Out4Immigration

“Most Americans—including GLBT Americans—don’t know that gays and lesbians do not have the same immigration rights that heterosexuals can obtain through marriage,” Michael Lim, vice president of Out4Immigration, said in a release. “If an American man falls in love with a woman from another country, they can get married and the foreign partner can obtain a green card as the spouse of the American. But because gay and lesbian marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships are not recognized by the U.S. federal government, we cannot sponsor our partners in the same way. This policy has affected countless thousands of gay and lesbian couples in the U.S.”

In the past 12 months, Out4Immigration has witnessed the exodus of several of its members and supporters because the couples could no longer remain together legally in the U.S. Many have left to live in one of the 19 countries with immigration laws that recognize same-sex relationships:

 
• Out4Immigration board member Hanus Jelinek is currently planning to move to Buenos Aires to be with his partner after they could not secure a visa for Jelinek’s partner to live in the U.S.
 
• San Francisco couple Tim Sally and Bernd Vey, a German citizen, have received permission from the Canadian government to relocate to British Columbia, after Vey's H1B visa expires this month.
 
• Phyllis Christopher, an established photographer and Helen Collard, a British subject, have moved to the U.K. after many years together in the U.S., when Helen’s visa ran out at the end of 2006.
 
• Chris Crain, a former editor with Washington Blade newspaper in Washington, D.C. and author of the blog Citizen Crain, has chosen to move to Rio de Janeiro to be with his Brazilian partner after two years of trying to maintain a long distance relationship.

In addition to the hard decisions and determination made by these American citizens and their partners to stay together after being denied any further options to remain in the U.S., GLBT immigrants who are HIV+ also struggle against discriminatory U.S. immigration practices. Under current U.S. law, only those who can show spouse or immediate family member support can enter or remain in the U.S.

“Again, the word ‘spouse’ can only be used by heterosexual couples, so GLBT immigrants who are HIV+ cannot use their relationship with a same-sex partner to be granted a waiver,” Lim explained. “This is particularly dangerous because these individuals often are afraid to seek medical care, or, if they are forced to leave the U.S., often return to a place where they cannot access the caliber of health care or medications they need and were receiving in the U.S., especially if they contracted the disease while living here.”

Since Out4Immigration’s inception last June, the group has done much to educate and raise awareness about the plight of same-sex binational couples and HIV+ immigrants—both living in and exiled from the U.S. The group’s members continually advocate for the passage of a bill called the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA, H.R. 2221; S. 1328) recently reintroduced in Congress. The UAFA would add the words “or permanent partner” to current U.S. immigration law everywhere the word “spouse” appears. This simple solution would effectively end the injustice suffered by more than 36,000 same-sex binational couples and countless HIV+ immigrants reportedly living in the US today.

Out4Immigration’s all-volunteer board and members choose to raise awareness through a variety of grassroots tactics such as marching in Pride parades around the country and partnering with other immigrant groups at May Day and Labor Day rallies. The group wears distinctive black t-shirts with pink broken hearts and the words “United by Love, Divided by Law” emblazoned on them. Group members pass out pertinent literature, give media interviews and hold community forums and educational events.