Fund, tells The Report."

Immigration Equality continues to grow in response to the legal needs of LGBT asylum seekers, although homosexuality and HIV-positive status are no longer grounds for barring individuals from entering the US. Masliah and Soloway are no longer directly involved with the organization, but in founding it, “they identified a cohort of attorneys who could represent this underserved population. Then they helped shape the legal fabric by drafting and consolidating critical materials, training other lawyers and promoting the issue generally,” Landau says."

Two judicial decisions convinced them that “the time was right to act,” explains Soloway.

The first was by District Judge Joseph Tauro in Massachusetts, in which he ruled that Section 3 of DOMA, which denied federal benefits to same-sex couples, is unconstitutional. Tauro’s opinion regarding the motive behind DOMA was the most relevant: “Indeed, Congress undertook this classification for the one purpose that lies entirely outside of legislative bounds, to disadvantage a group of which it disapproves. And such a classification, the Constitution will not permit,” the judge wrote.

In the second case, District Judge Vaughn Walker in California handed a victory to the opponents of California’s Proposition 8, which had amended the California state constitution to define marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, and ruled that it was unconstitutional under both the due process and equal protection clauses." See more here.

DOMA Project Welcomes Legal Intern, Derek Tripp

Derek Tripp and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

The DOMA Project welcomes our first legal intern, Derek Tripp, a third-year student at Hofstra School of Law in Hempstead, New York.  Derek is a graduate of the University of California at Davis (2006, B.A. Political Science, B.A. English).

At Hofstra, Derek was selected for an LGBT Rights Fellowship and served as Associate Editor and Staff Member of the Journal of International Business and Law. Derek has participated as a student attorney in the Hofstra Law School Asylum Clinic, where he prepared asylum claims and represented applicants in Immigration Court.

Last summer Derek interned at the office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, where he researched multiple issues including health care, women’s issues, aging, and immigration. He also  assisted with casework involving immigration issues as well as the Senator’s focus on LGBT legislation. Before attending law school, Derek was a Public Policy and Government Affairs Intern in Washington, DC for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Derek will work with The DOMA Project on pending I-130 Alien Relative Petitions filed by lesbian and gay binational couples before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Board of Immigration Appeals and federal courts.

Laura & Samantha Join Countless Married Binational Couples Exiled to Canada By DOMA

Samantha and I met in September 2009 when my college roommate introduced us; we were perfect together. We moved into an apartment after dating for a few months and lived quite blissfully for the 3 or 4 months following.

Sometime in my second semester at college I realized that I was way off track with where I was heading as far as my education. I was at one of the best music schools in the country and I just didn’t feel all that great about it; and considering the tuition costs, I needed to feel great about it.

In 2010, Sam and I spent a great deal of time discussing our priorities and what we could do to stay together while still being productive with our lives. It was a tough few months. I looked into attending a U.S. college, but not being able to apply for both U.S. and Canadian student loans or get a job made tuition impossibly expensive—even with scholarships.

We considered a long distance relationship, but neither of us was happy or functioned at our best when the other wasn’t there. We aren’t just lovers, we are best friends, and neither of us would be whole without the other. We looked into other options, but Canada won out. We had to leave; there was no other way. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, U.S. immigration law provided no recognition of our relationship—it would give me nothing more than a student visa, bar me from working and keep us in an indefinite state of instability and poverty.

The most difficult part of our decision was that it forced us to leave Samantha’s father. He took a horrendous fall a year ago and has been in and out of the hospital ever since. When we told him we were moving to Canada he was sad, but told us it would break his heart to see us apart.

Sam spent the summer in Canada with me. Once we qualified as common-law partners we could begin the immigration process; so we planned on returning to Boston for four more months in the fall before moving to Canada for good. We stayed with my parents in Alberta until the end of June and made a quick stop in British Columbia before returning to Boston. When we crossed the border I had to surrender my student visa because I was no longer planning to attend school in the States.

After visiting Samantha’s father in the hospital (he had pneumonia for the second time that year) we drove back to Canada so I could work at a job I had committed to in January. Border control asked us A LOT of questions that trip. The officer asked Samantha what she planned on doing in Canada three times and even asked—aware that we were going to be in the country for 2 months—why we were bringing clothes with us. We were terrified that Canadian customs would not let Samantha cross the border, but ultimately they did.

