nothin Law Pushes Married Lesbian Couple Out Of U.S. | New Haven Independent

Law Pushes Married Lesbian Couple Out Of U.S.

Melissa Bailey Photo

After falling in love and marrying, Francesca Martin and Gudrun Scheffler find themselves at risk of being torn apart: When Scheffler’s work visa expires in September, they will be forced to separate or leave the country, because the federal government refuses to recognize their union.

Scheffler, who hails from Germany, and Martin, a U.S. citizen, got married in Connecticut in 2009. They have been together for 12 years.

They are among an estimated 36,000 same-sex couples nationwide who face expulsion because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The 1996 law, which President Obama recently criticized as unconstitutional, defines marriage exclusively as between a man and woman. A lesser-noticed section of the law prevents U.S. citizens from sponsoring their same-sex spouses for green cards, even if their marriage is recognized by their state.

The couple shared their story in their Westville apartment Thursday. They said they don’t want to leave New Haven or the country they love — and are hoping for a legal change that would prevent them from fleeing to Canada.

Martin, who grew up in New Jersey, has lived in New Haven for 28 years. She works as a consultant to agencies fighting homelessness.

Some 12 years ago, Scheffler visited the States for her 40th birthday party. She and Martin hit it off.

The pair struck up a relationship, kept alive across the ocean through letters and phone calls. In 2002, they found a way to reunite: Scheffler, who taught German in Germany, arrived on a student visa and enrolled at Southern Connecticut State University to earn her teaching certificate.

Scheffler became a German teacher in the Cheshire public school system in 2005. She got a three-year H1‑B work visa in 2006.

Contributed Photo

In 2009, after Connecticut became the third state in the union to allow gay marriage, the couple tied the knot. They celebrated with a wedding party (pictured) the next year, combining family from Germany and New Jersey.

Scheffler was able to extend her stay by renewing her work visa for a second three-year period. As the Sept. 5, 2012 visa expiration date drew closer, they looked around for a permanent solution to keep them together. They got a free consultation from lawyers with Immigration Equality, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigrants.

They found they had exhausted all their options.

To keep working in the U.S., Scheffler would have to prove that no other American is fit to do the same job — a threshold they thought would be hard to meet. They had already spent $20,000 on lawyers and fees for Scheffler’s prior visas, as well as other costs related to her status in the U.S. Filing another application would cost thousands more.

So Scheffler gave notice at the Cheshire public school system, where she taught middle and high school for seven years. She said ending the school year was difficult. She said goodbye to students, to staff who had become friends for life.”

You’re here, you pay taxes,” they told her; why should you have to go?

It doesn’t make sense. It talks of the impossibility of the situation,” Scheffler said.

Contributed Photo

The couple during a visit to Vancouver, their expected new home.

The couple is now preparing to permanently relocate to Vancouver, Canada. Scheffler plans to start from scratch to become a teacher in a third nation; she intends to return to school to gain a certificate in teaching English as a second language. If she gets established as a teacher in Canada, Martin could then follow. Canada is one of over 25 nations that offer residency for lesbian and gay partners, according to Immigration Equality.

Scheffler’s situation underscores a really stark reality” for binational couples across the U.S., said Steve Ralls, director of communications for Immigration Equality. Nationwide, about 36,000 couples face the same fate, according to an analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data.

Like Martin and Scheffler, who are 56 and 52 years old, these couples tend to be in mature relationships, according to Ralls’ group. Nearly half of them are raising children.

Like Martin, many face the prospect of being separated from elderly parents or relatives. Martin and her sister have been caring for their 92-year-old father; she worries about who’ll take care of him if she needs to leave the country to be with her wife.

The 36,000 figure does not include couples that have already fled to other countries, Ralls said.

Martin said leaving New Haven, her home of 28 years, would be very hard.

I’ve been here for a really long time,” she said. As September approaches, and the reality becomes more concrete, it becomes harder.” It’s hardest, she said, because the reasons for leaving have not been my choosing.”

Martin said the whole process has been disheartening. She hails from an immigrant family: Her mother’s mom came to the U.S. from Cape Verde.

