World

Gay immigrants seek US asylum

by smkovalinsky | October 28, 2009 at 06:26 am

158 views | 24 Recommendations | 5 comments

The U.S. has always been considered a place where others could seek asylum, and now gays of the world have begun seeking asylum under a federal sexual orientation clause added in 1994.

An immigration attorney has told Associated Press that he won 55 cases last year, based on sexual orientation.

This issue gives the U.S. something of a reputation to live up to, concerning the Human Rights Campaign, and the surrounding issues of gay marriage and gays in the U.S. military.

Nathaniel Cunningham, a 32-year-old gay Jamaican man now living in Worcester, recently won his case after describing the violence he faced in Jamaica.
Since 1994, sexual orientation has been grounds for asylum in the U.S.

~ABC News, Boston, Mass.

A growing number of asylum seekers are using U.S. immigration courts to argue that their sexual orientation makes it too dangerous for them to return home. Victoria Neilson, an attorney for the New York-based Immigration Equality, said the nonprofit group successfully won 55 asylum cases last year using sexual orientation as grounds, a record for the organization. That's a jump from 2007 when the group won 30 cases. The exact number nationally is unknown since U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services doesn't keep data on those asylum cases.

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Joseph Kelly (not verified)

at 07:29 on October 28th, 2009

Why would a gay person choose the U.S. as a place to go? Try Canada or another country that treats gay people as first-class citizens.

Roy C

at 11:10 on October 28th, 2009

Well, Joseph, because your prejudiced take on the US reflects reading too many headlines and not enough first-hand experience.

If the gay Jamaican man wasn't happy with the situation in Massachusetts, why would he bother with this?

Well, he knows the reality on the ground, as I said, and you, Joseph, don't.

cbetancourt

at 12:37 on October 28th, 2009

Joseph Kelly beat me to it. I thought the U.S. was the worse place in the world for anyone to live. Why anyone would want to come here baffles the idiots on the left.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 13:44 on October 28th, 2009

This is interesting, smk. Thanks for posting.

Allison D. (not verified)

at 10:39 on November 17th, 2009

Joseph Kelly's point is well-taken. The U.S. does not treat LGBTQ people as equals under the law. This is a clearly unconstitutional situation which needs be rectified over the next decade.But to answer his question, Jamaica is (according to Time magazine) "the most homophobic place on earth." Gay people are treated like dirt. Not only are they denied health care, jobs and housing, but they are chased by homophobic mobs and meet very grisly ends. Gay people are often stoned or beaten to death. They are drowned, gunned down and have acid poured on them. The government encourages anti-LGBT vigilantism, and the police join in. So the short answer is that anyplace is better. One day the U.S. will hopefully catch up with the rest of the civilized world re: gay rights. Until then, it's better than Jamaica.