Kerry Asks Attorney General to Reunite Gay Couple

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant asylum to a gay married man in his state who was deported despite his rape in Brazil.

In his letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, Kerry said Immigration Judge Francis Cramer found Oliveira’s testimony to be credible and he believed his fear of living in Brazil was genuine. However the judge denied the claim, saying the man “was never physically harmed” by the rape.

Kerry called that ruling “outrageous.”

In 1994 then Attorney General Janet Reno and Holders former boss, decided that a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) case, Matter of Toboso-Alfonso would be considered precedent, meaning that the BIA, Immigration Judges, and asylum officers had to follow its ruling in the future. Toboso-Alfonso recognized persecution based on sexual orientation as a potential ground upon which to apply for asylum, but for the last 8 years the Bush administration has largely ignored that precedent.

Genesio Oliveira had sought asylum because he was raped as a teenager and feared additional attacks if he returned to the Brazil.

However, Oliveira is also legally married to Massachusetts’s businessman Tim Coco, but while 19 other nations around the world allow their citizens to sponsor their same sex partners for immigration benefits, the United States does not recognize these relationships for immigration purposes.

Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, even same sex couples who have been legally married in states or countries that allow gay marriage or civil unions, are not able to immigrate based on those marriages and many already here live with the constant fear that an expired visa or a lost job will result in the couple being separated permanently.

The advocacy group Immigration Equality estimates that some 37,000 gay bi-national couples are affected nationwide by these rules.

The couple met in 2002, when Oliveira was on vacation and were married in 2005. They own a home together north of Boston and began to establish a life in with each other, but after losing their appeal in 2007, Oliveira was given 60 days to leave the country. With the exception of short visits and video calls on the computer, the couple has not been together since. Oliveira has even been denied a visa to return to Massachusetts last year so he could attend the funeral of Coco’s mother.

Ironically, if Mr. Coco was a foreign national being transferred to the United States as a green card holder or work permit holder, the State Department would issue a residency permit to Mr. Oliveira as well. This was done as a result of large corporations who hired employees in “skill shortage” areas from abroad, and who were losing these key hires due to DOMA.

Under Brazilian law, same-sex partners can sponsor their loved ones into that country and Coco has said he and Oliveira would eventually do whatever it takes to be together, even if it means Coco eventually leaving the U.S.

Hopefully that will not have to happen as Senator Kerry is  also currently co-sponsoring the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) that would allow gays and lesbians from other countries to become legal residents based on their permanent relationships with U.S. citizens in the same manner as heterosexual couples. There are at present, 15 cosponsors of this bill in the United States Senate.

The UAFA was also introduced to the United States House of Representatives by New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler. There are currently 93 cosponsors of this bill there.

Kerry Letter to Holder (full text)

The Honorable
Eric Holder
United States Attorney General
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Mr. Attorney General,

I’m writing on behalf of one of my constituents, Tim Coco of Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Tim, and Genesio “Junior” Januario Oliveira, Jr., were married in Massachusetts in March 2005. However, since August 2007 they have been separated because of Junior’s immigration status. It is for that reason that I look to you for assistance. Under your discretion as Attorney General I ask that you review Junior’s case and if you deem it appropriate, overrule the lower immigration court’s ruling and allow Junior to return to the United States under his original asylum claim.

Junior applied for asylum in 2002 under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, based on a brutal rape and attack he suffered at the hands of government officials in his home country of Brazil. Even though presiding Immigration Judge Francis Cramer, stated that he found Junior’s testimony to be “credible” and his fear of Brazil “genuine” he denied the asylum claim and ruled that Junior “was never physically harmed” by the rape. This outrageous claim was allowed to stand when in June 2007 the Immigration Board of Appeals upheld Judge Cramer’s decision. Junior voluntarily left the United States following this ruling and has been separated from his husband ever since.

The injustice of the initial denial of Junior’s asylum claim continues to this day. Tim had to suffer the loss of his mother recently without his husband and Junior was unable to get a visa to attend the funeral of his mother in law. I hope that you will review this case and determine that the denial of Junior’s asylum claim was in error and let him return to this country. If you have any questions about Tim and Junior’s case please contact my staff at 202-224-2742. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

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