As an American citizen,” she said, I grew up thinking that there was a pathway for people coming here.” The 80 to 90 percent of the U.S. population that is heterosexual is afforded that option when they fall in love with a foreign national, she noted. But because of the nature of our relationship, that’s not available to us.”

This is a social justice issue. This is an issue of civil rights,” Martin said.

We’ve been together for 12 years,” said Scheffler. It’s just not right.”

The couple is holding out hope that Washington will come up with a solution to save them from separation or expatriation.

DOMA Decision Looms

Advocates are pursuing three avenues — judicial, legislative and executive — that may help them in the long run.

One is a bill called the Uniting American Families Act, introduced in April 2011. The bill would not overturn the Defense of Marriage Act or redefine marriage. It would allow U.S. citizens to sponsor their same-sex, permanent partners for residency. The bill includes tough repercussions: Couples would face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for fraud. And, to avoid a strain on the public welfare system, the American partner would have to commit to financially support their foreign national spouse for 10 years, even if they break up.

Ralls conceded that the bill isn’t likely to pass soon. The current congressional environment makes it tough to move immigration bills” or gay rights bills forward, he said, but advocates continue to push legislators to sign on. The House bill has 138 cosponsors, including all five U.S. Representatives from Connecticut. Connecticut U.S. Sen. Blumenthal has signed on as a cosponsor to the Senate bill. Scheffler and Martin recently met with Lieberman’s staff to urge the senator to sign on; he has not yet done so. A Lieberman spokesman said Thursday he is still reviewing” the issue.

A second option lies in court. Gay rights advocates hope the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, especially since Obama’s landmark reversal last year, when he announced the Department of Justice considers the law unconstitutional and will cease to defend it in court.

In April, Immigration Equality filed suit in federal court on behalf of five lesbian and gay couples, including one from Connecticut. The suit charges that the couples’ constitutional right to equal protection is violated by Section 3 of DOMA, which prevents U.S. citizens from sponsoring their same-sex spouses for green cards. That case may be put on hold until the Supreme Court addresses the matter, Ralls said. The highest court has three requests to settle cases challenging DOMA; the court is expected to announce in October whether it will take one of them up. If the justices take a case, oral arguments could take place early next year, with a decision issued by June 2013.

If the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA entirely, or the part that says the federal government can’t recognize state marriages, that would send relief to couples like Scheffler and Martin. They could see a resolution to their troubles in the next year.

In the meantime, advocates are pressing for a third, interim fix: An administrative move that would enable gay couples to stay in the country until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews DOMA. Right now, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rejects green card applications from same-sex spouses of U.S. citizens. Gay rights advocates are calling for a policy of abeyance,” which would allow the government to hold” those applications, which would allow couples to stay in the country indefinitely. Sen. Blumenthal has called for that temporary solution in general, and in the case of a lesbian couple from Newtown—read about that here.

The quick fix would provide immediate relief to couples that are married and are facing separation or exile,” said Immigration Equality’s Ralls. Given short timeline” in which DOMA will be upheld or overturned, it just makes sense not to tear couples apart for the sake of the next 11 months.”

He said that’s Scheffler and Martin’s best bet to avoid separation. He said his group gave them free legal advice and concluded they have no recourse under current law.

Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot we can do for them right now,” Ralls said.

Chris Bentley, press secretary of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS), stated in an email message that the government is holding its course for now.

Pursuant to the Attorney General’s guidance, the Defense of Marriage Act remains in effect and the Executive Branch, including DHS and USCIS, will continue to enforce it unless and until Congress repeals it or there is a final judicial determination that it is unconstitutional,” Bentley reported.

Martin, however, remained optimistic. She said attitudes towards gays and lesbians are already improving; she’s hopeful that federal law will become more inclusive.

I believe that this is a country that grows and changes,” she said. 

As the clock ticks on her wife’s visa, she’s remaining hopeful the couple will find a way to stay.

I’ve not yet let go of these roots and relationships” in New Haven, she said. This is my home. This is my country. I love this place.”

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