Despite our experience at customs we had a great summer. I worked and studied to get into college (again) and Samantha studied and worked on her music. We talked a lot about exactly where we were going to settle down and what programs we should apply for and how many kids we were going to have and when we were going to have them and then, realizing we had planned out a whole life together, decided to get married. We knew we wanted to get married on September 22nd (the day we started dating), but we hadn’t really planned on it for another few years. When Sam asked, while I was brushing my teeth no less, “Do you want to get married on September 22nd?” I said “yes” since she’d already asked me the question before. However, she quickly added “2010” which changed things a little.

Of course I accepted and we began planning our wedding ceremony with four weeks notice. Being 19 years old and not having a lot of money or time we opted for a backyard BBQ. My parents, bless them a thousand times over, knew I wanted more and offered to help pay for the wedding.

By the time we needed to head back to Boston we had a date, a venue, food, our best man, a maid of honor, and one of two wedding dresses. We were beyond excited and in high spirits.

Then we got to the border.

I work hard, I do well in school, I am kind to strangers, and I am respectful of everyone’s beliefs—even those that conflict with my own sexual orientation—but I wish that on the day we crossed the border I had been capable of telling a little white lie. Instead I told the truth. I told them I was planning on staying until January, that I was taking courses online, and that I was getting married in 3 weeks. Needless to say, the Customs and Border Protection officer was not happy.

I cried when one officer told me I might not be able to enter even for my own wedding. I could not for the life of me understand why my honesty was costing me so much. Luckily the immigration officer I spoke to in the end was very understanding. They wouldn’t let me stay 4 months, but I had until the end of November. I was given a visitor’s visa and a warning that there would be serious consequences if I overstayed my exit date.

Regardless of those hardships, the wedding was beautiful. Everyone there said it was the most beautiful ceremony they had seen. People told us they had never seen two people happier together; it was perfect. A month later we packed everything up and left for Canada.

Samantha and I are submitting our application for Canadian immigration this week. I have applied for an undergrad in Engineering with plans to pursue a PhD in developmental neurology. Sam is studying for entry into the same program to pursue surgery. She will be in Boston for the next month because her father is sick and her Boston family needs her there. I will be staying here because I cannot work in the United States and we have bills to pay.

We live in constant fear that the Canadian immigration application will be denied. Luckily we in Canada have the option of re-applying on “compassionate grounds” with low chance of denial, but I will still need to postpone my university entrance date and Samantha will be unable to work or go to school for over a year.

I do love Boston—I would have chosen to live there if I could—but I cannot bring myself to live in a country that won’t uphold my right to pursue happiness. When I have my doctorate and U.S. immigration welcomes me with open arms I still won’t live there. Until I can live there as a spouse, sponsored by my beautiful wife, I will not move to the United States.

For that to happen the Defense of Marriage Act must be repealed or struck down. It must go or we will not come home.

I love my wife more than I have ever loved anything or anyone in my entire life. She makes me laugh and she gives me a purpose. She makes me a better person and she doesn’t put up with my crap. She is flawed just like everyone else in this world is flawed, but because of who I am that makes her perfect for me. This isn’t some fluffy idea of love that we have—we know that love and marriage (especially gay marriage) has challenges and we are prepared to work hard for the life we want to share together. THAT should be what the government looks at when they are deciding whether a relationship is honest. We both have a lot to give. We are both going to be successful. All I have left to say is that I am sad for America; sad that it has lost and will lose so many wonderful people who could have made it a better place.

Media Coverage of The DOMA Project This Week

Washington, DC's Metro Weekly and the national newsmagazine The Advocate each covered the story of Edwin Echogoyen & Rodrigo Martinez as part of their overall coverage of the implications of the President's new position of the Defense of Marriage Act.

From Metro Weekly:

"On Feb. 25, attorney Lavi Soloway announced that he was filing multiple requests on behalf of married, same-sex bi-national couples where one spouse is facing deportation. A day earlier, on Feb. 24, Soloway began the process in a case before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in which Joshua Vandiver is seeking to sponsor his husband, Henry A. Velandia Ferreira, for immigration purposes. Velandia had come to the U.S. from Venezuela on a work visa, which has since expired.

