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S.F. couple ‘elated’ over deferred deportation

USCIS allows Wells, Makk to stay together in country

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Anthony Makk and Bradford Wells (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Bradford Wells breathed a sigh of relief this week following the news that his Australian-native spouse, Anthony Makk, won’t be forced to leave the United States anytime soon.

“I’m absolutely elated,” Wells said. “The pressing issue of my family being destroyed has been dealt with for the time being.”

On Wednesday, Wells, 56, received a letter from U.S. Customs & Immigration Services that potential deportation action on Makk, 49, won’t happen for at least two years.

Wells said he received the news while watching the Republican presidential candidates on television and feeling discouraged by their anti-gay rhetoric when he received an unexpected phone call.

“It was Nancy Pelosi calling,” Wells said. “She called to tell me that the problem had been solved and Anthony had been given deferred action and that my family would be together. The deferred action was good for two years. That gave me such a feeling of joy and relief.”

Wells and Makk met with House Minority Leader Pelosi (D-Calif.) to discuss their situation in D.C. during an October meeting, according to The Advocate.

Makk said he was “over the moon happy” upon hearing about the deferred action because it means his efforts to stay in the United States haven’t been in vain.

“To be able to remain here legally has been important to us, and it always has been,” Makk said. “The fact that they don’t grant this [deferred action] to many people at all makes this even more special.”

Under current immigration law, straight Americans can sponsor their foreign spouses for residency in the United States through a marriage-based green card application, but the same option isn’t available to gay bi-national couples because the Defense of Marriage Act prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Consequently, foreign nationals in same-sex marriages could be deported if they’re undocumented or upon the expiration of their green cards. Makk was in the United States from 2000 to 2010 under a business visa, but after his company shut down, he lost his visa status and faced separation from the country.

For Wells, the prospect of being separated from his spouse was distressing because he has AIDS and depends on his spouse for care.

“He helps me get through when things just seem too difficult for me to deal with,” Wells said. “Sometimes I get so sick, I can’t deal with them … I’ve been in a lot of pain lately, so walking has been very difficult. He helps me out with that.”

Wells and Makk became a high-profile case when the San Francisco Chronicle profiled them in July and reported on the U.S. Customs & Immigration Service’s decision to deny the couple a green card. Even though the couple was married in Massachusetts in 2004 and has been together 19 years, they were unable to receive a green card because of DOMA.

But the letter dated Jan. 4 fromĀ U.S. Customs & Immigration Services states that Makk has been granted temporary deferment and won’t have to worry about deportation for that period of time.

“This is to advise you that effective today, January 4, 2012, you have been granted deferred action for a period of two years,” the letter states. “This action will expire on January 3, 2014.”

The letter explains that the deferred action is the result of prosecutorial discretion being exercised by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, but doesn’t confer or alter any immigration status.

Still, the letter also states that as a person granted deferred action, Makk can apply for employment authorization in the United States. Additionally, he’s eligible for an extension of this deferred action beyond the two years that have already been allotted.

USCIS didn’t respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment on why Wells and Makk were given deferred action in their case.

The decision falls within the scope of theĀ prosecutorial discretion memo on deportations that the Department of Homeland Security issued in June. Additionally, the move is consistent with the Obama administration’s plan announced in August to take low-priority cases out of the deportation pipeline on a case-by-case basis.

Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for Immigration Equality, which is handling the Wells and Makk case, said the action marks the first time the administration has moved to protect a bi-national couple before the start of removal proceedings.

“For the first time, the federal government has intervened, prior to the initiation of removal proceedings, to grant real, tangible relief to a married bi-national couple,” Ralls said. “The decision to grant Anthony deferred action, which can be renewed beyond the initial two years if needed, is a welcome change from the uncertainty and threats of separation that have hung over this family, so and many others, in the past.”

In a statement, Pelosi called the deferred action a “positive resolution of Anthonyā€™s immigration petition” andĀ a “personal victory” for Makk and Wells.

ā€œAnthony would have faced deportation because of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, even though he has lived in the United States for more than 20 years, has no criminal history, has never lived here illegally and is the primary caregiver to his husband,” Pelosi said. “The Obama Administrationā€™s recent efforts to prioritize immigration enforcement for the removal of criminals and others who pose a threat to national security helped pave the way for todayā€™s good news.”

Pelosi wasn’t the only lawmaker who helped. Wells said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and gay State Sen. Mark Leno, who represents San Francisco in the California Legislature, also had roles in pressuring the U.S. government to allow his partner to remain in the United States.

Even though USCIS has taken action, Wells said he isn’t sure whether the remedy will be enough because Makk is unable to leave the country under his current status.

“”I know that Anthony cannot leave the country and come back,” Wells said. “That’s something that still worries me. If something should happen to a family member in Australia, if one of his relatives dies, or if one his relatives gets really sick, he will not be able to go back to his family there.”

Immigration Equality’s Ralls said the administration can take further action to protect other bi-national gay couples in similar situations to Wells and Makk.

“While the best solution remains a policy that would provide lesbian and gay spouses, just like straight spoues, an opportunity to obtain a green card, this action is significant nonetheless,” Ralls said. “Moving forward, it should be repeated for other couples until DOMA is repealed or UAFA is law.”

