A gay couple from suburban Harrisburg has all the makings of the modern all-American family — except that one father is fighting to become an American citizen.
Mark Himes, 43, and husband Frédéric Deloizy, 48, met with officials from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services last Wednesday in Philadelphia to review the couple’s application for a green card for Deloizy, a French national.
Deloizy’s student visa expired at the end last summer, leaving him with no legal status in the United States. Just before his student status expired, the couple filed the green-card petition and application based on their marriage.
The couple, who married in California in 2008, has been together for 22 years and has four adopted children, ages 6-11. Deloizy has been living full-time in America since 1997.
The couple brought extensive documentation of their relationship — including evidence of their marriage, adoption papers and outlines of their finances — to last week’s meeting, and attorney Lavi Soloway, founder of Stop the Deportations, who is representing the couple, said the immigration representative acknowledged that the federal Defense of Marriage Act was the only remaining impediment to USCIS approval of Himes’ green-card petition for Deloizy.
DOMA bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage and, thus, American citizens from sponsoring their same-sex spouses for citizenship, a right given to heterosexual married couples.
“Once he reviewed everything, the officer said they met the eligibility requirements and he believed that their marriage was bona fide, real and genuine, and therefore there would be no obstacle to the case being approved with the exception of DOMA,” Soloway said. “It was clear that if this was not approved, the only reason is DOMA.”
The office will notify the couple by writing of the status of their application, which Soloway said could take weeks or months.
The couple is hoping that, if USCIS does not accept the application, it will hold the case in abeyance as the courts work out the constitutional questions around DOMA.
If the application is denied, USCIS could transfer the case to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to begin deportation proceedings.
“What we’re trying to accomplish here is avoiding discussion of deportation and instead focusing on the real possibility that despite the fact that DOMA is the law of the land, administrative agencies, with the leadership of President Obama and [Homeland Security] Secretary Napolitano, can fashion an intermediate solution,” Soloway said. “Witholding a decision on this case does not violate DOMA and would have the immediate effect of allowing Fred to stay here, to work and would prevent their family being torn apart.”
The pair met in Harrisburg in 1990 when Deloizy was in the United States as a visiting professor at a local college.
After he returned to France, the pair maintained a long-distance relationship until 1997, flying back and forth for visits.
Deloizy obtained a work visa that year and began teaching at a Harrisburg high school. The couple purchased a home for just $1 through a city renovation program and adopted an infant son, John, in 2000, and newborn daughter Claire in 2003.
Deloizy’s work visa expired in 2004, and the deadline for an extension passed unbeknownst to the couple.
Faced with a possible separation, Himes said the pair decided to sell their house, despite the work and money they invested into renovations, and move to France.
The couple had obtained the French version of a civil union through the French embassy in Washington, D.C., in 2000.
However, shortly before the move they learned that French law prohibits same-sex adoption and, thus, both could not serve as legal parents to their two children.
To circumvent that issue, Deloizy quickly attained a student visa and headed back to school in Harrisburg.
However, since the couple had already sold their house, they had to rent for 18 months before they were able to buy another fixer-upper, which they moved into in 2005. But with Deloizy in school and only one income, the family was forced to sell again and move to a smaller home.
Their family grew again in 2009 when they adopted twin boys, Joshua and Jacob, then 4 years old.
Himes is a facilities manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and Deloizy teaches online courses at Harrisburg Area Community College, which enables him to be home with the kids.
The couple outlined their family dynamic and history for immigration officials last Wednesday, bringing with them photos and documents explaining the interdependence of their relationship.
Apart from the obvious concern of separation, Deloizy’s potential deportation would also bring a bevy of logistical hardships for the family, Himes said.
“Since Fred works out of the house, he’s there all day for the children. He sees them off to school, and he’s able to be there when they get home. He’s in charge of food, cleaning, everything to do with the house,” Himes said. “Beside causing a major, major crisis for the children losing one of their parents, it would also be an incredible hardship on me as well. I would be losing my husband and I’d also be losing the person who takes care of our children most of the time.”
The couple is working with Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Tim Holden to urge immigration officials to make a fair and deliberative decision.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].