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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Deportation of gay illegal Irishman stopped by Obama administration

Posted on Sunday, May 08, 2011 at 02:08 AM

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An undocumented gay Irishman, Paul Wilson Dorman, is at the center of a major battle by the Obama administration to set aside the Defense of Marriage Act which states that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Attorney General Eric Holder has asked the Board of Immigration Appeals to set aside their ruling deporting Dorman to Ireland under the act on the basis that the act is now being challenged in court and may be set aside.

His actions have once again put the issue of gay marriage and whether it can be acknowledged legally in America back on the front pages.

Dorman has lived illegally in New Jersey where he has a civil partnership with another gay man. He was liable for deportation after his undocumented status was discovered.

Now however, in an extraordinary move, Holder has halted the deportation and asked the The Board of Immigration Appeals judges to reconsider the case and judge whether Dorman can be considered a spouse of an American citizen or if there are other extenuating circumstances to keep him in America.

The Obama administration stated in February that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court and this is the first step in that process.

Dorman and his partner had already decided to take their case to a federal appeals court because they believed the decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals was based on the Defense of Marriage Act which they believe is unconstitutional.

The fact that the Obama administration has now jumped in on their side is seen as highly significant.

People who are facing deportation can ask immigration judges let them stay in the U.S.

Lavi Soloway, a New York immigration attorney and founder of Immigration Equality, a group that advocates for the immigration rights of gay couples told the Associated Press the Dorman decisions is long overdue because there is clear discrimination against gay couples on immigration issues because spouses legally marriesdby law in several states cannot sponsor their partners

"This is the right path. Until Congress can pass legislation to remedy this, the executive branch can and should act," Soloway said.

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mayoman | May 08, 2011, 07:04 PM EDT

I applaud President Obama and Attorney General Holder for taking the morally correct action. Hopefully the DOMA will be soon be only a bad memory.

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ohrightyeah | May 08, 2011, 06:52 PM EDT

The hate spewed by so may readers of this site makes me embarrassed to be Irish. Nearly every topic has spiteful comments. It's really turning me off reading things on this site. How can people get so entrenched in their narrowmindedness?

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eiriamach | May 08, 2011, 06:34 PM EDT

edmicca, why aren't you doing what you say Christ did and accepting gays as equals, with full civil rights, the same rights you have? You would still be free to disapprove of homosexual behavior, just as Christ disapproved of adultery. No one would ever force it on you, so what's your problem with allowing others to have as much freedom as you have?

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Blackduck | May 08, 2011, 06:30 PM EDT

Next someone will want to be able to marry his or her dog, or goat. What have we sunk to? The only reason the Constitution doesn’t say that a marriage has to between a man and women, is our founders never thought anyone would want to marry someone of the same sex!

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edmicca | May 08, 2011, 05:44 PM EDT

JackFknTwist - nice name. Best you could do? Ever notice that the more f-bombs people use in their speech, the less substance their speech has? "Homophobic" is a socially engineered word designed to create a false divide on the moral issue of homosexuality. There's a difference between accepting gays as people and accepting a lifestyle many consider immoral. Christ accepted the woman caught in adultery but he didn't accept how she lived. Was he a bigot? Hardly, and neither are those who say the gay lifestyle is wrong.

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eiriamach | May 08, 2011, 05:14 PM EDT

Some posters may be asking where American homophobia comes from. According to a Sept. 2010 Pew Forum/ Pew Research Center report, 60% of Americans who oppose same-sex marriage said that religion was the most important influence on their opinion, while only 5% of those who support same-sex marriage reported religion as most important. Only 6% of people who say that religion has the most influence on their opinions support same-sex marriage, while two-thirds (66%) of those who say that personal experience, education, or the opinions of family or friends are their most important influence support same-sex marriage. It seems that people who know gays and lesbians do not see any reason why they should not be free to marry! And plenty of these supporters are churchgoers. Nearly half of all white Catholics support same-sex marriage (49%), and this figure outpaces even white main-line Protestants (48%). So why do so many IC posters seem opposed to same-sex marriage? Maybe what's showing up in the postings below is a lack of education, not enough friends, or no experience of life outside of church? Maybe these "Americans" should get out and meet some real people!

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katieherk | May 08, 2011, 04:46 PM EDT

Shows you what a nut case Nobama is.... marriage is between one man and one woman but he's so stupid he can't understand why!! And, Niall, quit writing such trashy columns. I used to have great respect for you but all this trash you're bringing up belongs in the tabloids not Irish Central. It's getting so that I hate to read it anymore.

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sully1167 | May 08, 2011, 04:16 PM EDT

Bring Mr. Dorman back to Ireland,trade Ibrahim Buswisir to the US in return!

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JackFknTwist | May 08, 2011, 03:18 PM EDT

@edmicca : I may be fast with my mouth but at least I have the integrity to express clear liberal Irish opinions which are not the homophobic s**t that appears below. You, of course, say f -all !

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edmicca | May 08, 2011, 03:03 PM EDT

It's pretty clear that CupcakeJackFknTwist is fast with the mouth and short on brains, living proof that dumbness hasn't been stamped out in America.

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JackFknTwist | May 08, 2011, 02:03 PM EDT

The USA is obliged to give full equal rights to all persons......."We hold these truths to be self evident....." Obviously these truths are not evident at all to you illiterate homophobes......... All we read here is scum droppings by maggots such as eireinamerica... All spouses of American citizens should be allowed immediate unhindered comprehensive rights to live with their spouse......and yes, spouse includes Civil Unions/Partnerships. Let's move towards a liberal tolerant society and get away from the Joseph McCarthy idiots writing their fetid bigotry on these pages. These people are not representative of anything Irish....they disgrace the name of Ireland.....they are quasi fascist right wing tossers. being Irish means being liberal, tolerant, and believing in full equality in marriage, adoption, employment for all persons , irrespective of race, creed, sexual orientation. So you who claim to be Irish, get with the programme.

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danielleryan | May 08, 2011, 01:59 PM EDT

I cannot believe how disgusting some of these comments are. The only sick and disgusting people here are the ones leaving these vile comments about other human beings. Revolting.

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JackFknTwist | May 08, 2011, 01:53 PM EDT

@erieinamerica : wow, you are such a disgrace to the Irish that I don't know where to begin! You bringing up children is a thought that makes me sick to the stomach.......clearly you are just an uneducated bigot who has no compunction (look it up) about homophobic bigoted language. You are not Irish , so change your name , you illiterate homophobic fool.

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EireinAmerica | May 08, 2011, 01:12 PM EDT

This guy is an opportunist, trying to get any votes he can for four more years,..The American people need to make sure that this does not happen

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jimmybb | May 08, 2011, 12:57 PM EDT

niall o dowd do u seriousally want to b known as the gutter tabloid press u are insulting reasonable people 's intelligence by trying to debatet this the liberal fundalmentasist media is to blame for a lot of problems in our society dont appease them [i.e] rupert murdochs conglomorate english dailys n ny post you r turning u site into the national enquirer as an immigrant myself from eirinn 18 yrs now i see this great u.s.a turning to mush the rest of the world is laughing at us here as we debate such petty things while china europe asia takin over the world seriousally u are a clever man dont insult our intelligence with such trivial things while our country eieinn is being financially raped by a euro elite of germany n france talk about that please ;;niall;

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