The Miami Herald Profiles Local Binational Couple
By Steve Ralls on 07/01/2010 @ 03:19 PM
As the nation awaited President Obama’s remarks on immigration reform this morning, one binational couple in Miami was speaking out, sharing their story and working to end discrimination against families like theirs.
Today’s Miami Herald (and the Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald) includes a moving story about one couple’s struggle to remain together.
From Herald reporters Steve Rothaus and Alfonso Chardy:
Juan Carlos Galán and Greg Nardi of Miami Beach live together as a family and would like to get married.
Then Nardi, a U.S. citizen, would claim Galán as a relative and help the Panama-born computer expert get a green card. For now, though, these are just dreams -- unless President Barack Obama can convince Congress to pass immigration reform. . . .
. . . Galán and Nardi say they hope U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami -- a leading Republican gay-rights proponent -- becomes a co-sponsor of the bill. . . .
. . . "I am studying a variety of important immigration bills that may be debated later this year,'' Ros-Lehtinen said in an e-mail to The Miami Herald. "Each bill is of great importance to those individuals who are impacted, and I will give this legislation serious consideration.''
Under existing immigration law, a U.S. citizen or resident married to a foreign husband or wife can file what is known as a Petition for Alien Relative, which is not available to gay or unmarried couples.
Proposals would modify immigration law, adding a permanent-partner option. The change would define a permanent partner as an individual 18 or older in a committed, intimate relationship with another adult in which both intend a lifelong commitment. The United States does not recognize same-sex marriages.
Obama plans to resume efforts to push for reform during a speech Thursday at American University in Washington. But for Galán and Nardi it may be too late.
Tired of waiting for the American Dream, Galán and Nardi have decided to leave the United States and move to Canada, where Galán will be able to claim Nardi as his foreign spouse. . . .
. . . Galán, who has a U.S. business visa, qualifies for Canadian residency under Ottawa's point-based immigration system. His technology expertise, education and proficiency in languages helped him score the necessary points to win a Canadian green card.
As an immigrant in Canada he can then claim Nardi.
"It's ironic,'' Nardi, a yoga instructor, said, reflecting on the sharp differences in what gay couples can and cannot do in neighboring countries. ``Here I am not allowed to file for Juan Carlos but over there he can file for me.''
Galán arrived in the United States as a 17-year-old student and studied psychology at the University of Texas. He now works in data management in a North Miami office. His employer sponsored him for the business visa that allows him to live and work in the United States.
He met Nardi two years ago online and they began dating. Eight months into the relationship they began living together in a Miami Beach apartment.
It was at that point Galán and Nardi began discussing their future because of Galán's immigration status. Though he is legal and has a visa, that visa will expire at some point and he has no direct path to permanent residency unless his company sponsors him for a green card.
"They are nonprofit and they cannot afford it,'' Galán said.
Talk of incorporating the permanent partner provision into immigration law "gives me hope'' that eventually Nardi could sponsor him for residency, Galán said.
But hope is not enough. Galán and Nardi decided they could not wait to shape their future together and began the process of moving to Canada.
"I'm applying on my own merits, and I'm taking my partner with me,'' said Galán, who plans to marry Nardi soon after settling in Canada.
They plan to move early next year.
To read the full Herald article, click here.
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