US immigration and marriage laws leave same sex couples in limbo

As reported by Myrtle Beach, tens of thousands of gay couples in the United States currently face the threat of separation due to federal law prohibiting immigration officials from handling them the same as heterosexual married couples.

In a country where emotions run deep on same-sex marriage and immigration, the foreign-born gay partners and spouses of Americans are in a legal limbo: According to the US government, the couples are neither legally married nor are they US citizens.

It is a financial and emotional burden, as these same-sex couples cannot leave the US to see friends and relatives for fear they will not be allowed back in. They also might not be permitted to work or obtain loans to pay for university. If they are deported, they can also be barred from returning to the United States.

Frederic Deloizy, a French native who is raising four kids with his US husband in Pennsylvania, call it “dehumanising”. He said people in this situation feel less than human, they are merely living in the United States and they are not permitted to do anything else.

On the contrary, American citizens who marry foreign nationals of the opposite sex are allowed to apply for green cards for their spouses to stay in the US, and eventually become an American citizen. However, this process is not available to nearly 28,500 same-sex couples.