Ordinarily, an American spouse would be able to sponsor his spouse for immigration purposes, but DOMA prevents Vandiver from sponsoring Velandia – despite the fact that they were legally married in Connecticut.

As soon as Wednesday, March 9, another couple – Edwin Echegoyen and Rodrigo Martinez – face separation, as Martinez is due to surrender in Baltimore for deportation to El Salvador on that day.
On March 7, Soloway filed a Motion for Emergency Stay of Removal, which would prevent Martinez's deportation, and a Motion to Reopen Proceedings and evidence of the marriage, which could lead to the consideration of whether DOMA should continue to prevent Echegoyen from being able to sponsor Martinez, with the relevant officials.

Talking with Metro Weekly about the challenges, Soloway said, ''The attorney general's statement and position on the Defense of Marriage Act is very relevant and we think that, regardless, the [relevant officials in immigration courts and the BIA] should take note of it. It could hardly be more relevant.''

In addition to the legal cases, Soloway – a co-founder of Immigration Equality – noted, ''There's room there to make policy, and I think that policy should be to hold those cases in abeyance.''

See full story, "DOMA's Immigration Implications :Bi-national gay and lesbian couples and their advocates see a sign of hope in the administration's recent conclusion that part of DOMA is unconstitutional."

From The Advocate:

"Though Atty. Gen. Eric Holder stressed in a February 23 announcement that the administration would continue to enforce DOMA, Soloway argues that executive agencies have the discretionary power to halt or postpone deportation orders affecting legally married gay couples — discretion it has used in other circumstances, including a 2009 moratorium on deporting widows or widowers of U.S. citizens who had been married for less than two years.

“Edwin and Rodrigo fall squarely at the intersection of this new position,” Soloway said of the administration and its stance on section 3 of DOMA, which bars the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples. “This is an important act of protest ... and the beginning of a process by which they may one day receive the green card for Rodrigo that they deserve.”

Representatives Jerrold Nadler of New York and Zoe Lofgren of California, both well-known proponents of LGBT immigration rights in Congress, have both called upon the administration in recent interviews with The Advocate to stop deportations in cases like that of Martinez.
New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, whose constituency includes binational gay couples facing deportation crises that have also drawn media attention in recent weeks, said in a Monday statement, “The recent news of deportations involving legally married gay and lesbian binational couples is heartbreaking.”

See full story, "DOMA's Continued Consequences."

DC Channel 9 Interviews Rodrigo & Edwin as they Exit the Baltimore Deportation Office Today

Delia Gonçalves did a great job on these two reports standing outside the Baltimore Federal Building for hours waiting for the couple to (hopefully) emerge; but there are a few minor points here that she inadvertently misstated. So just for clarification purposes: The Obama administration is enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act, they are simply not defending Section 3 of that law in court because they believe it is unconstitutional. Also, the fight here is for recognition of Edwin & Rodrigo's marriage as equal to all other marriages under the Immigration & Nationality Act, and that has nothing to do with "civil unions."

Closing quote: "Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen worked with the couple, he also co-sponsored legislation to ban the Defense of Marriage Act."  Thank you Congressman Van Hollen!

More Good News: USCIS Issues Receipt for Edwin & Rodrigo's Marriage Based Immigration Petition

In a nice coincidence capping off a cliffhanger of a day, today's mail brought the official receipt from the USCIS acknowledging that there is now a pending petition filed by a U.S. citizen, Edwin Echegoyen, for his husband, Rodrigo Martinez. While the couple cannot at this moment expect to receive a "green card" as a result of this filing, they will continue to fight against DOMA and deportation.

Rodrigo Martinez Released on Order of Supervision

Score another win for the DOMA Project. The Deportations & Removal Office in Baltimore considered the pending Motion to Reopen and Motion for Emergency Stay of Removal, as well as Edwin Echegoyen's I-130 Marriage-Based Alien Relative Petition in their decision today and determined that Rodrigo should not be deported at this time.  Edwin Echegoyen will now have the $5,000 bond he put up for Rodrigo in 2004 refunded to him.  Rodrigo is now free to return to his daily routine but will be required to report monthly pursuant to an Order of Supervision. According to the couple, the Deportation Officer handling the case could not have been nicer.  More details to follow.

