Gay Couples Split by Immigration Laws

Gay news site 365gay.com reports today of the arrest of Eric Affholter, the head of the St. Louis office of the Missouri public defender's office. It appears Affholter allegedly arranged a sham marriage to keep his foreign gay partner in the country by having his partner marry a female subordinate within the public defender's office. Following his arrest, Affholter was released on $50,000 bond and has resigned his position.

Sadly, events like this are not uncommon, and gay US citizens and their foreign-born partners are constantly having to jump through hoops to keep their loved ones in the country. The straights have it easy, because all they have to do is marry their partners, but gays do not have this option because under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, immigration law does not recognize same-sex unions--hell, it doesn't even allow for sponsorships of a same-sex partner.

This means that same sex couples that have been legally married in Massachusetts, Canada, the Netherlands, or Belgium, will not be able to immigrate based on their marriage. Worse off are those partnerships where the partner facing deportation is about to be returned to a country that persecutes gays. Who can blame anyone for arranging sham marriages with female pals to keep ones partner from getting kicked out of the country.

However, things might be looking brighter, as the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), a bill sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), will allow citizens and legal residents in same-sex relationships to sponsor their partners for immigration purposes. The UAFA applies the same standards to same-sex couples that the United States applies to opposite-sex couples where one member is seeking to bring a foreign partner into the country.

For more information on how you can support bi-national gay couples, check out Immigration Equality's website. Also, if you'd like to send a quick and easy email to your congressperson in support of the Uniting American Families Act, Click Here to go to HRC's online Congressional Connection emailer.