Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 16:26:32 -0800 From: Ron Buckmire Subject: JANUARY 1999: LGIRTF/LA monthly meeting TUE 1/12 Immigration Equality Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force/L.A. c/o L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center / Legal Services 1625 North Schrader Boulevard / Los Angeles, CA 90028-9998 voice: 323.526.2915 / fax: 323.993.7653 / e-mail: lgirtf@abacus.oxy.edu web: http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration/lgirtfla.html NEWSLETTER: January 1999 NEXT MEMBERSHIP MEETING SET FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 12 at 7pm The next meeting of Immigration Equality will be on the second Tuesday of the month--Tuesday January 12--at 7pm at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center (1625 North Schrader Boulevard in Hollywood, two blocks west of Cahuenga Boulevard and one-half block south of Hollywood Boulevard). We will be meeting in Room 204 (on the second floor) in the library of the Legal Services Department. This month's topic will be "What immigration advances can we expect in 1999?" INS SUSPENDS DEPORTATION PROCEEDINGS FOR HONDURANS & NICARAGUANS The Los Angeles Times reported that the INS has agreed to suspend "removal' proceeding for all non-criminal illegal aliens from the two Central American countries most affected by Hurricane Mitch and to even allow them to apply for work permits which will be valid for 18 months. In November the INS had suspended deportation proceedings for natives of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala until March 8, 1999. The new policy only applies to Hondurans and Nicaraguans who entered the United States before December 30, 1998 and who pay the $175 fee. The U.S. Government has made the determination that these two countries were affected by the Hurricane and this is considered a form of compassionate disaster relief. CANADA, NEW ZEALAND ANNOUNCE IMMIGRATION CHANGES FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES Even though same-sex couples were able to immigrate to New Zealand and Canada previously they were not really treated identically to married couples or even unmarried opposite-sex couples. Both countries have now announced that they will be making changes to their immigration rules in order to end the different treatment that same-sex couples receive when they try to immigrate to Canada and New Zealand. For more info look on the web at www.egale.ca SECOND ANNUAL NATIONAL FREEDOM TO MARRY DAY SET FOR FEBRUARY 12, 1999 The National Freedom To Marry Coalition (to which the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force belongs) is making plans for the second annual National Freedom To Marry Day. This is a day on which events are planned all around the country to highlight the impact the lack of the freedom to marry has on same-sex couples. There will be a lot of media coverage. If you would like to participate in an event, contact Christopher Calhoun of the Los Angeles Freedom To MarryCoalition at 323.860.7352 or email LA@freedomtomarry.org LGIRTF RECEIVES FOUNDATION GRANTS, HIRES FULL-TIME STAFF PERSON Our parent organization, the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force (LGIRTF), has received foundation grants and has been able to hire its first full-time staff person, Jennifer Higgins. The LGIRTF newsletter has been redesigned and renamed as "The Status Report." If you are on the Immigration Equality (LGIRTF Los Angeles) mailing list and receiving our newsletter by mail then you should also get the Status Report automatically. If not, contact us at 323.526.2915. Or you can contact the LGIRTF National Office at 212.818.9639 IMMIGRATION RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON THE WEB The Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force, our parent organization has a website at http://www.lgirtf.org/ The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which has an Asylum Project, is at http://www.iglhrc.org/ The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the most prominent U.S. organization devoted to gay and lesbian legal issues has a section of its website devoted to immigration at http://www.lambdalegal.org/ The Cato Institute and The National Immigration Forum have placed the text of their 1995 report on demographic and economic facts of Immigration in the U.S. on the web, at http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/pr_immig.html The National Immigration Forum has a website at http://www.immigrationforum.org/ The American Immigration Lawyers Association has a very useful website at http://www.aila.org/ The Stonewall Immigration Group, our sister organization in the United Kingdom has a website at http://www.stonewall.org.uk/ The Immigration and Naturalization Service has its official website at http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/ The law firm of Siskind et al has launched a website which has copies of actual INS forms at http://www.visalaw.com/ The Canadian law firm of SMITH & HUGHES has an OUT/LAW Immigration site at http://www.smith-hughes.com/olimm.htm The Queer Resources Directory, the oldest queer internet archive, has a section devoted to immigration at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration Queer Immigration mailing list QI@abacus.oxy.edu To subscribe, send the one-line email message (leave the Subject blank) to Majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu with the command subscribe qi. M I S S I O N S T A T E M E N T The LGIRTF addresses the widespread discriminatory impact of immigration laws on the lives of lesbians, gay men and people with HIV through education, outreach, advocacy and the maintenance of a nationwide resource and support network