See MetroWeekly article: "Maryland Bi-National Same-Sex Couple Avoids Separation, for Today"

Attorney Lavi Soloway provides the following update about Edwin Echegoyen and Rodrigo Martinez. The Maryland couple, who married in D.C. on March 1, faced separation today, as Martinez was due to surrender in Baltimore for deportation to El Salvador.
Soloway relayed that "Rodrigo was released, details to follow" in an email sent to Metro Weekly at 2:30 p.m. today.

As Soloway wrote to Metro Weekly earlier today, "Rodrigo is in [immigration officials'] custody and will have to surrender his passport, but it looks like they may be releasing him today under an Order of Supervision, taking into account (1) Motion to Reopen Proceedings (2) Motion for Emergency Stay of Removal (3) Pending Petition for Alien Relative (marriage-based) filed by Edwin."

Edwin & Rodrigo To Meet With Deportation Officer

This morning, shortly before 9 a.m., Edwin Echegoyen and Rodrigo Martinez will present themselves to the Deportation and Removal Branch at the Baltimore District Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As of late Tuesday night, the Deportation and Removals Branch had offered no reprieve from the obligation to surrender no later than March 9. Therefore, in compliance with the notice Edwin received in February demanding that he surrender Rodrigo to the custody of DHS under the terms of the bond agreement executed in 2004, the couple will travel from their home in Rockville, Maryland and, accompanied by closer family members for moral support, they will meet with the government officials who will ultimately decide Rodrigo's fate.  At this point, given his several year-old outstanding Order of Removal, Immigration & Customs Enforcement is likely take Rodrigo into custody on Wednesday and hold him at a government detention facility pending deportation. It is also possible that they may also consider other options including a release under an Order of Supervision (similar to parole,  it would require Rodrigo to comply with routine appointments to check in with the Deportation Officer as they continue to monitor his case). We await news of the Deportation Officer's final decision on Rodrigo's case, which will not be known until Rodrigo surrenders to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security this morning.

EDGE Reports: Edwin Echegoyen Must Surrender His Husband, Rodrigo Martinez, for Deportation

The complete article was posted by EDGE on Monday March 7.

"A gay Maryland man will have to surrender his partner for deportation on Wednesday if his last minute appeals fail.

Edwin Echegoyen met Rodrigo Martinez at the gym in 2003-Martinez had come to the United States from El Salvador on a tourist visa a couple of weeks earlier. The two men began dating. And they soon settled in Rockville, Maryland.

The men decided to vacation in Puerto Rico with three other gay couples in 2004 after Echegoyen’s mother passed away from cancer. Authorities detained Martinez as he and Echegoyen attempted to board their flight back to Maryland. They released Martinez after Echegoyen posted bail.

"He was released under my own custody and we’ve been working through the legal system to find some kind of relief for him to stay here with me," Echegoyen told EDGE.

These efforts included applying for a work visa and seeking asylum based on Martinez’s fear he would suffer anti-gay persecution in his homeland. Both petitions were denied. And Echegoyen received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security late last month that said he would have to surrender Martinez to federal authorities in Baltimore on March 9 because he posted his bail in 2004.

Martinez and Echegoyen married in the District of Columbia on March 1. Echegoyen obtained a certified marriage certificate from the court, and filed a marriage-based petition with the Department of Homeland Security that would allow him to sponsor Martinez for residency.

"It is so upsetting because we want to celebrate," said Echegoyen, noting some of his and Martinez’s friends attended their wedding during their lunch hour. "This is something we had talked about doing-getting married, but not under these circumstances."

DOMA Deportations

The Defense of Marriage Act specifically bans the federal government from recognizing marriages of same-sex couples for immigration and other purposes. The Obama administration announced last month it will no longer defend DOMA in federal court.

Congressman Chris Van Hollen [D-Md.], in whose district Martinez and Echegoyen live, co-sponsored a bill in the last Congress that would have repealed DOMA. Congressman Jerrold Nadler [D-N.Y.] has said he plans to reintroduce a DOMA repeal measure in the House, while U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-Calif.] has indicated she would follow suit in the U.S. Senate.

