Immigration

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) late yesterday released two asylum seekers living with HIV who were detained at an ICE detention facility in eastern Texas, less than one week after Lambda Legal and Immigration Equality, along with co-counsel Vinson & Elkins, submitted a letter demanding their release. The men were severely persecuted in Cuba because of their political activism and sexual orientation and had been detained in the U.S. since October 2019.

Lambda Legal, Immigration Equality and pro bono counsel Morgan Lewis this week urged federal district courts in Georgia and Maryland to compel the U.S. State Department to recognize the U.S. citizenship of two children born abroad to married same-sex couples who are themselves 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.