On November 4th, Congressman Michael Honda (CA-15) hosted an official briefing in Washington D.C regarding the struggles that same sex binational couples endure due to unequal immigration policies.
In Congressman Honda’s opening statements he spoke fervently about his first hand understanding from experience of being the target of discrimination in America as a Japanese American during World War 2.
“As a person who was separated from family members in internment camps during my childhood, I never want anyone to be torn apart from their loved ones just on the basis of who they are.”
Congressman Honda, author of Reuniting Families Act (RFA) and co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), and his staff member Frances Marquez, provided the opportunity for four same sex binational couples to come to Washington D.C to share their stories and to express the urgency for the need to change the current law which prohibits an American citizen in a same sex relationship or marriage from sponsoring their foreign born partner or spouse for immigration.
The Reuniting Families Act and Uniting American Families Act would authorize same-sex couples equal immigration rights that are currently allowed to heterosexual binational couples, allowing American citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners.
Honda expressed his support by saying,
“I proudly sponsored the Reuniting Families Act because it not only reunites same-sex couples, but also protects the civil rights of LGBTQ individuals and ensures that they are treated equitably through comprehensive immigration reform.”
The four couples who spoke at the briefing told of their individual hardships and fears that they are currently living under due to the discriminating immigration law which refuses to recognize their relationships and marriages.
Judy Rickard, of San Jose, California and her wife Karen Bogliolo, from the United Kingdom, detailed how they live under an uncertainty and the fear of being separated at any point as Karen’s immigration visa status is currently being under review for a possible extension. The extension could be ultimately denied which would mean Karen would have to leave the United States, her wife and the life they have created here.
John Beddingfield, an Episcopal priest and his husband Erwin de Leon, a doctoral student from the Philippines, also spoke about how the fear of separation looms over them both. In 2012, the student visa which Erwin is authorized to reside in the United States under will expire and the prospect of obtaining an employer who will provide a work visa weighs heavily on the minds of the couple. Their pain could be felt directly throughout the audience as Erwin struggled to fight back the tears of sharing his difficult story.
The third couple who spoke shared the heartbreaking sentiments of all of the previous couples. Carmen Gilotte, a U.S. citizen, and his husband Astor Fonseca, a civilian employee for the Brazilian military described their dedication to each other and their determination to continue to fight for equality in the United States.
The fourth speaker, Gina Caprio, an American citizen who is currently being forced to live apart from her British born partner bravely spoke about the situation that all same sex binational couples dread. Gina, a volunteer with the grassroots organization Out4Immigration, presented the reality of what life is like for so many same sex binational couples who are separated from the person they love and expressed the importance of educating the public about the emotional, physical and financial hardships that the United States places on its LGBTQ citizens. She also spoke about her recent travels to the United Kingdom where she went to temporarily be reunited with her partner but was refused entry into the county without explanation and was returned to the United States the next day.
“Often people say why don’t you just move to the country your partner is from? I say it’s not always that simple. I can’t change the laws in another country but I can speak out to change the way things are here in America, the land of the free”
After the emotional testimonies of the four couples, the audience of almost thirty Congressional staffers, were presented a heartbreaking video created by another same sex binational couple who are living apart and who are desperately trying to bring public awareness of this issue. In the video, IngerKnudson read aloud a letter addressed to President Obama detailing how U.S policy has had devastating consequences placed on her and Phillipa, her British born wife and their young child.
The letter read:
“My partner and I have an 11 year old daughter who just wants to live and grow up with BOTH her parents who love her. How do I or you or anyone else tell her that her family isn't the right kind? That the American Dream and Land of Opportunity is only for the "right sort of person" that we are not good enough or entitled to be happy and whole and together because of people who have never met us have decided that we don't deserve to have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness even though we've never done anything wrong, amoral or illegal. How do you do that and then look at your own family and feel justified. The stress of being away from the person we love takes a terrible toll on us mentally, physically, emotionally and last but not least, financially. We are now living hand to mouth because of the financial burden DOMA has placed on us. All I want is to put my family together, live, love, work and raise our daughter to be the best person...the best American...she can be. But I am not, by law, allowed to do that. Please tell me why?”
The briefing which lasted over an hour remains an enormous step in asserting the need for LGBTQ equality when it comes to immigration reform and hopefully this will open the door to more discussions ultimately leading to a change and an end to the discrimination same sex binational couples currently face.
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