Same-Sex Relationship Status Could Help Delay Deportation

Undocumented immigrants in long-standing, same-sex relationships with U.S. citizens are likely to begin pulling together the documentation proving their status after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that they could be granted a reprieve from deportation.

According to DHS and Obama administration officials, bi-national couples are eligible for consideration under a federal program designed to prioritize deportation cases. “DHS looks at the totality of the circumstances presented in individual cases, including whether an individual has close family ties to the United States as demonstrated by his or her same-sex marriage or other longstanding relationship to a United States citizen,” Obama Administration spokesman Peter Boogaard said in recent statement.

Cases involving criminal convictions or other national threats would constitute a high-priority deportation case.

In order to obtain a reprieve, immigrants will need to provide documentation to the government establishing the particulars of their relationship and community ties. That documentation could include such things as notarized affidavits of support, which could impact the outcome of one’s immigration status.