Save Sujey Pando From Deportation
- von: Care2.com
- empfänger: President Barack Obama
When Sujey Pando was sixteen years old, she moved to the United States from Mexico to escape the physical and emotional abuse that came from identifying as a lesbian in a conservative family. Her mother, a U.S. citizen, refused to naturalize her like she had her brothers. When she met Violeta Pando, she thought that she could finally live an honest life--until she was threatened with deportation.
Although Sujey and Violeta were legally married in Iowa in 2010, the Defense of Marriage Act prohibits them from receiving the same benefits as a heterosexual couple in the same situation.
As Violeta told Out Front Colorado, "DOMA is destroying my family. They want to take my wife away. They don't care that they're tearing families apart."
President Obama is currently reconfiguring his stance on deportation and immigration rights. Tell him that Sujey Pando and other same-sex spouses of U.S. citizens deserve the same rights as heterosexuals.
Although I commend your administration's recent decision to reconfigure attitudes toward immigration, your continued discrimination against same-sex binational couples is disheartening and, frankly, lacking in compassion.
When Sujey Pando was sixteen years old, she moved to the United States from Mexico to escape the physical and emotional abuse that came from identifying as a lesbian in a conservative family. And though she is currently legally married to a U.S. citizen, DOMA prevents her from receiving the same naturalization benefits as a heterosexual.
I urge you to grant Sujey Pando naturalization rights and to use her story as a launching point to grant equality to everyone, regardless of their sexual orientations.
