A federal immigration judge in
California on Thursday delayed the deportation of Alfonso Garcia, an
undocumented Mexican immigrant who married his husband in New York,
CNN
reported.
Garcia, 35, and Brian Willingham, a
37-year-old U.S. citizen, exchanged vows last year. The pair have
been together nearly 10 years.
Attorney Lavi Soloway, who is
representing the couple, said they were petitioning the federal
immigration service for legal residency based on their 2011 marriage.
Federal immigration courts do not
recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples due to the Defense
of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as a heterosexual
union.
“If they were an opposite sex couple,
we wouldn't have this discussion right now,” Soloway told CNN.
“What this case is about is a Mexican
man who was brought to the United States as a child and has lived
here for 20 years, and has his whole family [here]. But he doesn't
have lawful status.”
In a post published at
StopTheDeportations.com,
Willingham described how his husband's undocumented status was
learned by authorities last summer.
“That night we were pulled over for a
routine traffic stop. The local law enforcement did their regular
background checks and that is when the train went off of the
proverbial rails. You see, the local authorities have been
conscripted by the federal government in a weird, Orwellian, 1984,
Big-Brother sort of way so that now the local authorities are forced
to send information directly to federal agencies. Within a few hours
I learned that something called an 'immigration hold' had been placed
on Alfonso's file, so even though he was not charged with any crime
by the local authorities and had no criminal record they were not
allowed to release him. They took my husband away in chains and put
him in a county jail. The day before I was going to have my first
visitation they moved him to a different jail. Then the day before I
was going to be allowed to visit him at the 2nd jail they transferred
him to a 3rd facility, a federal immigration facility. It was there
in San Francisco, a week after this nightmare began, that I was
finally allowed to visit my husband for the first time since the
nightmare began. Even though he is not a criminal, they brought him
in to a tiny visitation booth in handcuffs and we sat there talking
and crying until they took him away 10 minutes later.”
While Garcia's deportation has been
delayed, proceedings have not ended. An October 27 hearing has been
scheduled.