LGBT Rights Are Immigrant Rights

categories: Advocacy and Activism, Immigration Law

Published August 11, 2009 @ 08:18PM PT

I am blogging from a Motel 6 outside of Pittsburgh tonight in advance of the New Organizing Institute's pre-Netroots Nation blogger summit tomorrow on online advocacy and the intersection of immigration/LGBT issues. It looks to be a good group of bloggers and activists in attendance.

As I have learned through my immigration legal work over the past few years, LGBT immigrants tend to fall through the cracks of the immigration system much more frequently than hetero immigrants. Many of the available immigration remedies and defenses against deportation are predicated on traditional hetero nuclear family relationships. Under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal government is bound by law not to recognize gay families for the purpose of legal obligations or benefits, and immigration is almost entirely a federal body of law. LGBT asylum law has come a long way since the '90s, but still leaves too many in the shadows. A while back, I had the unpleasant experience of advising a gay would-be asylum seeker that his chances of experiencing the thing he feared most--deportation to his homophobic home country--would actually significantly increase if he applied for asylum.

The first U.S. immigration case I ever worked on was a pro bono asylum case during my first year as an associate attorney at a corporate firm in New York. The basis for the claim was my client's transgender identity. Her predicament opened my eyes to the struggles undocumented immigrants face, but also to the harassment and persecution that trans people endure right here in the States. At one point in the course of representing her, I had my first "Oh my god, I can't believe I am in the United States" moment that every nonprofit immigration attorney has experienced. I was horrified.

Getting recognized legal status didn't solve my client's problems in getting decent health care, a place to live free from harassment, an employer that would hire her, or law enforcement that offered her protection. The immigration judge believed my client would be attacked or killed in her home country on the basis of her gender and sexual orientation--I firmly believed it as well. But what was not discussed at any hearing or in discussions with opposing counsel was the risk of serious injury or death that trans people face in the U.S. as victims of hate crimes.

I hope tomorrow's NOI meeting advances the conversation about LGBT rights and immigrant rights, two areas in which the U.S. falls far short of its stated ideals.

(I'll take this opportunity to make a pitch for readers to support the excellent work Immigration Equality continues to do on LGBT immigrants' rights. Thanks to their efforts, the HIV travel/immigration ban is entering its final days.)

[Image: murder victim Angie Zapata]

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Comments (10)

Thank you for your great advocacy work on behalf of gay and transgendered peoples, Dave. The story of your first client makes it all the more powerful. I hope you have a great time at the bloggers summit, and come back with stories to tell. :-)

Posted by a d on 08/12/2009 @ 12:40PM PT
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Immigration spills over into so many issues: Healthcare, housing, lgbt relations, environment, education, crime, prisons, transportation. That's why we need reform; because we can't solve these issues, without solving the immigration issue.

Posted by Kurt Thialfad on 08/12/2009 @ 07:42PM PT
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"come back with stories to tell"

ana lisa, that's choice! If he went to Mexico with me he'd write a friggin book when we got back. dOh, by the way, my main man is going to get me some web sites, including the one resort we visited with 5 swimming pools, hundreds of hostel beds, a motel, a river, beautiful restaurant, even a petting zoo next door. Only problem, hardly any guests. same thing for several museums we visited, kept the lights off- seriously, and the Zapata museum- shut down. Visit my web site for details. A few assassinations the last week of so, we'll have to keep our heads down if I get that group together. Real nice country, I've been thinkin we ought to boycott it.

Posted by Gary Stein on 08/12/2009 @ 07:56PM PT
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Ay Gary, what am I going to do with you?? Here's a video for you from the divine Nezua:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2edQAGkjfw&feature=PlayList&p=8753A717FE8DB738&index=9

Let's hope this clues you in a bit.

