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Citing DOMA, Obama Admin Seeks to Deport Husband of Gay AIDS Patient

HeadlineAug 10, 2011

The Obama administration is under criticism for its handling of the case of a married binational gay couple in San Francisco who stand to be split apart by deportation. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has denied immigration benefits to Bradford Wells, a U.S. citizen, and Anthony John Makk, an Australian national, who were married in Massachusetts seven years ago. The decision cited the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which the Obama administration had previously backed off from and vowed to no longer defend in court. Makk has been ordered to return to Australia. He is the primary caregiver for his husband, an AIDS patient with severe health problems. In a statement, Immigration Equality said, “We are appealing to the Obama administration … to put into action what they’ve said repeatedly they can do. [They] have said again and again that they can exercise discretion in individual cases, but they have not done so for a single gay or lesbian couple yet.”

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