As Joe reported yesterday, the Obama administration is about to deport an Australian-born gay man, separating him from his American husband of seven years (they were legally married in Massachusetts). The couple has been together 19 years, and the man being deported on August 25th is the sole caregiver to his husband, who has AIDS.
The Obama administration says that they have no choice but to deport the husband, because the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) won't let them let him stay.
But of course, that's not entirely true.
As Joe explains in depth, quoting from a gay immigration lawyer who handles these kinds of cases, the administration has the legal authority to stop the deportation. They're simply, so far, choosing not to. It's reminiscent of how for two years we were told the administration was required by law to defend DOMA, only to find out they weren't required to at all, and they finally stopped defending it.
This is a similar case in which the administration is alleging powerlessness when they're not powerless at all.
The President could be a hero here. He could proactively solve this problem by simply taking some initiative. It seems sometimes that far too often the administration is reticent to do anything that might rock the boat, whatever boat they're worried about that particular day. Either the lawyers have scared them into inaction or they're afraid someone might get mad if they do the right thing.
The lawyers are always going to be worried about something. That's their job. And someone is always going to hate you. That's politics. But a lot of us put our hearts and souls, and a lot of our own cash, into electing Barack Obama president and we'd like to feel like he's proactively trying to do good, rather than being forced into it against his will. And a lot of time it feels like it's against his will, doesn't it?
The Obama people wonder why liberals are always so mad at them. It's because there isn't a great sense that you're looking out for our interests. Wouldn't it be great if no one had ever heard of this case, but the administration had already warned the agencies to be on the lookout for gay civil rights problems that might arise, and to notify the White House when they do? Imagine the White House having jumped on this issue and fixed it before it even hit the papers? Imagine the goodwill that would have created, and more importantly, the lives that would have been spared from ruin. Wouldn't it be neat if the White House had a reputation for sticking their necks out, and pushing the law to its limits, in order to make the world a better place?
That's not the reputation they have. And it's because on far too many issues they miss the opportunity to do good before things go bad. Now they have another chance to fix that. Here's hoping they do before August 25.
PS The gay couple is supposed to be on Olbermann tonight.
PS The gay couple is supposed to be on Olbermann tonight.
