A federal court in Maryland today ordered the U.S. Department of State to recognize the U.S. citizenship and issue a U.S. passport to 1-year old Kessem Kiviti, a baby born abroad to a same-sex married couple who was refused recognition as a U.S. citizen from the moment of her birth by the Trump Administration despite federal law giving her that right.
A federal court in Maryland heard arguments today in a case brought by Lambda Legal and Immigration Equality and pro bono counsel Morgan Lewis on behalf of a married gay couple and their daughter Kessem Kiviti, whom the Trump Administration continues to refuse to recognize as a U.S. citizen since birth, even though both of her parents are U.S. citizens.
Today, Immigration Equality, Lambda Legal, and pro bono counsel Morgan Lewis filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland against the U.S. Department of State for refusing to recognize the citizenship of Kessem Kiviti, the daughter of married U.S. citizens Roee and Adiel Kiviti. The State Department’s policy treats the children of U.S. citizens in same-sex marriages as “born out of wedlock,” unconstitutionally stripping their children of citizenship.
Despite the Trump administration’s most recent late Friday night attempt to wrap up this old fish of a “policy” in today’s newspaper, it’s still the same old rotting fish.
On July 7, Maryland’s high court took a major step in recognizing and protecting the families formed by same-sex couples, a step Lambda Legal fervently hopes New York’s high court will soon take as well.
Yesterday, members and allies of the LGBT community raised their voices for justice as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the six cases collectively known as Obergefell v. Hodges, challenging discriminatory state bans on marriage for same-sex couples. But just miles from the courthouse steps, in Baltimore, a community is in turmoil, mourning the death of another black man while in police custody.
The woman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and alleged that she was subjected to physical and verbal harassment in the workplace over a two-year period.
From the New York Times:
For Colette Hayward and Margaret Selby, the problem is this: Maryland recognizes their 2009 marriage, but the federal government does not.
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