Love Sees No Borders - Warning: Students

Warning: Same-Sex Binational Couples Under Fire
First-of-its-Kind Raid in San Diego Ends in Mass Arrests of Students

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 13, 2001 - Love Sees No Borders, an educational organization focused on raising awareness of the plight of same-sex binational couples and their fight to remain together, today issued a warning to binational same-sex couples in which the foreign partner is a Middle Eastern student. According to an Associated Press news report issued yesterday, the INS arrested 10 Middle Eastern men and women who are in the United States on student visas and were suspected of violating the terms of their visas by not being enrolled in school. None is suspected of having ties to terrorists.

Filed yesterday afternoon, AP reported that "authorities began compiling a database of the nearly 600,000 foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing," but the effort languished because of opposition from several segments, including school officials. The crackdown began at 5 a.m., and agents visited over a dozen homes in San Diego County. This new INS act is part of the agency's attempt to better track foreign students after it was revealed that one of the Sept. 11 terrorists, Saudi native Hani Hanjour, had entered the country as a student. According to the report "agents sought Wednesday to interview San Diego-area students born in Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen."

"This is one more unfortunate example how Americans in same-sex relationships with foreigners are being affected since September 11th," said Leslie Bulbuk of Love Sees No Borders. "We are denied the basic human right of being able to sponsor and therefore keep our loved partners in this country. Americans in opposite-sex relationships are able to do this. We praise Government's efforts to protect the nation, but we need the ability to protect the integrity of our families as well. Many members of our community rely on student visas to remain together, and this latest crackdown is a threat to the stability of many American families."

Love Sees No Borders strongly encourages binational same-sex couples where the foreign partner is a student to immediately contact an immigration attorney to discuss possible scenarios, and plan how to react in case the foreign partner is caught in a raid. Anyone who does not know where to find an attorney is encouraged to contact a local Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force chapter. More information about local chapters can be found at http://www.lgirtf.org or by calling (212) 714-2904. Love Sees No Borders is making available on its site, http://www.loveseesnoborders.org, links to ACLU's pocket guides on what to do in case authorities stop you. We encourage couples to download and study these guides.

Other Organizations to Contact
LGIRTF, Inc.
350 West 31st Street, Suite 505, New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 714-2904
Fax: (212) 714-2973
Email: info@lgirtf.org
Web Site: www.lgirtf.org

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004-2400
Phone: (212) 549-2500
Email: aclu@aclu.org
Web: http://aclu.org

Human Rights Campaign
919 18th St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: 202/628-4160
TTY: 202/216-1572
Fax: 202/347-5323
Web: http://www.hrc.org

National Center for Lesbian Rights
870 Market St., Suite 570
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415.392.6257
Fax: 415.392.8442
E-mail: info@nclrights.org
Web: http://www.nclrights.org

About Love Sees No Borders
Love Sees No Borders is an organization dedicated to promoting awareness of the plight of same-sex binational couples in the United States. Our work includes media outreach, public speaking and other educational activities. For more information about the organization and how to support our efforts through a donation, please visit www.loveseesnoborders.org.