AP: Mass. man says Brazilian husband denied US asylum

[Heidi]

7 hours ago

BOSTON — A gay Brazilian man has been denied asylum by the Obama administration and won't be reunited with his Massachusetts husband in the U.S., the husband said Monday.

Tim Coco said Attorney General Eric Holder did not act on a Friday deadline in the case of Genesio "Junior" Oliveira, effectively denying the 30-year-old Brazilian man's request for asylum in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.

"We needed the Attorney General to make a decision on whether Junior could come home," said Coco, 48, of Haverhill. "He didn't take this request seriously."

The Justice Department did not immediately return messages.

In 2002, Oliveira had sought asylum in the U.S. because he said he was raped as a teenager in Brazil. But an immigration judge denied his request, and Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said in a letter that Oliveira repeatedly remarked at his hearing that he "was never physically harmed" by anyone in Brazil. Coco, however, said Oliveira was referring to street beatings and wasn't clear during his hearing about the harm he faced because of the rape.

<snip>

In March, Sen. John Kerry asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant Oliveira asylum on humanitarian grounds.

Kerry spokeswoman Brigid O'Rourke said Monday that the senator will continue to work toward a solution that would reunite the couple for good.

"The fact is that if Tim and Junior were a heterosexual married couple, they would never have suffered through more than two years of separation," said O'Rourke.

Read more

[Toasterlad]

1. Another Fuck-up From Our Homophobic Justice Department.

At this point, I don't care if Obama single-handedly pushes through ENDA, suspends DADT, and personally repeals DOMA. If Holder is still the Attorney General when Obama runs for a second term, there's no way he gets my vote.

Granted, it's unlikely Obama will get my vote anyway, since it's EXTREMELY unlikely he'll do any of those things.