If Felipe Matos, an undocumented immigrant, gets a deportation order, he knows his husband could try to keep him in the U.S.
Matos, national field director of GetEQUAL, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality organization, is among the couples affected by the Department of Homeland Security’s recent announcement that would officially define same-sex couples as families for the purposes of deportation orders.
“This is allowing families to stay together,” Matos said.
The decision was announced Thursday through letters sent to some Democratic lawmakers, The New York Times reported. In it, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to classify long-term same-sex relationships as family in deportation cases.
Although the federal government doesn’t recognize legal same-sex marriages because of the Defense of Marriage Act, this written policy considers the LGBT community for the first time in federal immigration policies, Matos said.
He married his husband, Juan Rodriguez, in May.
Lauren Hannahs, director of LGBT Affairs at UF, said this is a step toward equality, but it is definitely not a win.
“The more the people see on a daily basis how discriminatory laws like this [Defense of Marriage Act] affect people’s lives day in and day out, the more the tide toward marriage equality is going to start to shift,” she said. “It’s not just about being able to throw a party. It’s about taxes. It’s about child rearing. It’s about equal protection under the law.”
This announcement influences a policy regarding deportation orders called “prosecutorial discretion,” which is a process that stops someone from being deported at the time if he or she has ties to the U.S. through family or a community, among other requirements.
The announcement adds same-sex couples under the family ties category.
While the process can keep someone from being deported, it is not a pathway to citizenship or legal immigration status.
“When a state bans marriage or when a country doesn’t allow LGBT families to be together we, can see how these laws are taking away our 14th amendment right from LGBT people in this country,” Matos said.
He said this announcement is something to celebrate in the LGBT community as a small break away from the Defense of Marriage Act.
But he said it’s something to look at cautiously and to keep an eye on to ensure it’s being enforced.
“A big part of the LGBT fight in this country is having the right to love whoever we fall in love with, and it’s unjust to separate two people who love each other dearly because of a law,” said Matos.
