I am gay man and an American citizen. For the last four years I’ve been with J, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. I feel bad that I have to stress that he is not a bad person, has a job, and has never committed a crime. At this point in our national discussion on illegal immigration, we have such a distorted image of what an undocumented immigrant is. We start out by calling him an illegal, instead of an undocumented immigrant. That is what many people automatically believe about illegal immigrants; that they ARE illegal. Some believe that they are coming into this country specifically to commit as much crimes as they can get away with while they are here, and that they are a drain on our system. They argue that if you came here illegally, you then base your life on an illegal action, and everything you do after that is therefore illegal. Being undocumented, in fact, is not a criminal offense, but a civil one.
We live together. We are in love and want to spend the rest of our lives together. I knew that this issue was ours to deal with from the beginning, but now that our relationship has grown much more serious, I would like to find a way somehow for him to become a US citizen, but there doesn’t seem to be any solution anytime soon. I’m angry that there are at least 16 other countries that would allow a same sex couple to marry each other for immigration purposes. Why the big hang up in the US?
Both Democratic presidential candidates have promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, and say that they would offer a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as part of immigration reform, but I feel that immigration reform is not a high priority for any of the presidential candidates.
I feel like there really isn't much sympathy or empathy for us in either the gay community or the immigrant rights community. Thank you for listening.
D
Seattle
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Even once they do allow same sex marriage, and in reaction, immigration based on that marriage, you are going to be very surprised at how difficult--if at all possible--it will be to obtain documentation even through a marriage. The fight for recognition of the marriage will pale in comparison to the waiver fight.
Crys
VA
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