Gay Married Couple to be Split Up by Deportation
A gay couple who have taken part in a same-sex marriage ceremony are being told they may soon have to separate because one of them has been denied an application fo a I-130 Visa.
After continuous attempts to gain permanent resident status, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services denied Anthony Makk's application for a I-130 visa, stating that due to constraints of the Defense of Marriage Act, the couple cannot use their marriage as a basis for Makk's residency.
Makk, a native of Australia married Bradford Wells seven years ago in Massachusetts. Since then he argues that he has started a business employing others, and has invested in real estate in order to fulfill visa requirements.
However, under DOMA, the I-130 visa, which grants residency status to foreigners who are married to American citizens does not recognize same-sex marriages and denies benefits to same-sex couples.
"The claimed relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary is not a petitionable relationship," the ruling said. "For a relationship to qualify as a marriage for purposes of federal law, one partner must be a man and the other a woman."
Makk has said he is concerned that if they are split up no one will be around to take care of Wells, who has AIDS.
They have appealed to the Obama Administration to mediate, and in the past both Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have expressed their beliefs that as it stands DOMA is unconstitutional.
As it stands Makk will have to leave the country by August 25.
