Denver lesbian’s deportation on hold for five months

Sujey Pando is home, for now.

Immigration Judge Mimi Tsankov decided Aug. 19 to postpone her decision on the Denver lesbian’s deportation case for five months. According to Pando’s lawyer, Lavi Soloway, the judge decided to halt the case due to a flux in policy changes and guidelines concerning same-sex binational couples.

“The judge was not comfortable moving forward with so much at stake,” Soloway said.

Sujey, 34, and her partner Violeta Pando, 27, said they were relieved.

“I thank the judge,” Sujey said. “The system has to step up and stop breaking up families.”

While the Pandos were married in Iowa in 2010, Violeta cannot sponsor Sujey for U.S. citizenship because the federal Defense of Marriage Act limits recognition of marriage to one man and one woman

Soloway said he was happy with the outcome and the continued momentum toward treating same-sex couples the same as opposite-sex couples in immigration cases.

“This does not set any legal precedent,” Soloway said. “But we’re finding these cases continue to run-up against a law in a state of flux. This decision adds to the increase in momentum we’ve seen this year.”

Soloway said President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano are all now on the record decrying the deportation of persons in state recognized same-sex relationships.

“I’m so happy my marriage was recognized,” Violeta said.

Napolitano said Aug. 18 her department would review each of the 300,000 pending immigration cases one-by-one. She said her agencies would make deportation cases concerning illegal immigrants who have neither broken any laws nor pose a threat to national security a low priority.

Earlier this year, Holder halted the deportation of a gay man asking an immigration panel if a partner in either a civil union or a state recognized same-sex marriage could be considered a spouse.

The panel’s decision is still pending.

Also, Obama has said he will no longer defend the constitutionality of the portion of DOMA that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Several possibilities could play out from here, Soloway said.

The government could drop the case against Sujey completely. Her status would remain undocumented or could she could be granted some legal status. The judge could either grant her case for asylum or a cancellation of removal. In either case she would be deemed a resident but would have to apply for full citizenship.

Sujey could also still be deported.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement picked up Sujey in 2008 after a being issued a minor traffic ticket while driving with a suspended license.

Sujey, along with her brothers, was brought to the United States by her mother illegally when she was 16. Sujey’s mother, already married to a U.S. citizen, never documented Sujey’s immigration. She later refused to sponsor her daughter to become a citizen because she is a lesbian.

Sujey was kicked out of her Denver home when she was 17.

Part of Sujey’s appeal for asylum rests on her claim that she was physically and psychologically abused by her family in Mexico before coming to the U.S.

Sujey’s case is one example highlighting two broken systems, local immigration and LGBT activists said before her hearing.

“It is absurd that someone like (Sujey) is facing deportation from her partner and the life they have built together, due to a traffic stop. This happens to thousands of families across the country as a result of increased local law enforcement collaboration with ICE. Unfortunately, DOMA makes our already broken immigration system even worse,” said Julien Ross, executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, “DOMA denies committed same-sex couples any rights in sponsoring their spouse, and often leaves their families with few options for changing their situation.”

One Colorado’s Executive Director Brad Clark echoed.

“No loving, committed couple should be torn apart by the laws of our country,” he said. “(Sujey) and her partner have made a lifelong promise to take care of each other, and their marriage should provide them with security to build a life together. But because of these unjust, discriminatory laws, their family hangs in the balance. That’s just plain wrong.”