July 25, 2013
Persecuted Gay Immigrant Allowed to Stay in US
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.
deral judges have permitted a gay Filipino immigrant to stay in the U.S. despite deportation orders because he has suffered persecution for his sexual orientation in his native land.
In a decision issued Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco says 37-year-old Dennis Vitug was harassed and threatened by police in his native Philippines for being a homosexual.
He moved to the U.S. in 1999 and overstayed a tourist visa while working in the Los Angeles area and studying fashion design.
Vitug became addicted to methamphetamine and was convicted of possession several times.
An immigration appeals panel had ordered him removed from the country over the drug convictions.
The court said Wednesday that Vitug was persecuted in the Philippines and ordered officials to withhold his removal.
