DHS, July 2, 2024 "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Council on Combating Gender-Based Violence (CCGBV) has two announcements to share with you. Building on DHS’s commitment to improving...
CMS, July 5, 2024 "President Biden’s recent decision to extend parole-in-place to the undocumented spouses of US citizens who entered the country without inspection is a significant first...
DHS OIG, July 3, 2024 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not adjudicate affirmative asylum applications in a timely manner to meet statutory timelines and to reduce its existing...
Miliyon Ethiopis, July 8, 2024 "I feel like I have been born again, after a U.S. immigration court made a remarkable ruling in my “statelessness” case in June . I hope that my case will...
Identical DHS and DOS media notes are here and here . Media coverage here , here , here , here , here and here . The intent is to curtail irregular migration through the Darién Gap . [I have...
"A lesbian couple is appealing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's decision to deny a spousal green card as questions about their marriage loom with threat of deportation. Dummerston residents Frances Herbert and Japanese-born Takako Ueda, legally married in Vermont earlier this year, were denied a green card on Dec. 1 because the couple's nuptials are not recognized at the federal level. And without a visa or authorized documentation, immigrant officials could send Ueda back to Japan by the end of the year after more than a decade with Herbert. The decision leaves Ueda without lawful immigration status. In a letter from the citizenship department, Herbert's petition for alien relative was denied because the Immigration Nationality Act does not specifically define the term "spouse" with respect to gender. However, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, trumping Vermont law and voiding the Dummerston couple's eligibility. "The DOMA applies as a matter of federal law whether or not your marriage is recognized under state law," the document reads. "Your spouse is not a person of the opposite sex. Therefore, under the DOMA, your petition must be denied."" - Brattleboro Reformer, Dec. 21, 2011.