Australian-born John Makk and his husband of seven years, Bradford Wells, are facing long-term separation after the Obama administration denied their petition requesting permanent U.S. citizenship.
The decision was made in accordance with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which discounts same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits. Makk, who is also his husband’s primary caregiver, has been ordered to leave the United States by August 25.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Makk and Wells worked closely with the national-gay rights organization Immigration Equality to prepare and submit the petition. After spending nearly $2,000 in filing fees, the couple received the heartbreaking news that the request had been denied and that Makk would soon be forced to leave the country. The decision stated, “The claimed relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary is not a petitionable relationship. For a relationship to qualify as a marriage for purposes of federal law, one partner must be a man and the other a woman.”
Wells, who is suffering from AIDS and relies on his husband’s care, voiced his frustration that the government recognizes the marriage of a man and woman as a viable grounds for granting citizenship, but not that of a same-sex couple. “I’m married just like any other married person in this country,” Wells said. “At this point, the government can come in and take my husband and deport him.
“It’s infuriating. It’s upsetting,” he continued. “I have no power, no right to keep my husband in this country. I love this country, I live here, I pay taxes and I have no right to share my home with the person I married.”
The couple said that they are considering filing an appeal, but fear that it would likely be declined.
In response to the decision, Immigration Equality issued a statement urging President Obama to take steps toward ending the discriminatory measure outlined by DOMA. Steve Ralls, the organization’s spokesman, stated, “We are appealing to the Obama administration to begin to put into action what they’ve said repeatedly they can do.”
Earlier this year, President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder decided that DOMA was unconstitutional, and announced that they would no longer defend it in court. But as Ralls noted, “The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have said again and again that they can exercise discretion in individual cases, but they have not done so for a single gay or lesbian couple yet.”
