Posted: August 11, 2003 at 4:46 p.m. BAY AREA (KRON) -- Every year, an untold number of gay and lesbian couples are forced to either break up their relationships or move out of the United States. When one of them is a non-citizen there is no chance for permanent residency because of immigration law. A growing number of Congress members support changes to the law, but it may not happen in time for at least one Fremont couple who may be forced to say goodbye to America.
This is the story of a couple, who, by law, will not be able to stay together. Not if they want to live in the United States.
Wendy Daw says, "We're legal strangers. Yea, we're legal strangers. Despite that we've done all this together and our lives are intertwined as they are... "
Wendy Daw is an American. Her life partner, Belinda Ryan, is a British citizen who has been living, working and paying taxes here in the states. But life as they know it, is about to change.
"We're legal strangers effectively in immigration law. So the only way I can stay here is a work visa, which I'm working under at the moment. But my work visa expires in April 2004. Which means Wendy and I are going to have to leave," says Belinda.
They must leave America, their relatives and friends and sell the home they bought in Fremont if they want to stay together.
"It's breaking her mother's heart," Belinda says. "They're going to have to face losing her, well, both of us."
They've done everything a married couple would do. But Wendy Daw the American, can't give her partner the one thing she needs to keep them together here: a green card that would allow Ryan permanent residency. Because the United States does not recognize same-sex marriages, they can not be considered a couple or family.
Under immigration law, only family members can sponsor foreigners for green cards. The permanent partner immigration act now being considered by Congress would create a new cateogry that would give same-sex partners the same privilige without the benefit of marriage.
111 Congressmembers support the bill, but that's far short of what's needed for passage. And with the current anti-gay marriage atmosphere, this bill won't have a chance in a Republican-controlled Congress.
"Politics and religion. So many of my colleagues letting their religion get messed up in what they're doing, between them and constitution. The constitution doesn't provide for religious input into this. It's what's fair. It's about equal rights for everybody," Democratic Congressman Pete Stark says. "We politicians have to get a life... and let other people get on with their lives."
Gay and lesbian couples have built lives with families despite laws that prevent them from legalizing their relationships. But when one partner happens to be an immigrant, the consequences can be heartbreaking. The Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force says thousands of couples have been torn apart by the law.
Marta Donayre of the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force says, "A lot of them have to decide to leave. And a lot of times it's to a country that is new to the two of them."
It's a prospect that is very real now for Wendy and Belinda.
"Even if the permanent partners immigration act goes through, is it going to happen in time for us not to have to sell our house, put our cats and dog into airplanes and fly somewhere else in the world? No, probably not," Says Wendy.
Belinda says, "She's American, it's the land of the free. We figured we'd be okay together, you know. And now it's coming home to roost, it isn't the land of the free for everyone."
Theirs is a life on hold while the clock is ticking on their time left here in America.
The permanent partners immigration act has been introduced in Congress every year for the past three years.
(Copyright 2003, KRON 4. All rights reserved.)