Binational Couple Explains How Defense Of Marriage Act Is Breaking Up Their Family, Harming Children

This afternoon, CNN profiled binational gay couple Mark Himes and Frederic Deloizy — who have been living together for 22 years and have 4 children, but are facing deportation because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) does not allow the federal government to recognize their California marriage. Deloizy is a French national who has spent the past two decades “in and out of the United States leapfrogging from one visa to another” and is facing deportation after his final visa expired in September. Since DOMA defines marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife” on the federal level, Himes’ Green Card application on behalf of his husband will likely be denied.

“It’s very difficult,” Deloizy explained. “What we’ve tried to do is not share it with the children. They’re not completely aware of the situation. We’ve been fighting and another day is another day with our family.” Watch it:

Lavi Soloway, the couple’s lawyer, called on the Obama administration “to take action to protect this family” and “make sure that the Green Card petition that Mark filed for Fred is not denied and it could put this case on hold and make sure that they could begin to build a secure future for their family.”

The Obama administration is no longer defending the constitutionality of DOMA and has announced that it would review all 300,000 active deportation cases to ensure that they are consistent with the nation’s enforcement priorities. At the end of last year, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) did close a deportation case involving a married same-sex couple,” but some Democratic lawmakers have expressed frustration that the policy language for reviewing deportation proceedings does not include a specific reference to same-sex couples.