Over the past two weeks, the deportation order against Henry Velandia has brought immigration to the forefront of national LGBT politics. Velandia, from Venezuela, legally married American citizen Josh Vandiver in Connecticut in 2010. Unlike an opposite-sex spouse, he is unable to apply for a green card because the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.
For the moment, a legal decision by the Justice Department in another immigration case has given Velandia a reprieve. Still, liberal pundits discuss the case as the most recent example of how President Obama has neglected the LGBT community.
Surely the status of binational LGBT couples needs to be addressed, either by the legislative or judicial demise of DOMA, or by passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). But can we please dispense with the notion that the LGBT community is the forgotten stepchild of the Obama administration, particularly where immigration is concerned? That distinction falls squarely on the Latino community.
In year one, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the first federal legislation to ever protect Americans based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In year two, he signed legislation to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. This year, he stopped defending part of DOMA in court.
In the same time span, there have been no major legislative or policy victories on Latino issues. Despite a promise to push for immigration reform in his first year in office, the issue remains unaddressed. Deportations are up, not down. When DADT repeal was kept on life support until it passed in the lame duck Congress of 2010, the DREAM Act was left to die. It needs to be resurrected, and it would be wise for the LGBT community to help.
The DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act provides a pathway to residency for immigrants who arrived here as children or young adults. It’s not amnesty. Amnesty is a group pardon for people who did something wrong. The children and young adults targeted by the DREAM Act did nothing wrong.
Undocumented? Yes. Illegal? Not by a long shot.
Beyond the fact that acts are illegal, not people, all the DREAM Act children did was follow their parents lead. Should they have said, “No, I’m staying!” at age 2? That rarely works at an age when parents can pick you up and put you in the car.
If these Americans had the protections of citizenship, they probably couldn’t be convicted of an illegal border crossing because they lacked the mental capacity to commit a crime. Make no mistake, the people helped by the DREAM Act are Americans. Many haven’t been to another country in their memory, and would find their birth nation as foreign as you would find the home of your distant ancestors. Should they have gone “home” at 18? To deny them residency is to punish them for an alleged sin of their parents, something America otherwise rejected at its inception.
Immigration reform remains a complex issue filled with political landmines. The U.S.’s long term economic health will require immigrant labor to make-up for a declining birth rate, but the short term cost of entitlements are less clear. National Security may require better border control and documentation, but it is not clear that a fence is the answer, much less why one is only needed on the Southern border. While we figure out these details, we ought to be able to agree that we won’t punish children who have done nothing wrong.
The LGBT Community should get behind the DREAM Act because it’s the right thing to do. For those who still need the political argument, here it is: we need Latinos to support our issues and our candidates, including President Obama.
In 2008, he won 67 percent of the Latino vote, cruising to victory with coattails that elected a Democratic House and Senate with a filibuster-proof majority. In 2010, Democrats won only 60 percent of the Latino vote, leading to historic losses. If we can’t help President Obama improve on that number, he can’t win in 2012. Whatever you think of the current rate of LGBT political progress, it will be slower or reversed under President Romney, Huckabee or Pawlenty.
Last week, President Obama refused to release pictures of the death of Osama bin Laden, noting, “That is not who we are … we don’t trot out this stuff as trophies.” The Statue of Liberty, perhaps our greatest American trophy, says “Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The DREAM Act children weren’t necessarily yearning for more than to be with their parents. Let’s stop deporting them. It’s not who we are.
I think you are incorrect about when you write: “In 2008, he won … Senate with a filibuster-proof majority.” IIRC, the lack of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, is why we didn’t get universal health care and many other things.
the dream act is wrong and should not pass. everyone wants to say that the kids did nothing wrong, fair enough but the parents most certainly did break the law and should not be rewarded but supporters of the dream act also support the law breaking parents.
Joe…quit contradicting yourself.
“the dream act is wrong and should not pass. everyone wants to say that the kids did nothing wrong, fair enough…”
END IT RIGHT THERE. You yourself say “fair enough”…in that the kids did nothing wrong. You’re acknowledging the Dream Act and giving it credence.
The parents aren’t going to be rewarded with an “easy citizenship pass.” You should try reading the actual Dream Act before rushing to judgement as many knuckleheads already have done.
But you know what? You may want to keep on rushing to judgement and overlooking the specifics. That’s actually what lead to the FALSE “this is amnesty” and “rewarding bad behavior” mantras that the GOP pushed and eventually won with.
Won not with truths, but rather exaggerations and fear mongering.
“but supporters of the dream act also support the law breaking parents.”
That’s your opinion. It’s quite stupid and incorrect…but it’s yours.
I, obviously, support the Dream Act as a U.S. citizen. And at the same time believe it’s a BAD IDEA for immigrants (not just from Mexico but anywhere) to just come through the country without proper documentation…or at least a sound plan in place for legalization.
So how the fugg am I supporting law breaking?
As a queer undocumented student, I appreciate you defending DREAM Act, and UAFA, but we must expand on the thought that undocumented youth are not to blame for coming into the U.S. without proper documentation. I don’t blame my parents for bringing me here. They are not the ones who are responsible for making a very difficult decision. They loved their birth country. It is the laws that exist both in this country and in other countries that forced them to immigrate and leave their families, friends and what used to be their home.