Immigration Equality Praises Obama Administration for New, Written ...

For Immediate Release
September 28, 2012

Contact:? Steve Ralls
(202) 347-7007 / sralls@immigrationequality.org

Immigration Equality Praises Obama Administration for New, Written Guidance Providing Discretionary Relief to Lesbian & Gay Immigrant Families

Extension of Prosecutorial Discretion Follows Calls for Relief from Congressional Leaders

Washington, DC ?Immigration Equality today praised the Obama Administration, and specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for new, written guidance that will extend discretionary relief to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses and partners. The new written directive, which was announced in response to a Congressional letter spearheaded by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), marks one of the very first times LGBT families have been recognized within federal immigration policies. The guidelines, which are expected to be distributed soon to field offices across the country, will instruct officers and field agents to recognize LGBT families for purposes of relief as defined by a June 2011 memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton.

?This is a huge step forward,? said Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality. ?Until now, LGBT families and their lawyers had nothing to rely on but an oral promise that prosecutorial discretion would include all families. Today, DHS has responded to Congress and made that promise real. The Administration?s written guidance will help families facing separation and the field officers who are reviewing their cases.?

In the June 2011 memo from Director Morton, the Department of Homeland Security spelled out factors ICE officers should consider when deciding which immigration cases are classified as ?low priority? for removal. Those guidelines included family ties to a U.S. citizen. DHS stated verbally in August of last year that it intended for the ?family? guidelines to be LGBT-inclusive, but it had not previously distributed written guidance codifying that intent to field offices.? In a letter yesterday to the 84 Members of Congress who demanded written guidelines, the Administration said it intends to do so.

?In an effort to make clear the definition of the phrase ?family relationships,? I have directed ICE to disseminate written guidance to the field that the interpretation of the phrase ?family relationships? includes long-term, same-sex partners,? Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wrote.

?The new guidelines will put in writing a commitment the Administration has expressed over the past year,? said Tiven. ?Now, the courts and Congress should act to make relief permanent, and provide access to green cards for all LGBT families.?

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Immigration Equality is a national organization fighting for equality under U.S. immigration law for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV-positive individuals.

Source: http://www.immigrationequality.org/2012/09/immigration-equality-praises-obama-administration-for-new-written-guidance-providing-discretionary-relief-to-lgbt-immigrant-families/

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