Update (Apr 3, 2009):
The Advocate reports that Shirley Tan has been allowed a two week reprieve from deportation after California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer were both fighting to keep Tan from being sent back to the Philippines, where she was previously subjected to horrific violence.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Tan first applied for political asylum in 1995 and thought her case was still pending, until immigration officials knocked on her door this past January. She said she was completely unaware a deportation order had been issued in 2002. Her bid for asylum failed because the threat to her life in the Philippines came from a relative - who shot her in the head when she was young over an inheritance battle - instead of from the government.
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A 43-year old woman faces likely deportation to the Philippines on Friday leaving behind her partner of 23 years and two twelve-year-old twin sons who were conceived invitro using her American partner's eggs.
Top: Shirley Tan and her twelve-year-old son Jashley Mercado. Photo from San Jose Mercury News web site. Bottom: Lawyer Melanie Nathan wrote on her blog, O-blog-dee-o-blog-da, that the picture was taken before Shirley Tan knew that she was in fact out of legal status in the USA, and the family had ''requested a visit to the White House and were apparently cleared - while there was an deportation order in effect.''
Even if it still were in effect, the federal Defense of Marriage Act prevents Mercado from sponsoring her partner of 23 years for immigration. Were the pair a married opposite-sex couple, advocates say, Tan could be legal.
The couple are both the legal parents of their boys who are US citizens. Tan now wears an ankle bracelet assigned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who knocked on the front door at 6.30 am on Jan 28 this year, according to media reports.
Immigration Equality released a press statement on Mar 27 highlighting the US' discriminatory immigration laws saying: "We hope the press will generate US government interest in staying the deportation, and understanding of the need for passage of the Uniting American Families Act to stop the destruction of our families."
Immigration Equality press release:
CALIFORNIA Immigration Equality today spoke out about a California family that may soon be torn apart. Due to immigration laws that discriminate against lesbian and gay couples, Shirley Tan will likely be deported April 3, separating her from her life partner Jay Mercado, their twelve-year-old twin sons, and Jay's mother, for whom Shirley is the primary caretaker. The deportation will send Shirley back to the Philippines, where she was a victim of extreme violence.
"From the moment my sons were born we have never been apart. It's tearing me apart to have to leave without them," said Shirley.
Unlike married straight Americans, Jay cannot sponsor her life partner for immigration. The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would remedy this discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans and allow them to sponsor their partners for immigration. The bill, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy in the Senate and Rep. Jerrold Nadler in the House, has 107 additional cosponsors in the Senate and House.
Shirley and Jay are also seeking a private bill from their members of Congress for a stay of deportation, so that they can stay together in the US or have time to make plans to uproot their family and move together to another country.
"Once again a family is on the verge of being torn apart because U.S. immigration laws discriminate against gays and lesbians," said Immigration Equality Policy Director Julie Kruse. "We hope the U.S. government takes immediate steps to keep Shirley and Jay and their children and parents together, and that Congress passes the Uniting American Families Act so the destruction of our families ends."
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA-12) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who represent Shirley and Jay in Congress, have cosponsored the Uniting American Families Act.
"Shirley Tan's unacceptable situation is just one example of why Congress must pass immigration equality legislation. The Uniting American Families Act, which I co-sponsored, will allow lesbian and gay Americans to sponsor their permanent partners for residency in the United States," said Rep. Jackie Speier. "In the near term, I am confident that any official who examines the facts in Shirley Tan's case will come to the conclusion that this hard-working mother of two should not be sent to a country where she has no support network and was the victim of a horrific act of violence."
Victoria Neilson, Immigration Equality's Legal Director, stated, "There may be no options for this family under existing law. How can they explain to their children that the U.S. Government does not consider them a family?"
This week, the White House issued a statement about the Uniting American Families Act, saying "[President Obama] thinks Americans with partners from other countries should not be faced with a painful choice between staying with their partner or staying in their country."
37 thousand couples across the nation face similar circumstances.