Joshua Vandiver GS and his husband Henry Velandia appeared on MSNBC on Thursday morning to announce that Velandia, a native of Venezuela, would not be deported.
The announcement comes after a yearlong legal battle by the couple to prevent Velandia from being forced to leave the country. In May, Vandiver and Velandia appeared with a crowd of supporters at a courthouse in Newark to argue against Velandia’s deportation.
At the hearing, Judge Alberto Riefkohl decided to postpone the decision based on ongoing investigations by the office of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder into whether circumstances existed under which a gay partner of a U.S. citizen could be granted legal residency.
Shortly after Thursday’s announcement, New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt released a statement in support of Vandiver and Velandia.
“Over the past year, Henry and Josh have courageously served as symbols in the fight against marriage discrimination,” Holt said. “I know that they will continue to battle discrimination in all its forms, but I hope that, now that their personal fight has reached its end, they may enjoy the happiness and peace that they deserve.”
The news comes at a significant point in the national debate over same-sex marriage. In February, the Obama administration recommended that the Justice Department no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which President Barack Obama described as unconstitutional.
On Saturday, New York became the sixth state in the country to legalize gay marriage and, on Wednesday night, the Rhode Island state legislature passed a bill that would legalize civil unions for same-sex partners.
More to come …
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Effort to restore chapel’s pews slowly progresses
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Head carpenter Jim Sullivan has been restoring the Chapel pews over the last year. The dry atmosphere of the Chapel has warped the wooden pews over the years.