Archive for February, 2010

Augusto Pereira de Souza – Asylum from Brazil to US

Posted on February 10, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Brazil gay man wins U.S. asylum
By 365gay Newswire
02.08.2010 5:38pm EST

From a Columbia Law School press release:
(New York) Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic has won asylum for a gay man who feared persecution because of his sexual orientation if forced to return to his native Brazil.

The grant, issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, comes at a time when conditions for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals in Brazil are becoming more dangerous.

“In Brazil, I lived in constant fear for my life,” said Augusto Pereira de Souza, 27. “I tried to hide that I was gay, but still faced repeated beatings, attacks, and threats on my life because I was gay. At times I was attacked by skinheads and brutally beaten by cops. After the cops attack you and threaten your life for being gay, you learn quickly that there is no one that will protect you. For me, coming to the U.S. was a life or death decision.”

Brazil has one of the highest rates of hate crimes against GLBT people in the world. Grupo Gay da Bahia, the leading GLBT rights organization in Brazil, reports that between 1980 and 2009 there were 2,998 reported murders of homosexuals in Brazil. In 2008 alone, over 190 GLBT people were murdered, and the actual number is likely to be much higher since many of these killings go unreported.

“Mr. Pereira de Souza’s story is unfortunately not unusual for a gay man in Brazil,” said Rena Stern, a student who worked on the case. “The number of attacks and murders based on sexual orientation in Brazil has actually increased in recent years.”

Pereira de Souza, who will live in Newark, N.J., was referred to the Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic by Immigration Equality, a national organization focused on immigration rights for GLBT individuals that provided important assistance in the case.

“In Brazil, police routinely fail to investigate violence committed against GLBT individuals,” said Brian Ward, another clinic student who helped Pereira de Souza prepare his asylum application. “In this environment, skinheads and other groups are free to persecute, torture, and even kill GLBT individuals with impunity. Asylum will allow Mr. Pereira de Souza to stay in the United States where he will no longer have to fear for his life.”

Since September, three students from the Sexuality and Gender Clinic—Ward, Stern, and Mark Musico —have provided legal assistance in preparing the application for asylum. The students spent many months conducting interviews, drafting affidavits, researching country conditions, filling out the necessary forms, and preparing the client for his interview.

This story is located at:
http://www.365gay.com/news/brazil-gay-man-wins-u-s-asylum/

Jan and Vari

Posted on February 10, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Jen (U.S.) & Vari (Honduras)
Vari and I met in New York through mutual friends and immediately found we had things in common and a definite attraction. Just as other relationships develop and run their natural course, we followed suit, spending time with one another, moving in together, envisioning our future together, with one exception, Vari was not a citizen of the United States. She was in the U.S. on a tourist visa, which meant she would have to leave every six months on her 10 year visa.

So, six months had passed and we decided to go to Honduras, Vari’s native country and visit her family. We returned a week later to the U.S. and continued life once again as before, with the biggest dilemma of where we should go every six months.

As the other six months passed, we decided on a trip to Europe, landing first in Portugal. We spent the next two weeks exploring Spain, arriving in Barcelona the day the U.S. went to war with Iraq, and continuing on to France and Italy and returning to Spain/Portugal for our departure.

We arrived at Newark Airport, New Jersey a half day later to what would be the worst day of our lives.

The flight we were on had been flagged by immigration as other passengers on the plane looked to be out of place. All foreign women were asked to go to a separate room, where they were to be questioned. Varinia was a foreign woman and went to the room. I preceded through to the immigration checkpoints and waited for Vari. One by one, passengers exited the door where she had gone into. Another immigration officer assured me that my friend would be out shortly.

After an hour, or what felt like an eternity, I began questioning immigration officers of Vari’s whereabouts. Finally, seeing my desperation, they informed me that she was being “denied entry” because it was believed that she was living and working in the U.S. and that they reserved the right to deny anyone that they felt a suspicion.
I was in shock, as I am sure Vari was too!

Not only would they deny her entry but they wanted to send her back where we had come from (Portugal).

Luckily enough, she had a return ticket to Honduras that had not been used because she meet me and was allowed to use the ticket back to Honduras the following day.
Some officers allowed me to write a note to her and give her money, they also returned my car and house keys (the initial items that sparked the suspicion) back to me so I could go home and leave the airport.

When I reflect back on this event, it should be pointed out that the Immigration officers (with the exception of the interrogator) were kind, professional, and were put into a position where by law they had to do their job above compassion. The officer who took Vari’s fingerprints even asked, “Why did you leave in the first place? Why didn’t you just stay?” The answer to this question is that WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS. We are law abiding and educated human beings. On the contrary, I am also not judging others for their decisions regarding this issue.