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National

Trump refers to Anderson Cooper as ā€˜Allisonā€™

Crude insults continue in effort to attract male voters

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Donald Trump is referring to CNNā€™s Anderson Cooper as ā€˜Allison.ā€™

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump referred repeatedly over the weekend to CNNā€™s Anderson Cooper as ā€œAllison Cooper.ā€

Cooper, one of the nationā€™s most prominent openly gay television anchors, moderated a town hall last week with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump last Friday called Anderson ā€œAllisonā€ in a social media post, then used the moniker again at a Michigan rally.

ā€œIf you watched her being interviewed by Allison Cooper the other night, heā€™s a nice person. You know Allison Cooper? CNN fake news,ā€ Trump said, before adding, ā€œOh, she said no, his name is Anderson. Oh, no.ā€

Trump repeated the name during another Michigan rally on Saturday, according to the Associated Pres, then followed it up during a reference in Pennsylvania. ā€œThey had a town hall,ā€ Trump said in Michigan. ā€œEven Allison Cooper was embarrassed by it. He was embarrassed by it.ā€

Describing Anderson Cooper as female plays into offensive and stereotypical depictions of gay men as effeminate as Trump continues to pursue the so-called ā€œbro vote,ā€ amping up crude and vulgar displays in an effort to appeal to male voters.

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Pennsylvania

Transgender Honduran woman canvasses for Harris in Pa.

Monserrath Aleman is CASA in Action volunteer

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Monserrath Aleman, a transgender woman in Honduras, has canvassed in Pennsylvania for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates. (Photo by Phil Laubner/CASA in Action)

A transgender woman from Honduras has traveled to Pennsylvania several times in recent weeks to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates.

Monserrath Aleman traveled to York on Aug. 31 and Lancaster on Sept. 21 with a group of other volunteers from CASA in Action. 

They door-knocked in areas where large numbers of African Americans, Black, and Latino voters live. Aleman and the other CASA in Action volunteers urged them to support Harris, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and other down ballot Democratic candidates.

Aleman will be in Harrisburg on Nov. 2, and in York on Election Day.

“We achieved the goal that we had in mind and that we wanted to achieve,” she told the Washington Blade on Oct. 22 during a Zoom interview from Baltimore. “We knocked on doors, passed out flyers.”

Aleman cited Project 2025 ā€” which the Congressional Equality Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized ā€” when she spoke with the Blade.

“We know that there is a Project 2025 plan that would affect us: The entire immigrant Latino community, the LGBTI community, everyone,” said Aleman. “So that’s why I’m more motivated to go knocking on doors, to ask for help, for support from everyone who can vote, who can exercise their vote.”

She told the Blade that she and her fellow volunteers “did not have any bad response.”

Aleman grew up in Yoro, a city that is roughly 130 miles north of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

She left Honduras on Nov. 25, 2021.

Aleman entered Mexico in Palenque, a city in the country’s Chiapas state that is close to the border with Guatemala. The Mexican government granted her a humanitarian visa that allowed her to legally travel through the country.

Aleman told the Blade she walked and took buses to Ciudad JuƔrez, a Mexican border city that is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

She scheduled her appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection while living at a shelter in Ciudad JuĆ”rez.Ā Aleman now lives in Baltimore.

“Discrimination against the LGBTI community exists everywhere, but in Honduras it is more critical,” said Aleman.

Aleman added she feels “more free to express herself, to speak with someone” in the U.S. She also said she remains optimistic that Harris will defeat former President Donald Trump on Election Day.

“There is no other option,” said Aleman.

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National

HRC rallies LGBTQ voters in 12 states ahead of Election Day

10 Days of Action campaign targets pro-equality candidate

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Human Rights Campaign headquarters (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Human Rights Campaign said it filled 1,426 new volunteer shifts and held 174 events across key swing states between Oct. 10-20 as part of its 10 Days of Action campaign.Ā 

The LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group is working to mobilize and turn out voters in support of pro-equality and LGBTQ candidates, including the Harris-Walz ticket, on Election Day.

HRC reported exceeding its recruitment goals, noting the strong response across the 12 states as a ā€œclear and resounding messageā€ that LGBTQ and allied voters are energized to back the Harris-Walz ticket. 

To kick off the 10 Days of Action, Gwen Walz, the spouse of Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, spoke at a Philadelphia event that HRC and the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted on Oct. 10.

Walz highlighted her husbandā€™s long-standing support for LGBTQ issues, such as his role in fighting to repeal “Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tell” in Congress and banning so-called conversion therapy as governor, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.Ā 

Other events launched canvassing efforts for Senate candidates, such as U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), along with House candidates, such as Will Rollins and Mondaire Jones in California and New York respectively. 

A virtual organizing call on Oct. 11 that the Out for Harris-Walz coalition hosted featured prominent figures, including actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Andy Cohen, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), and Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, who is running for Congress.

To close out the 10 Days of Action, HRC President Kelley Robinson canvassed with LGBTQ organizers in Phoenix on Oct. 20. 

In a statement, Robinson said the campaignā€™s work is ā€œfar from over.ā€

ā€œWe plan to spend every day until the election making sure everyone we know is registered to vote and has a plan to vote because no one is going to give us the future we deserve ā€” we have to fight for it and show America that when we show up, equality wins,ā€ she said. ā€œTogether, we will elect pro-equality leaders like Vice President Harris and Governor Walz who value our communities and are ready to lead us forward with more freedom and opportunity.ā€

A September HRC poll found that LGBTQ voters favor Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in the presidential race by a nearly 67-point margin.

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