Some binational same-sex couples received good news about pending deportation orders this week, thanks partly to the Obama administration’s new policy making certain deportations low priority.
Denver immigration judge Mimi Tsankov Friday halted the deportation of Sujey Pando and scheduled a new hearing in January based on her marriage to U.S. citizen Violeta Pando, attorney Lavi Soloway reported on his Stop the Deportations blog. Sujey is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who came to the U.S. as a minor. She married longtime partner Violeta last year in Iowa, where same-sex marriage is legally recognized. They live in Denver.
“Because [Friday's] hearing was intended to be a final decision day on Sujey's deportation, the judge's action was unusual; she spent 45 minutes methodically considering the procedural posture of the case,” wrote Soloway, who is representing Sujey Pando. “In the end, the judge set aside the intended purpose of the hearing, citing developments including the Attorney General's intervention in a similar case in May ... and noted that the issues involved in this case existed in a context that was 'fluid' and 'in a state of flux.' The judge referred to events that occurred as recent as yesterday as having an impact on how to proceed. Yesterday, the [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Janet] Napolitano ordered a review of all pending deportation cases for possible closure, including those involving LGBT families.”
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Complete article at Advocate : http://bit.ly/nXmsVR