The next day, I waited desperately for a phone call that Vari had arrived home safely. The phone finally rang and we knew this was the beginning of a painful new step for the both of us.
The hardest part is acceptance. It means, the comfortable life you are accustomed to, career, friends, family and yes, Starbucks, must be sacrificed, so you can be with the one person that you love. (Assuming you decide to go to your partner’s native country.)

In order to go to your partners’ country, you will most likely go on a tourist visa, which means you cannot work. Without work, you have no money, so prepare yourself. Priority number one should be the investment of a vonage phone and modem. Ship, the modem and phone to your partner (they will need a computer and internet connection). For less than 30 dollars a month you can speak to your partner on phone as long as you want. We often look back at the small fortune we wasted on discount phone cards and direct phone calls and wished we had discovered this wonderful service earlier. Next step, set a time frame that will allow you to save enough money to last you the time given on your tourist visa and look for a job that can sponser a work visa. I actually quit my job and sought out another higher paying job and moved in with a friend to save money on rent.

Vari and I spent 9 months apart, with visits every three months.
During this time apart, I sought out some of the best immigration lawyers in New York, researched immigration laws, and looked desperately for couples in the same situation to offer advice or solutions. Needless to say, I came up empty handed.

I flew into San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a country that I was unaware of just two years prior. During our time apart, Vari began working at a major hotel chain and was able to convince the GM to hire me and sponser my work visa. There are two main outlets for Americans wanting to work in a foreign country: teaching English or the Hospitality/Hotel Industry.

We lived together for a year and 3 months in San Pedro Sula, before I decided work was not challenging enough for me, did not speak good Spanish, had no friends to hang out or communicate with, poverty and violence overwhelmed me with fear, and I missed home.
I was completely torn between the person that I loved and wanting to go back to my life in the U.S. I fell into a deep depression.

Little by little, faith and boredom motivated me to search the internet for jobs in countries that would allow for same-sex immigration. But they all had an organized process to qualify you as a skilled immigrant, which meant a lot of paperwork and more time. Then I found an ad for a job that fit Vari’s line of work in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We took a chance, packed our bags, sold our belongings and left for Mexico. We have been here now for three years, just opened our own business and living happily with our two dogs, Bella and Chai.

Our story does not end here; we would ultimately like to come back to the U.S., but as legal citizens. We are grateful to be where we are and wish to the other couples out there facing the same pain to be strong, be smart, and be patient. Every sacrifice has its reward.

This story is located at:
http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1233

Jennifer and Ellen

Posted on February 10, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Jennifer (U.S.) & Ellen (Taiwan)
Jennifer and I met in an internet chatroom in 1999. After exchanging a few emails and cups of coffee, we knew we were meant for each other. Unlike most new couples, we immediately faced a harsh reality. Would we be able to stay together and have a chance to develop our relationship?

My “Practical Training” (a one year training work permit issued after college) was about to expire. I was up against my non-profit employer. After numerous rejection letters, I finally persuaded them to sponsor me for an H1-B visa (a special skills working visa, renewable only once with a total limit of six years). A brief sigh of relief before more hurdles arose.
Soon after I renewed my H1-B visa and began the process of becoming a permanent resident, I was shocked to learn that the Department of Labor would require my employer to pay me 50% more or else the process could go no further. The Department of Labor has fair wage standards for each type of job and my wage did not meet that standard, even though I was the highest paid in my organization for my job title.

After more negotiations and a final, awesome lawyer, I received a work permit and travel document. I could finally visit my family in Taiwan after 8 years, which I could not do under my H1-B visa as mine was not a re-entry visa. Jennifer met my family and saw my home with me.

Even when we were hanging by a thread, we were not willing to give up and we became activists. We agreed to be in a short film for the HRC Town Hall Meeting, as well as a feature documentary in order to educate others about our issue.

It took five lawyers, lots of money, numerous negotiations, sleepless nights, and sometimes emotional outbursts, but it all came back to the main purpose: we were not going to be forced to separate, no matter what we might be up against.

I finally became a Permanent Resident in the U.S. Even though our story of hardship has a happy ending, we will continue to fight for this cause. Hopefully, in the very near future, we will see all binational same-sex couples have their stories end happily too.

This story is located at:
http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1196

Ken and Toby

Posted on February 10, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Ken (U.S.) & Toby (Japan)
My name is Ken and in 2003 I met the most wonderful man from Japan. We hit it off immediately and began to have a lot of fun dating each other.

Suddenly one night though, Toby turned to me and told me that he had something horrible to tell me and that if I could not handle it, he would understand if I wanted to move on. He told me that he was an illegal immigrant in this country.

