Dream and Doma: immigration reform and gay marriage, in two acts

'When the Obama justice department announced last February that it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defence of Marriage Act, or Doma, restricting the legal definition of marriage to heterosexual couples, immigration rights groups quietly held their breath that the administration's implied defence of gay marriage would also apply to gay binational couples seeking to preserve their marriage bonds.
According to unofficial estimates, about 36,000 such couples – usually, a US citizen and a foreign-born national whose visa has expired – currently reside in the United States. They are typically cohabitating couples, wearing wedding bands, sharing bank accounts, and in 47% of the cases, raising children together. In short, living just as married people everywhere do. But with an important difference: like other immigrants who lack permanent legal status, the foreign-born marriage partner lives in constant fear of detection and possible deportation....'

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Lawrence, Stewart J. "Dream and Doma: Immigration Reform and Gay Marriage, in Two Acts | Stewart J Lawrence | Comment Is Free | Guardian.co.uk." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 7 Apr. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/apr/05/gay-rights-usimmigration>.