Rulings Give Binational Couples Reason for Optimism

Groundbreaking rulings by the Board of Immigration Appeals give couples a chance to stay together, perhaps long enough for DOMA to be struck down.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

Read Full Bio

Trudy Ring

June 20 2012 10:29 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

trudestress

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

The immigrant partners in four binational gay couples have another chance at staying in the U.S. under recent rulings by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

The board, in four separate rulings, has refused to affirm the denial of green cards to the foreign nationals, according to the law firm Masliah & Soloway, which represents all four. The appeals board ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which had denied the green cards because of the Defense of Marriage Act, "to determine whether the marriages are legally valid and whether, notwithstanding DOMA Section 3, the spouse would qualify for a green card under the Immigration & Nationality Act," says a press release from the firm. Also, in one case, the board reopened removal proceedings for a spouse who was under a deportation order. This is the first time the appeals body has taken either action after denials based solely on DOMA Section 3, the firm notes.

"We are elated that the Department of Justice has ordered USCIS to treat the marriages of each gay binational couple with respect by requiring that a complete record of eligibility be created," said attorney Lavi Soloway. He explained to Metro Weekly that the ruling delays the cases and opens up the possibility of the foreign spouses receiving green cards if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down DOMA. Several lower courts have declared the law, which prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, to be unconstitutional.