Fed deportation decision may benefit SF gay couple

[marmar]

from the San Francisco Chronicle:



Washington -- A San Francisco gay couple facing the threat of deportation may obtain relief through a surprise decision by the Obama administration to consider same-sex marriage when deciding whom to deport.

Bradford Wells, 55, a U.S. citizen, and Anthony John Makk, 48, a citizen of Australia, have resided in the Castro district for much of their 19-year relationship. They were married in Massachusetts seven years ago, but a series of visas Makk had used to remain legally in the United States expires by Aug. 25.

The administration's new policy, announced Thursday, calls for reviewing on a case-by-case basis each of more than 300,000 pending deportations to determine which cases to pursue and which to ignore on the basis of family relationships, criminal history and other factors.

A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security who requested that he not be identified said gay and lesbian couples are included in the definition of family. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/19/MNTN1KPJ57.DTL#ixzz1VZeR9w4t