Posted by a d on 08/13/2009 @ 02:58PM PT
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here's an indication why we're all so busy we skim each others comments sometimes. missed seeing you had a link to you tube; my favorite escape from reality. tried loading but it took too long, have to go to Trenton and hand in my 500 word essay that is due today! look at the time. then didn't see that you said "what am i going to do with you?" i love it. that's exactly what my friend Don Rubinstein, 72 years old and the toughest and funniest guy I know says all the time to me. used that line to start a diary in the Daily Kos in the days before I was banned. let me know you're still alive and I'll get you the URL. those people, and are they clever, used to have me for lunch (separate that from the fact that they're mostly wacky politically speaking, and the fact that I'm responding in real time to 6 and 7 people at a time..

did you know I'm trying to have a dialogue in the gay part of this blog. no i'm not gay, trying to get there ideas on boycotts, what else. talked to owner of Mex. rest. just like said I should. did you see other thread in Gitmo story. try to keep up, never mind whatever else you got going in your life. my friggin life is on hold!

try not to post same you tube twice, the gays got another from this same artist. got to get to TRenton right away, haven't even looked at second URL Beto text me last night of the caves in a Mex. national park we went to, if they had equiv. in US I'd be amazed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIWkRAw5feE&feature=related

no time to call all the numbers on behalf of Herta, will do tomorrow, already told dave that. see you

Posted by Gary Stein on 08/17/2009 @ 05:39AM PT
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wrong word "separate" that's the problem with spell check

Posted by Gary Stein on 08/17/2009 @ 05:41AM PT
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What a double whammy - to be gay and to be an undocumented immigrant. And, I can see this as another reason for the religious right to oppose gay marriage; because it would give gay immigrants another way to get into this country, and "corrupt" the morals of the natives.

The unfortunate thing is that there are many countries that are more prejudiced against gays than the U.S. is and religions, such as Islam, which have a greater percentage of fundamentalists who are anti-gay than Christians do.

I am in favor of both gay marriage and granting asylum to gay individuals who emigrate from repressive regimes with anti gay agendas. But, for the religious right to gain some compassion regarding the plight of gays who live in repressive countries and the need for some to get asylum, I recommend a movie about the predominantly gay artistic community in Cuba during the revolution called "Before Night Falls."

Posted by Andrew Heugel on 08/16/2009 @ 06:28PM PT
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Andrew didn't you get the same e-mail I got to go to the story about the Tim Horton restaurant chain in Canada. It's in the gay rights blog. Never one to miss an opening, naturally I introduced myself there in my usual way. Judging by the first comment I got back, there going to be a tough crowd.

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/urge_tim_hortons_to_stop_supporting_anti-lgbt_group

tried to explain to the gays my boycott idea.

want to ask all the people here who I know on immigration blog what they think of another idea of mine. thinking that if I double up on genius I have a better shot of breaking out. thinking of putting early idea on subject on the Gitmo blog since that was where all the action was. you should get an e-mail.

Posted by Gary Stein on 08/16/2009 @ 07:04PM PT
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In a way I am glad to read this.

I have been in America for 17+ years and in a relationship for the same amount of time.

During that time I have earned 2 AS degrees, 2 BS degrees and 1 MS degree. Last year, up until August this year, I tried to get hired without success. Part of it is due to the recession, part of it is because I am here on a student visa (a great way to get into this country, but impossible to get off that visa), and the new employee needs to apply for a work visa for me. Apparently they do not want to do that. Now I applied for another MS degree - if I do not get accepted I may get deported. After 17 YEARS with my soul-mate. I am so crying inside.

Posted by P. Tellekamp on 08/17/2009 @ 10:43AM PT
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PT;

I guess I have to ask the obvious. How are you able to stay here for so long. while paying for school and not earning any money?

Posted by Wire Paladin on 08/17/2009 @ 11:50AM PT
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David is an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, where he helps immigrants to the U.S. navigate the complex immigration legal system. Views he expresses at change.org are his alone and don't represent the views or opinions of his employer, Nationalities Service Center. The information contained on this site is intended for educational and advocacy purposes only.