A Carter Lake man claims the government is refusing to grant his husband a Visa because they are a same-sex couple. Now he's trying to figure out what he can do to make sure his spouse remains in the Omaha area.
Nicholas Herrera Sellers and Jose Hererra Hernandez were married in March 2017 in Nebraska. This year they filed paperwork to get a Visa for Jose to become a permanent resident since he came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico when he was 14 in 2002.
On October 1 they received a letter from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stating they intended to deny their petition because they didn't prove they were married other than to get around immigration laws. They feel their being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.
"I didn't marry this man just to help him out I married this man because he's my partner in crime, he's the other half to a heart," Nicholas explained. "I'm scared sometimes because at any time they can come grab him, take him, and deport him."
Nicholas and Jose submitted their legal nebraska marriage license, documents showing they had joint bank accounts, and letters of support. Their attorney, Tom Campbell, says he's helped hundreds of couples get visas the same way and his clients are being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.
"If there was an issue the government would be standard across all cases and they're not, they're picking and choosing certain same-sex marriage cases that they don't like and it's very sad to see this," Campbell explained.
The couple and their attorney will submit more evidence to prove their marriage isn't a sham.
In a statement, USCIS said, "Due to privacy reasons, we cannot comment on whether or not individuals have applied for immigration benefits or any decisions involved n the adjudication process."
