lesbian mom facing deportation back to the Philipines

Well, not for now but this family's future is uncertain.

(San Mateo, California) Shirley Tan has won a temporary delay so that she can appeal the deportation order that would have torn her from her life partner of 23 years and their 12-year-old twin sons.

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The stay in executing the order to deport Tan back to her native Philippines was obtained with the help of Rep. Jackie Speier and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats.

Tan and Jaylynn “Jay” Mercado were married in San Francisco in 2004, when San Francisco issued marriage licenses in defiance of state law. Even if the California courts uphold the legality of pre-Proposition 8 marriages, the federal Defense of Marriage Act prevents Mercado from sponsoring her partner of 23 years for immigration.

Were the women a married opposite-sex couple, Tan could be legal.

The stay in implementing the deportation order was issued by the Department of Homeland Security. It will be in effect until April 22 so that she can file an appeal.

Mercado has said that if Tan were deported she and their sons would move to the Philippines to keep the family together.

Legislation was re-introduced in Congress last month that would allow Americans in a same-sex relationship to sponsor their “permanent partners” for legal residency in the United States.

The Uniting American Families Act was filed in the House by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy. Both Speier and Feinstein are cosponsors of the bill.

With Democrats now in Control of the Congress and the White House, LGBT advocates are hopeful the measure will become law.

Across the country, 37,000 couples face circumstances similar to that of Tan and Mercado.