Judge halts deportation of Velandia

After a legal fight that has spanned more than the entire length of the school year, Joshua Vandiver GS and his husband Henry Velandia can finally breathe a temporary sigh of relief. On Friday, a Newark immigration judge suspended the deportation of Velandia, a native of Venezuela, until at least December.

The ruling came after United States Attorney General Eric Holder intervened in a similar case involving a same-sex couple in New Jersey.

According to The New York Times, Holder asked that the case be sent back to the appeals court so that it could determine if there were any way that one of the partners, an Irish national, could qualify for legal residency.

Alberto Riefkohl, the judge in Vandiver and Velandia’s case, cited this other case in explaining his decision to postpone Velandia’s deportation hearing. Riefkohl said he did not want to try the case until the attorney general’s office and the appeals court had decided if there were any circumstances in which a gay partner could be eligible for residency.

The Princeton Equality Project, a campus advocacy group supporting same-sex marriage rights, organized a rally outside of the courthouse on Friday during the hearing.

On a Facebook event page created for the rally, 170 people indicated that they would attend.

“It was a lot more somber,” said PEP member Lelabari Giwa-Ojuri ’14, who added the event had a different tone than some other equality rallies she had been to.

“You could tell when you saw Josh and Henry speak, that they were being very strong because it was very emotional right before the trial. It was great being there with [groups from] other LGBT campaigns,” she said.

Lexi Meyer ’11, who takes salsa classes taught by Velandia and was in Vandiver’s precept during her freshman year, said the rally was especially subdued because so many of the attendees had personal relationships with the couple.

“You had this very mixed mood where it was hopeful and we were all very happy to be a part of it, but for those of us who are close to them, it was very personal,” Meyer said.

Vandiver and Velandia each made speeches at the courthouse rally, which took place before the trial.

Vandiver could not be reached for comment, but on PEP’s Facebook page he indicated his gratitude for those who came out to the rally in support of the cause.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“The Princeton Equality Project came out in force at yesterday’s rally calling upon the Obama administration to stop deporting Henry and LGBT spouses,” Vandiver wrote.

“It meant a lot to Henry and me to have you standing with us.”

The couple’s fight comes at a time when the issue of deportation of same-sex partners has been growing in the national spotlight.

In February, the Obama administration determined that the Defense of Marriage Act — which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman — unconstitutionally discriminates against gay people and recommended that the Justice Department no longer defend the act.

Nevertheless, as long as the act remains legal, deportation proceedings of thousands of immigrant gay partners are expected to continue.

Though Velandia can legally remain in the country for at least a few months more, his residential status is far from certain and the couple’s fight is therefore far from over.

“They got through this part of things, they bought themselves a little bit of time, but they understand that they’re far from the end of the fight,” Meyer said.