The Obama administration on Tuesday
dashed the hopes of gay Americans with spouses from abroad when it
reiterated that it would continue to enforce the Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA), making such spouses ineligible for U.S. citizenship based
on marriage.
Gay immigration groups on Monday
cheered the news that Citizenship and Immigration Services, the
federal agency that determines immigration status, had decided to put
cases involving the foreign partners of gay U.S. citizens on hold
until the constitutionality of DOMA, the Clinton-era law that bans
federal recognition of the marriages of gay and lesbian couples, is
determined.
Rachel B. Tiven, the executive director
of Immigration Equality, called the news “a sign that relief is
finally on the way.”
Tiven said in a statement that the
agency's announcement that it was holding such cases in “abeyance
while awaiting final guidance” meant that foreigners married to gay
Americans could now apply for green cards and their cases would be
suspended until DOMA's status was decided – possibly years –
instead of being automatically denied.
But the celebration was quickly doused
on Tuesday with a new statement, in which Citizenship and Immigration
Services said it “had not implemented any change in policy and
intends to follow the president's directive to continue enforcing the
law.”
Saying that he believed parts of the
marriage act are unconstitutional, President Obama announced in
February that his administration would no longer defend the law in
court, but added that the federal government would continue its
enforcement.
A Citizenship and Immigration Services
spokesman said that the agency would continue to deny the immigration
status of married gay foreigners.