Since I had no idea what all of that meant, I laughed, kissed him on the cheek and said nothing more. That night however I scoured the internet to find out all of the information that I could. I was disappointed to find out that there was nothing I could do to help Toby stay with me.

As the months went by and our relationship grew, I was hopeful that nothing would happen. To this day, nothing has happened, but his student visa has run out, his driver’s license expired and we are very fearful that he will be found out and deported.

I never thought that living in AMERICA, in my country, the land of the free, that I would be so scared and feel so ashamed.

This story is located at:
http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1126

Leslie and Partner

Posted on February 10, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Leslie (U.S.) & Partner (Sweden)
My fiance is from Sweden. He currently lives there and goes to school, but we visit each other for months at a time. His intention was to try to get into a university in the U.S. and obtain a visa that way, but it seemed stupid for him to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to university here when he can go to school for free in Sweden. I agree, we don’t want to rack up the debts.

Now it seems more prudent for me to just move to Sweden since they have the same rights for same-sex couples and allow immigration for gay spouses. The only problem is, I don’t speak Swedish.

I love it there though, and will try to learn the language. But getting a good job in my field without speaking the local language seems difficult. Instead I am applying to graduate schools in Sweden (since they are free, why not?). But if I do this and we marry there and I become a permanent resident in Sweden, what happens to my U.S. citizenship and my inalienable rights as an American? I don’t want to sever ties with America forever.

Every day without each other is so painful. We talk every day, and spend our lives on webcam. We ARE each others family. I have nothing without him. We are very young, but we want to begin our lives together, but its hard with all the obstacles.

My partner speaks fluent English, which is why it would be easier to live here in the U.S.
Hopefully we both can come back when things change in the U.S. This is why I support the UAFA.

This story is located at:
http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1194

Maggie and Yasemin

Posted on February 7, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Maggie (U.S.) & Yasemin (Turkey)
I met my partner in February 2003 in Portland, Oregon. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Somehow I knew she would change my life forever.

Before we planned our commitment ceremony, my partner informed me that in 2002 she had filed a claim for political asylum in the U.S.

At first I had no idea of the impact this would have on us or how our future could possibly be affected. Then I did some research.

My partner had passed the one-year deadline and it would be almost impossible to get past this legal challenge. I further found that there was no relief for same-sex couples under the law.

In January 2005 we were forced to flee to Canada for protection.

It is hard to quantify how it feels to be exiled from your own country!

Yes we are safe and together but we are still not totally adjusted. I think it has to do with the fact that we were essentially forced to live here.

If we had a choice, we would still be home in the U.S.

There is not a day that goes by that both of us yearn to be back home.
As a U.S. citizen, I am still struggling to understand how my relationship is so threatening that it warrants being exiled!

Our life at home was totally destroyed. We had to leave our posses¬sions behind. Our credit was devastated from attempting to stave off our departure and live a normal life at the same time.

When we came to Canada, we had no support network, no place to stay, and no status. For almost three weeks we lived in a shelter.

Neither of us had ever lived like that before and I think it is still having a huge negative effect on us.

This story is located at: http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1127

Mary and Partner

Posted on February 7, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Mary (U.S.) & Partner (Canada)
I am a US citizen and my partner is Canadian. We have been together for three years and have experienced so many difficulties ranging from each of us being turned away at our respective border crossings from time to time in addition to so many other issues.
Unfortunately my partner experienced the worst border crossing events. I understand that US border employees have to do their jobs but I feel that it is so unnecessary to treat people like criminals with two-hour unfriendly “interrogations”. These experiences had been traumatic to both of us. We were both left feeling so discriminated against because of our sexual orientations. And there was no reason for it – we are both law abiding, responsible women.
I’ve become bitter from these experiences alone. I’ve lost faith in the government of the country where I was born and raised, where I operate a successful business and where I pay taxes. I am treated like a second class citizen without the right to be with the person I love.
Because I have property, my partner came to the US to be with me, never expecting the issues that we encountered. Visas are not guaranteed.

We have learned so much through our own research as well as trial and error. As a result, since we luckily live close to a US/Canadian border, we secured an apartment in Canada because of the time requirements for each of us “visiting” each others countries.
This has only been a temporary solution to a long term problem just so we can be together. It’s costly and inconvenient right now but until we can get a president in office who can help the LGBT community by fixing immigration laws I remain bitter.

I am going to try to do all I can to fight the cause here. However, if after doing so makes no difference by the time a new president has been elected or if there is no indication that things will be changing, I will be forced to make Canada my new home. As an American, I shouldn’t be FORCED to choose between country and partner.
This story is located at: http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1197