"The recent news of deportations involving legally married gay and lesbian bi-national couples is heartbreaking," U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-N.Y.] told EDGE in a statement. "It is critical that we repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and ensure that immigration laws respect all loving, committed marriages."

...

"In the name of the Defense of Marriage Act, gay and lesbian couples literally find their marriages being destroyed," said lawyer Lavi Soloway, noting many of the estimated 36,000 bi-national couples in the United States have children. "It’s the fabric of American society that’s being torn when you deport somebody. It’s not some other person, some stranger, some alien that the law would refer to that person."

Soloway, who also represents Martinez and Echegoyen, continues to pursue an emergency stay on the pending deportation and a petition to reopen Martinez’s asylum request. "We have a great opportunity to stop the deportation," he told EDGE just before a hearing before an immigration judge in Baltimore.

Echegoyen, however, said the ongoing legal battle has certainly taken its toll.

"We’re not sleeping because what if March 9 comes and there’s no relief," he said. "It’s such a horrible, horrible situation to put people in-to choose between your family and your country. What do you do?"

Edwin & Rodrigo Featured on DC Local News

Delia Gonçalves did a great job on this report ("Deportation Controversy After DC Marriage"), but she did misspeak when she said that the Obama administration would not enforce DOMA. Of course, as readers of our site know, on February 23 the President and Attorney General announced that they would no longer defend DOMA in court, but the Executive branch will continue to enforce it as it remains the law of the land for now. This short piece captures the essence of the discrimination against gay and lesbian binational couples and elicits the first public statement from Edwin & Rodrigo's Congressman, Chris Van Hollen. Congressman Van Hollen, however, does not go as far as his colleagues Rep. Nadler and Rep. Lofgren who last week called for the administration to halt the deportations. We must keep the pressure on our elected officials to achieve a policy for all binational couples facing deportation. Please call Congressman Van Hollen and thank him for his support, but urge him to call on the White House to formulate a policy that allows individual DHS Trial Attorneys, Immigration Judges and other adjudicators to exercise prosecutorial discretion and delay or defer action on deportations involving married same-sex binational couples. As we get closer to March 9, we are asking everyone to please make three phone calls and ask these elected officials representing Edwin & Rodrigo in Congress to fight for a policy to halt the DOMA deportations: Call Congressman Chris Van Hollen at (202) 225-5341, Senator Barbara Mikulski (202) 224-4654 and Senator Benjamin Cardin (202) 224-4524.

Ask Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to Call on the Administration to Halt DOMA Deportations

Call Congressman Chris Van Hollen at (202) 225-5341, Senator Barbara Mikulski (202) 224-4654 and Senator Benjamin Cardin (202) 224-4524. Ask that they call on the Obama administration to halt all DOMA deportations immediately.

Queerty's article appeared here today.

Only 2 Days to Stop the DOMA Deportation of Rodrigo Martinez: Call Rep. Chris Van Hollen

Rep. Chris Van Hollen

What can you do right now to help stop the deportation of Rockville, Maryland resident Rodrigo Martinez? Call Congressman Chris Van Hollen's Washington, DC office at Phone: (202) 225-5341 and ask that he call on the Obama administration to put a halt to all DOMA Deportations.
Rodrigo and his American partner of 8 years married last week in Washington, DC, but because of DOMA, their marriage certificate, even with its "triple seal" from Chief Judge Lee Satterfield of the DC Superior Court means nothing under current federal law. The Obama administration has the power to delay this deportation through a routine exercise of discretion.

Rodrigo & Edwin on their wedding day

After you call Representative Van Hollen, Edwin and Rodrigo's Congressman, you can help us keep up the momentum! Reach out to your own Senators and Representatives. Ask them to join Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) who last week called on the Obama administration to halt the deportations of spouses of gay and lesbian Americans. There is still time to save Rodrigo & Edwin's marriage and to prevent Rodrigo's deportation to El Salvador on Wednesday. But we must also fight for a policy that stops all "DOMA Deportations" immediately.

Trenton (NJ) Times Reports on Josh & Henry's Fight Against DOMA and Deportation

Read full article here.

"Josh Vandiver never expected to become an activist. A sixth-year graduate student at Princeton University, he planned to spend this spring finishing his dissertation and enjoying his new life with his husband of a year and a half, Henry Velandia.

