For LGBTQ couples, seeking asylum in the US could mean separation

[Global Nation] '“If a couple is not married, there is no way to link them in the immigration system.' In March 2019, Oscar Juarez Hernandez and Darwin Garcia Portillo, who lived as a gay couple in Honduras, entered the United States at the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego expecting to claim asylum based on persecution in Honduras due to their sexual identities. However, soon after they arrived, border officers separated them, telling Garcia Portillo he would be sent to a for-profit detention facility in Louisiana. Juarez Hernandez was sent to detention in Colorado. For most LGBTQ couples coming from Central America, it is logistically impossible to get married before arriving to the United States. In Honduras — and most other Latin American countries — same-sex marriage is illegal, making it impossible for most LGBTQ migrant couples to prove their partnership to US officials. This was the case for Juarez Hernandez and Garcia Portillo. No legal document recognizes their relationship. Therefore, they could have easily found themselves in a situation where one person was granted asylum, while the other was deported. [How the US immigration system nearly tore this LGBTQ couple apart]( SUPPORT GLOBAL NATION Like what you read in this newsletter? Do you value our coverage of immigration and immigrant communities in the United States?[Make a gift]( to support our work now, and your donation will be doubled. [Donate here.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Plus, here are a few more stories you might have missed: [The U visa is supposed to help solve crimes and protect immigrants. But police are undermining it.]( Nataly Alcantara awoke to two shadows standing in her bedroom. Her husband and their toddler son lay next to her, with their 3-month-old daughter nestled in a crib beside the bed. One of the shadows, Alcantara realized, held a knife. [A high school reunion for Iranian Americans, 40 years after the revolution]( On the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, these former classmates said that this reunion — their first in 42 years — took them back to a time and place that felt like a world away. [Under Trump, immigrants face increasingly long and complicated road to citizenship]( Applicants are experiencing more vetting, a proposed spike in the application fee and prolonged processing times — waits that could keep thousands of would-be US citizens from voting in the 2020 general election. [Early childhood education is critical, but limited. In Oregon, immigrant teachers could be the solution.]( America faces a shortage of early childhood teachers. One program in Portland, Oregon, is trying to address it while helping immigrants overcome challenges in moving up the workforce. Thanks for joining us! — Marnette Federis, education editor [GlobalNation FB]( [Global Nation Twitter]( [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( Global Nation is a part of PRI - Public Radio International.