Gay Filipino woman challenges deportation from the US

A Filipino immigrant in the US has filed a lawsuit in which she claims she is exempt from deportation because she is married to an American of the same sex. The class action is reportedly the first of its kind ever filed against the Department of Homeland Security.

A challenge has been made against the Defence of Marriage Act by Jane DeLeon from the Philippines, Irma Rodriguez, her US spouse, and her 25-year-old son Martin Aramas. The argument is against the fact that the law defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.

According to Centre for Human Rights and Constitutional Law executive director, Peter Schey, who is representing Ms DeLeon, she is claiming the right to stay in the US which is often given to heterosexual couples. Schey said that he was concerned that the Obama administration was not doing enough to implement a policy which would grant people in same-sex marriages the same rights as those in heterosexual unions.

A number of federal courts have questioned DOMA’s constitutional legitimacy. In Boston earlier this year a court found that the act was denying federal benefits to same-sex couples who were legally married.

Currently in the US the District of Columbia and six states recognise same-sex unions. Rodriguez and DeLeone were married in the state of California in 2008 when it was legal. The pair have been in a relationship for two decades but DeLeone’s immigration application was denied on the grounds that she previously claimed to be the married housewife of a Filipino. The Department of Homeland Security has refused to comment on the case.