Instead, they’re in the middle of a fight to keep their marriage together. Velandia, who first came to the U.S. from Venezuela in 2002 on a visitor visa, is facing deportation. Although they married legally in Connecticut and have been together since 2006, Velandia is unable to qualify for a spouse visa because the couple is in a same-sex marriage.

The two are now among the most prominent voices calling for a moratorium on deportations of individuals in same-sex marriages while Congress and the federal courts determine the fate of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

DOMA prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, which means these couples do not receive typical marriage benefits, including the ability to sponsor a spouse for immigration. 

“Our fight is to stay together,” Velandia said in an interview. “We hope that the government will realize the damage DOMA is causing to many couples in our position.”

At first, Velandia and Vindiver weren’t optimistic. But after President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced that the administration believes DOMA is unconstitutional, Vandiver and Velandia have new hope for success. 

The president’s statement doesn’t change the law. But, as their attorney Lavi Soloway explains, it does change how we understand the position they’re in. 

“Henry is now prohibited from getting a green card on the basis of a law that the president thinks is unconstitutional, that has been found unconstitutional by a federal district court judge, and that Congress is now working to repeal,” Soloway said."

SF Weekly: Binational Gay Couples Fighting DOMA and Deportation

"Gay couples are already using President Obama's new stance against the Defense of Marriage Act as a weapon to fight deportations of their foreign spouses. The couples hope that the administration's declaration last week that the law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman is unconstitutional will help defer or ultimately save the foreign half of the couple from deportation.

Starting last summer, the New York and Los Angeles-based Masliah & Soloway law firm, which specializes in gay immigration issues, decided to turn from advocacy to direct action, says attorney Lavi Soloway. (Soloway was one of the founders of Immigration Equality, a non-profit that focuses on gay immigration issues.)  Based on the Proposition 8 ruling in San Francisco and a Massachusetts judge declaring DOMA unconstitutional, the firm decided to challenge the current immigration laws around foreign gay spouses."

Read full article here.

Monica & Cristina Appear on NY1: Pura Política

Watch the whole interview here.

Love in the Time of Deportation: After 8 Years Together, Edwin & Rodrigo Have Five Days Left to Save Their Marriage

Edwin Echegoyen and Ricardo Martinez were married
by Professor Ed Ingebretsen on March 1, 2011
Ingebretsen was ordained as a Jesuit Priest in 1981
and is outspoken on issues of religion and culture.

Edwin Echegoyen and Rodrigo Martinez were married on the promenade outside the D.C. Superior Court on March 1 before a group of two dozen friends, family and co-workers. Immediately after the ceremony, Edwin, an American citizen, filed an I-130 Alien Relative Petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requesting a "green card" for his spouse, who is a citizen of El Salvador.

After 8 years together, Edwin and Rodrigo have only five days left to stop the Department of Homeland Security from executing a deportation. Rodrigo has been ordered to surrender himself to the custody of DHS on Wednesday March 9. (Read more about Edwin and Rodrigo here.)

Please help us stop the deportation of Rodrigo Martinez.

Call both the DC and local offices of Edwin & Rodrigo's United States Senators:
Senator Barbara Mikulski (202) 224-4654 and (410) 962-4510
Senator Benjamin Cardin (202) 224-4524 and (301) 762-2974
Representative Chris Von Hollen (202) 225-5341 and (301) 424-3501

Ask them to contact the Department of Homeland Security Deportation Unit in the Baltimore Field Office immediately.


We only have 5 days left to stop this deportation.  The information you need:  RODRIGO MARTINEZ-RODRIGUEZ (File No. A 96 336 082).

In response to the Edwin & Rodrigo's case, two members of Congress this week publicly called for a halt to "DOMA Deportations" (see here and here).  Please ask the Washington, DC staff of Senators Mikulski and Cardin and Congressman Chris Van Hollen to join Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Jerrold Nadler and issue a public statement calling on the the Obama administration to halt "DOMA deportations."

DOMA, Immigration, and ENDA: The Ripple Effects of Heightened Scrutiny

From Towleroad, DOMA: The Ripple Effects of Heightened Scrutiny, by Ari Ezra Waldman.

