Anthony Makk and Bradford Wells The US Government is kicking a gay Australian man who is the primary caregiver to his AIDS-afflicted husband out of the country after denying the couple immigration benefits. American Bradford Wells, 55, and Australian Anthony Makk, 48, have lived together in San Francisco for 19 years and were married seven years ago in Massachusetts. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has denied Makk's application to be considered for permanent residency as a spouse of an American citizen, citing the 1996 law that denies all federal benefits to same-sex couples. "I'm married just like any other married person in this country," Wells has told the newspaper. "At this point, the government can come in and take my husband and deport him. It's infuriating. It's upsetting. I have no power, no right to keep my husband in this country. I love this country, I live here, I pay taxes and I have no right to share my home with the person I married." Makk has been ordered to leave the US by 25 August. He is the sole caregiver for Wells, who has severe health problems. Wells is pleading with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and President Barack Obama to intervene. While the Defence of Marriage Act has been ruled unconstitutional on equal protection grounds by Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the administration is still enforcing it while exercising discretion on a case-by-case basis. Gay rights group Immigration Equality is working with the couple and spokesman Steve Ralls says discretion has not been exercised for a single gay or lesbian couple yet. "We are appealing to the Obama administration to begin to put into action what they've said repeatedly they can do," he says.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 10th August 2011 - 10:41am