Outdated Immigration Laws Cause Kids To Suffer Most

By Tim | Sunday, March 29, 2009 | 13 Comments

Thanks for visiting 8Asians, a blog about Asian American issues. If you find this interesting, subscribe to the RSS feed, visit our Facebook Page or add us on Twitter!

20090329 074508 329loveexiles gallery Outdated Immigration Laws Cause Kids To Suffer Most Supporters of Proposition 8 in California argued that it didn’t take away any rights from same sex couples, and couples could still get domestic partnerships. This was of course little comfort to the 18,000+ couples that already married in California after the California Supreme Court made same sex marriages legal in 2008. While same sex marriage in California didn’t provide the ability for same sex partners to sponsor a spouse for immigration to the United States, there was hope it would bring that possibility one step closer to reality. This week that hope faded for one California Bay Area couple. Jay Mercado and her partner Shirley Tan were informed that Shirley would be deported on April 3, separating her from her partner of 23 years and their 12 year old twin boys. It wasn’t due to lack of trying on their part. The couple had started petitioning for Shirley, a citizen of the Philippines, to stay in the U.S. in 1995, and had married under California’s short-lived summer of marriage, but without same sex marriage recognition under federal law, the U.S. government ordered Shirley’s deportation.

It’s tragic enough a couple of 23 years is going to be split apart, but I can’t even imagine how it’s affecting their 12 year old twin boys who have known Jay and Shirley as their two parents for their entire lives. Congress is considering changing immigration laws to allow “permanent partners” apply for residency, but it’s too late for this couple, and it still faces an uphill battle before it becomes law.

If you can’t tell, I’m an avid supporter of same sex marriage, and not only because of immigration rights. I’m in a same sex marriage with my partner of seven years and we have a daughter that we brought into the world together who is fast approaching four years of age. Our own status is in limbo with Proposition 8, but even without it, I have plenty to worry about.

Every time my partner goes on a trip with our daughter, I wonder if they’ll get harassed at the airport, if they’ll even be able to get on the airplane together. We have yet to take our daughter on an international trip, but already I wonder if we’ll be able to make it back into the United States. In an attempt to reduce travel hassles, I make them travel with a copy of our daughter’s birth certificate, which lists me as the father, and my partner Lars as the mother (in California, surrogacy allows same sex parents to be the “parents of record” on the birth certificate, but unfortunately the certificate itself is a bit outdated).

Under current U.S. law, you cannot take a minor outside the U.S. without the consent of both parents. International travel is actually easier if only one of us travels with our daughter, as that parent can carry a notarized page from the other stating it was okay for the two to travel outside the U.S. I know of another gay couple who are both legally the parents of their kids, and on coming into the U.S. from Mexico were repeatedly harassed by the immigration personnel asking the two women, where the “father” of the children was. In the end they got back in the U.S., but you have to wonder what their kids thought through the entire ordeal. Because of harassment like this, I’ve even heard it recommended that if you travel as a family, that you go through customs separately, one parent with a notarized letter with the child/children, and the other parent by themselves.

Updated immigration laws to recognize same sex relationships wouldn’t solve these problems by itself, but it would help establish equal recognition, and perhaps reduce cases like Shirley and Jay’s, where no one has argued, it’s the children who have suffered the most from outdated laws.

Categories:

Current EventsDiscriminationFamilyLGBT

NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.

If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."

Facebook Comments (Beta)

http://mommatoldme.wordpress.com Kevin

Another disturbing facet of Proposition 8. It really is a frustrating that many who supported Prop 8 simply see it as an issue involving the legal definition of “marriage” and not the many legal issues involving couples who only have domestic partnerships. Ironic that many voted yes based on the principle of supporting “strong values” and “morals.” This story shows the contrary.

Thanks for sharing.
http://deleted daniel

^^ those who preach the loudest about “morality” are always the most rotten
http://bobbruman.com bob bruman

Thank you Tim for this great article…I am passing it on to friends and opponents alike. Yours, The Gay Grandpa
Celine T.

Thank you, Tim for sharing.
This story and your personal experiences breaks my heart.
I feel for you and hope that when it’s my turn to settle down, that I’ll have the same courage and strength to fend for my own family.
Pingback: Outdated Immigration Laws Break Up Families : Steve and Don’s Life of Gorgeousness
Don

Thank you for sharing your story and showing another way in which laws like Prop 8 discriminate against the GLBT community. As indicated, bi-national same sex couples are at a disadvantage because they can not sponsor their partners for immigration into the US. Many citizens must make the painful decision of either leaving his/her loved one or leaving the US. I have been living outside the US for about 11 years now. My partner and I are both IT specialist and could be making useful contributions in the US. Instead, our talents now benefit the country we live in and not the US.
Pingback: 8Asians.com » Act of Congress Allows Mom to Stay
Pingback: 8Asians.com » Shirley Tan: Advocate Person of the Year

8 Asians