Brazilian man, Mass. husband rejoin in asylum case

[ProSense]

Source: AP

BOSTON – A Brazilian man was reunited with his Massachusetts husband this week after U.S. Sen. John Kerry pressed federal officials to temporarily allow the 31-year-old gay man back into the country on humanitarian grounds.

Brazilian-born Genesio "Junior" Oliveira rejoined Tim Coco, 49, of Haverhill, at an emotional reunion at Boston's Logan International Airport.

Gay rights and immigrant advocates declared the case a rare victory for gay, married asylum seekers.

"I'm delighted," said Oliveira, who married Coco in 2005 in Massachusetts where gay marriage is legal. "I've been waiting for this to happen. I never really undid my bags since returning to Brazil."




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100604/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_marriage_asylum_2

[awoke_in_2003]

1. k&r, nt

[nichomachus]

2. Good for them, BUT

it's a one-off case and it's only for one year -- so they're still under the cloud of being separated again.

[karynnj]

4. Kerry's office is working on a permanent solution per this other article

Last month, Kerry called Coco to inform him that Oliveira had been granted humanitarian parole and would be allowed to stay in the U.S. for at least a year.

"Obviously we'll work on a permanent solution, but for right now I just couldn't be happier that the system worked and Tim and Junior are reunited," Kerry said. "This is a very sweet moment, long overdue, but sweeter because they decided it was worth the wait."

Federal immigration officials held Oliveira for three hours for interrogation following his landing Wednesday in Atlanta. He missed his connecting flight to Boston and caught a later one.


"It was a very difficult journey with a lot of hopeful leads that didn't pan out," Coco said. "Kerry's office never gave up. We're glad he didn't."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012030802_apusgaymarriageasylum.html?syndication=rss

In addition, Leahy has legislation, Uniting America's Families, with 23 sponsors that deals with it. Here is the link where you can get whatever information you need on it. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:18:./temp/~bd8hdI::|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=111|

The sponsors are:
Sen Akaka, Daniel K. - 2/12/2009
Sen Boxer, Barbara - 2/12/2009
Sen Brown, Sherrod - 2/12/2009
Sen Burris, Roland - 6/25/2009
Sen Cantwell, Maria - 6/2/2009
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. - 2/12/2009
Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. - 8/4/2009
Sen Dodd, Christopher J. - 2/12/2009
Sen Durbin, Richard - 6/3/2009
Sen Feingold, Russell D. - 2/12/2009
Sen Franken, Al - 9/10/2009
Sen Gillibrand, Kirsten E. - 3/23/2009
Sen Inouye, Daniel K. - 2/12/2009
Sen Kerry, John F. - 2/12/2009
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. - 2/12/2009
Sen Menendez, Robert - 2/12/2009
Sen Merkley, Jeff - 3/24/2009
Sen Murray, Patty - 2/12/2009
Sen Sanders, Bernard - 2/27/2009
Sen Schumer, Charles E. - 2/12/2009
Sen Specter, Arlen - 11/18/2009
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon - 2/12/2009
Sen Wyden, Ron - 2/12/2009

There is a companion House bill, sponsored by Nadler:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR01024:|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=111|

[DURHAM D]

3. Great story. Thanks for posting.

What was with those immigration assholes in Atlanta?

[rox63]

5. You might want to cross-post this in the LGBT forum n/t