Sign Our Petition to President Obama: Stop Denying Our Green Card Petitions, Stop Tearing Apart LGBT Families
SIGN OUR PETITION BELOW TO SAVE BRIAN & ALFONSO’S MARRIAGE
TAKE A STAND FOR ALL COUPLES FACING
DEPORTATION, SEPARATION OR EXILE BECAUSE OF DOMA
In San Francisco on March 22, Brian Willingham and Alfonso Garcia will face the worst nightmare of any gay or lesbian binational couple: a deportation hearing in a federal Immigration Court. Brian and Alfonso are legally married, but their relationship will not be recognized because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Brian and Alfonso are taking a brave stand for their love and for all binational couples by demanding that their marriage be treated like any other married couple’s marriage! Brian has filed a green card petition for Alfonso based on their marriage. We call on the Obama administration not to deny this green card petition but to hold a final determination in abeyance until DOMA has been defeated.
An opposite-sex couple in this situation would easily win a postponement or even termination of deportation proceedings altogether to allow them to pursue the green card case based on their marriage, which Brian and Alfonso are hoping for this Thursday. If Alfonso is deported he will be barred from returning to the U.S. for ten years.
Alfonso has lived in the United States for almost 21 years, and Brian and Alfonso have been together for over 10 years. If the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agrees to hold Brian and Alfonso’s marriage-based green card petition in abeyance, Alfonso will be allowed to remain in the U.S. in lawful status. Abeyance simply means that DHS would neither deny or approve this petition, or any other marriage based petitions filed by lesbian or gay American citizens for their spouses until DOMA is no longer in effect.
President Obama has said that he believes DOMA is unconstitutional and has endorsed its repeal. The President must immediately direct DHS and its agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), to hold green card petitions of same-sex spouses in abeyance.
UPDATE ::
March 23, 2012: Alfonso & Brian’s petition has received close to 1,300 signatures! The DOMA Project thanks every signor for helping lift the message that all married couples should be treated the same. There is still time to sign the petition, and we will update this post again before we send it to President Obama and members of his administration.
BRIAN AND ALFONSO’S MARRIAGE DESERVES RESPECT!
Sign below to tell President Obama, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and Attorney General Eric Holder that you care about Brian and Alfonso and all same-sex couples hurt by DOMA. The Government needs to respect the marriages of same-sex couples, stop deporting the spouses of LGBT American citizens, and keep Brian and Alfonso together!
You can help by:
- Signing this petition (scroll down) urging the officials to halt DOMA deportations.
- Calling Brian & Alfonso’s elected officials in California and Washington, D.C. and urge them to help the couple before Alfonso’s hearing on March 22.
- Sharing this post with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers to get out the message. Our goal is 1,000 signatures before Alfonso’s hearing.
- Reading updates on this couple and many others on the blog for STOP THE DEPORTATIONS: The DOMA Project.
| U.S. Representative John Garamendi | D.C.: (202) 225-1880 | CA: (925) 932-8899 |
| U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein | D.C.: (202) 224-3841 | CA: (415) 393-0707 |
| U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer | D.C.: (202) 224-3553 | CA: (510) 286-8537 |
Madison Reed
My Sweetheart and I are in a similar situation for the same reason – DOMA! We live separated by thousands of miles.
We elected President Obama because we were sure that he – with his African-American heritage, and his promises to our community – would act to mitigate our ungodly suffering. And we’re sure that the real America has a mature sense of Justice and bigger heart than what we are experiencing, and hearing from conservatives who want to cause us even more harm.
This piecemeal, case-by-case approach is terrorizing all binational families, and it’s disgracefully unjust! Please bring this to an end, so that Brian and Alfonso will be the last same-sex binational couple who has to defend their right to love, and live in loneliness or sheer terror all the time!
Joe L
Their rights are my rights in this great land of ours.
JGoodmanHomes
Deport criminals not a guy who has lived in the US most of his life, is a productive member of society and in love with a wonderful man.
Shannen K
“Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world–and never will” – Mark Twain.
Heather Cottner
I believe in my very soul that thes two people deserve every chance at LIFE, LIBERTY, & THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS that every other US citizen has. It is a dire injustice if this man is deported simply because of his sexual orientation. He has LEGALLY married a US citizen, therefore, he too, is a citizen as it has been the law forever. DOMA is nothing but a thinly veiled hate crime in the making. People in AMERICA have FREEDOMS, one of which is that we may marry freely and without persecution. However, our fellow Americans & those immagrating to America who have a different sexual orientation that some close minded people dont consider the “norm” are in fact, being persecuted simply for being “different”. Stop this blatant disregard for our fellow HUMANS. They are not different, they are; our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, our children. They are our family period. I implore you, please stop this injustice. Do not rip this loving union apart because of some bigoted minds. Rise above! ONE LOVE!
Tom C
Keep up the fight guys! Love conquers all!!
Cleyton
Can a non american sign a petition or is it required to be american ?
The DOMA Project
Anyone may sign the petition.
Glenn
I feel for this couple and hope they can stay together in the US but you know this jerk of a president is more concerned about re election than his party or his supporters and is trying to look conservative for the right wing..
DJ Woodworth
Without DOMA these people, who are not criminals, would have green cards and be welcome in our country the same as any bi national straight couple. The tides of opinion are shifting as can be seen by the growing number of states that legally allow same sex marriage. It’s time for antiquated laws to be put to rest.
Matumbo
@Glen while you are busy calling the president a jerk remember he has done more for the LGBT family than any other president, Plus he cannot act alone he needs backing of the house and congress. Becareful what you say!!
Dennis Rodgers
I am a HARDLINE right wing conservative, to the right of Mitt Romney. This is not a political issue. The statue says “send us your… EVERYBODY.” There are many good reasons to want to restrict who can come here. Sexual orientation is not one of them. A good man who pulls his own weight and who contributes constructively to his community (Alphonso) is someone we should be giving up draft choices to have on our team.
This ain’t rocket science folks.
Dimitri Georges
I have known Alfonso since I was 14 years old, and we met just a few months after I had come out. Although we are not as close as we once were, Alfonso has always been a person of whom I hold great respect and admiration. I have only met Brian a handfull of times, but when you see the two of them together the love they hold for one another is unparalleled. To force this loving couple to be separated not only effects the two of them, but each life that Alfie has touched and effected. Not only am I disheartened by the total disregard for the sanctity of their marriage, but i am appalled that someone as hard working, intelligent, and caring as Alfie could be taken from the only place he can really call home. A man who has worked in this country and abided by the same rules as all legal citizens should be treated equally under the law in all regards.