Thursday, October 20, 2016

Louisiana State Flag

Last week, ImmigrationProf reported on a law that restricted the marriages of immigrants. That law may not be long for this world.

With the help of the National Immigration Law Center, a Louisiana man is challenging the law, which denies some immigrants in the state the fundamental right to a legal marriage. Viet “Victor” Anh Vo filed the lawsuit Vo v. Gee, et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He and his partner were prevented from obtaining a marriage license in multiple Louisiana parishes because of a state law that requires any foreign-born person to present a certified birth certificate to obtain a marriage license.

Vo, 31, is a U.S. citizen and has been a resident of Louisiana since he was three months old, but he was never issued an official birth certificate because he was born in a refugee camp in Indonesia after his parents fled Vietnam. His partner, Heather Pham, also is a U.S. citizen.

Vo is represented pro bono by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ), and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom LLP. The complaint filed today is available here.

KJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2016/10/louisiana-man-sues-to-strike-down-state-law-blocking-immigrants-from-marrying-1.html