As the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee takes up some 300 amendments to the immigration overhaul bill today, one Vermonter will be following those proceedings more closely than most. In particular, South Hero resident Michael Upton will be watching two amendments, introduced by committee chair, Sen. Patrick Leahy, to extend equal immigration rights to same-sex couples.
In January 2008, the 49-year-old psychiatrist (in photo, right) was traveling in Brazil when he met a Brazilian national with whom he fell in love. The couple has maintained a committed relationship ever since. Had he been straight rather than gay, Upton would have had no problem bringing a female partner into the United States so they could get married.
However, because Upton’s partner, Jandui Cavalcante, is a gay man, for the last two years the U.S. government has repeatedly denied him a visa to travel to Vermont to be with his life partner. This despite letters of support from Vermont’s congressional delegation to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Why the repeated refusals? Is Cavalcante a convicted felon, terrorist, drug addict or some other less-than-scrupulous character the U.S. government needs to keep out of the country?
Nothing of the sort. According to Upton, Cavalcante’s visa applications have been denied simply because he doesn’t own a home or business in Brazil, nor does he have any children there. As a result, in the U.S. government’s eyes, Cavalcante doesn’t have “sufficient ties to his home country of Brazil” and thus there are no guarantees he’ll ever return home. In their visa refusal letters, immigration officials specifically cited Cavalcante’s “unclear relationship” with Upton.
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Senator Leahy’s often a good target for criticism but he’s doing the right thing here and I applaud him for it.