Holt lobbies for gay union rights in New Jersey
New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt is asking the Department of Homeland Security to stop deporting the same-sex spouses of U.S. citizens.
Holt, of New Jersey’s 12th District, made the request yesterday, reports the Associated Press, in the latest effort to clarify the Defense of Marriage Act, which U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced in February the government will no longer defend.
The matter is pressing for two of Holt’s constituents. Josh Vandiver and Henry Velandia of Princeton got married in Connecticut last year, but Vandiver can’t sponsor Velandia for permanent resident status the way a heterosexual spouse could. Velandia could be deported to Venezuela next month.
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