"But, the DOMA decision will have more direct impact. For example, Lavi Soloway, an attorney friend of mine, leading advocate of gays in immigration cases and founder of Stop the Deportations: The DOMA Project, has taken the DOJ's position and argued that since it is DOMA that is forcing legally married binational same-sex couples to be ripped apart -- DOMA prevents the federal recognition of their marriage, thus preventing a foreign national spouse from legally remaining in the United States -- the Administration's view that DOMA is unconstitutional should, at a minimum, become part of immigration officials' decision-making process when it comes to how to proceed with deporting the foreign national spouse of legally married same-sex couples.
Mr. Soloway's position raises an important distinction -- the difference between defending a law in court and enforcing the law in practice. He is essentially arguing that the DOJ's official statement that DOMA is unconstitutional should inform the opinions of the the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), a fifteen-judge panel that serves as the highest administrative body for interpreting immigration laws. Mr. Soloway is right. The Huffington Post implies that Mr. Soloway is asking that the Administration stop enforcing DOMA through "innovative strategies" to ensure families can stay together. That is not the case. Mr. Soloway is asking immigration officials to include the Administration's view of DOMA's constitutionality as part of the context in which the officials decide how to proceed with binational same-sex couples. Whether the immigration judge grants continuances (delays), deferred action (holding deportation in abeyance) or administrative termination (almost like ending the deportation proceeding) is up to the judge's discretion. So, Mr. Soloway wants to make sure that these judges take the Administration's view of DOMA into account."

DOMA Deportations: What the President Can Do

From the Washington Blade. Full story here. While this article does not produce much diversity in response to its rhetorical headline, The DOMA Project is included here as an example as one very real ways in which the executive branch can re-evaluate the landscape of deportation proceedings for development of public policy to address urgent humanitarian crises.

Amid this debate, another LGBT advocate is drawing on the recent change in how the Obama administration is handling DOMA to press the administration to exercise prosecutorial discretion in cases involving bi-national same-sex couples.

Lavi Soloway, an attorney with Masliah & Soloway PC in New York, is representing three married, same-sex bi-national couples in New York, New Jersey and California who are facing deportation proceedings.

Alex Benshimol and Doug Gentry are scheduled for a July 13 hearing in San Francisco; Monica Alcota and Cristina Ojeda are scheduled for a March 22 hearing in New York; and Henry Velandia and Josh Vandiver scheduled for a May 6 hearing in Newark, N.J. Each of the American spouses in these cases has filed green card petitions on behalf of their foreign national partners, although DOMA prevents American nationals from sponsoring their partners.

“We intend to argue as a result of the shifting position of the executive branch with respect to DOMA that it’s appropriate for the immigration judges and also for the attorneys that represent the Department of Homeland Security to exercise what’s called prosecutorial discretion, which simply means exercising more discretion in how to proceed with these cases,” Soloway said.

In the three pending cases, Soloway is asking for judges to consider changes that were made to how the Obama administration is handling DOMA in court and to put off deportation proceedings until another time when different relief of legal options may be available. According to Soloway, if anyone in these cases is deported, they won’t be able to return to the United States for another 10 years, even if DOMA is repealed or overturned sometime before then.

“I’m calling on the Department of Homeland Security … to develop reasonable innovative policy to deal with the particular moment that we’re in,” Soloway said. “We’re just in a very short-term moment where things are in a state of flux. I’m not asking them to stop enforcing any law; this is part of enforcing the law.”

Breaking News: Rep. Zoe Lofgren Calls on Obama Administration to Defer DOMA Deportations

Rodrigo & Edwin
celebrating their marriage

Full updated Advocate article here.

On Wednesday, Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, told The Advocate that she agrees with Nadler on deferring deportation proceedings in cases involving married, gay binational couples such as Echegoyen and Martinez: "I think [DOMA] is unconstitutional and that the federal government ought to respect couples who have married in states that permit marriage," she said.

Lofgren said she has friends and constituents in her San Jose, Calif. district facing immigration challenges as a result of DOMA. "It's a heartbreaking situation across the United States," she said. "This administration, as with any administration, has tremendous flexibility under current law to make its own judgment for fair treatment" of such couples.