Immigration officials may be able to consider the circumstances of married binational same-sex couples when making decisions about deportation, although an immigration group in response has asked for further clarification of new federal guidelines.
According to guidelines issued in a Friday memo by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton to field directors, agents, and attorneys, Morton listed 19 criteria that could be considered in deportation cases, including whether an individual has a U.S. citizen spouse, as well as "the person's ties and contributions to the community" and whether the individual's nationality "renders removal unlikely."