San Francisco, California “This is a good day for this family, but their fight is not over,” said Chris Waddling, Binational Couples Outreach Director for Marriage Equality USA. Shirley Tan, the California mother of two who was to be deported April 3rd has been given a stay of deportation until April 22nd pending the possibility of further action.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of her counsel, Melanie Nathan, lawyer Phyllis Beech, Rep. Jackie Speier [CA-12], Senator Dianne Feinstein, and Immigration Equality’s Julie Kruse, Ms Tan, her wife of 23 years, U.S. citizen Jay Mercado, and their two sons will not be saying goodbye to one another just yet
The Mercury News reports:
“Shirley Tan, whose partner of more than two decades is a U.S. citizen, had her deportation delayed by the Department of Homeland Security until April 22. The stay gives Tan more time to make the case that she should be able to remain in the country legally. Tan and her partner, Jay Mercado, have been expecting to move to the Philippines with their sons if Tan was forced to leave the U.S. The stay — obtained with the help of Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. — ‘gives them hope,’ said Melanie Nathan, a Marin County mediator working with the couple.”
O-blog-dee-o-blog-da 