The Fight for Gay Rights and Immigrant Rights

Gay Rights and Immigrant Rights. There are probably many progressive people out there who see the importance of both, and would fight for both. I’m sure there are also more than a few people who might fight for just one of these causes, but not the other.

There are probably a few conservative immigrants, for example, as well as immigrant advocates, possibly affiliated with churches or religious organizations, who are fighting for a stop to workplace ICE raids, deportations, inhumane detention conditions, and are also for some sort of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, but, if asked, also feel that Homosexuality is a sin, and that gays and lesbians shouldn’t be allowed to legally marry, or be given the same rights as straight people.

Read more at The Fake Mexican!

Jamaican Lesbian Spared Deportation Due to Risk

In an extremely rare move, a Jamaican lesbian living in Sunrise has avoided deportation — for now — after an immigration judge allowed the 29-year-old to stay in the United States because her sexual orientation could cause her to be tortured in her home country.

”The general atmosphere in Jamaica is a feeling of no tolerance towards homosexuals in general, and as such, . . . the respondent’s life is definitely at risk,” Immigration Judge Irma Lopez-Defillo said, according to court documents.

Lopez-Defillo initially ordered that the woman be deported because of a pair of drug convictions. In the same ruling, the judge deferred the order based on the climate of intolerance in Jamaica. Nichole checked in with immigration authorities on Thursday regarding her order of supervision. She is due to report back in three months.

You can get more on this story at miamiherald.com.

Pakistani Faces Deportion from U.S. Immigration

According to sources, a Pakistani man with HIV is fighting deportation from the United States and seeking asylum.

The man, who wishes to be identified only by his initials, S.K., fears persecution based on his sexual orientation and HIV status if he is returned to his homeland.

Under Pakistani law, being gay is punishable by death. LGBT people are forced to live in secrecy and constant fear of exposure, a legal brief said.

An Immigration judge disputed the risk and denied S.K.’s application for asylum.

The judge held that S.K., who has HIV and was in a committed relationship with a man in Minnesota, could avoid persecution by hiding his sexual orientation, marrying a woman, and having children.

The Board of Immigration Appeals originally upheld the Immigration Judge’s decision and is now reviewing the case a second time.

Gay Iranian Wins Asylum

A 19 year old gay Iranian was granted asylum in the UK because he feared being put to death if forced to return to the country of his birth.
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