If you’ve kept up to date with my blog or know my story you’ll know I am a first generation immigrant who received my green card about 2 weeks ago, after a very long and challenging six years………
I chose to take the long road to receiving my permanent residency in this country. The long road meaning I got my green card through employment and not through marriage. And going through my employment the application was filed when I had just a bachelor’s degree, meaning I was the lowest on the totem pole when it came to priority. (To apply for a green card through employment you must have at least a four-year degree and your employer has to file and pay for the entire process, moving up the totem pole means you have a graduate degree, doctorate etc.)
Don’t get me wrong….when the immigration process started I was young and there was no way in hell I was marrying anyone!! And of course then there is my stubbornness…….I came this far, I have had these successes, I can do this ON MY OWN!!!!!!!! You know kinda like a two-year old insists on doing everything themselves!!
Well this brings me to the point of this blog…..I was fortunate enough to be able to do this process of gaining permanent residency in the USA through employment as I was blessed with the opportunity to study here and get that four-year degree from an amazing school and move into the employment sector working towards a CPA license. However, this is not the case for everyone and education does not come cheap!!! So what would have happened to me, to my life had I come here and after coming out as a lesbian found out that I was NOT able to stay in this country?? And even worse, what happens if I had fallen in love with my soul mate, yet was unable to stay in this country, live with them as “women and women” as all heterosexual couples could, thereby halting a pending deportation.
I am beyond grateful that a) I was never in that situation, b) I was able to go it alone, and succeed and c) that I am now able to help spread the word of those not as fortunate as myself.
The GLBT community does not ask for SPECIAL rights, we ask for EQUAL rights!!! We deserve the same rights as all other people are afforded in this country. Below is one story, one of many, many sad stories of two loving, caring, and dedicated individuals facing the very real possibility of their love and commitment to one another being torn apart as one faces an impending deportation.
Taken from the GLAAD website, click here for a link to the story.
DEJA-VU: BRIAN & ANTON ONCE AGAIN FACE DEPORTATION THREAT
Energized by the thought of spending the rest of their lives together, Brian and Anton, in the months following Anton’s stay of deportation, pledged their love and commitment for one another in a legal marriage ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Their honeymoon was short lived, however. Despite the fact that President Obama has ordered the Department of Justice to no longer defend the constitutionality of section 3 of DOMA and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’shistoric announcement that this administration will use “prosecutorial discretion” to set aside low-priority deportation cases, including those involving LGBT families, Brian is once again fighting to keep his husband in the United States. Only three weeks ago, the Obama administration filed a brief in a similar case in California arguing that it is unconstitutional to deny green cards to the spouses of gay Americans, and yet Anton is still scheduled for deportation. On October 7, Brian and Anton will meet in Philadelphia with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officers who must decide whether to take Anton into custody and deport him.
Brian and Anton’s story mirrors that of countless married binational LGBT couples facing the same discrimination in spite of recent governmental action meant to keep families together. It’s important that the media call into question why Brian and Anton are once again facing the possibility of being torn apart when provisions have been made to keep all families together – including those represented by LGBT couples. With October 7 just over two weeks away, GLAAD encourages the media to once again shine a spotlight on the plight of Brian & Anton.
