Queens Woman Won't Be Deported, Judge Says, Until Legal Status Of Same-Sex Marriage Is Clear

An Argentinian woman from Queens won't be deported, a Queens judge ruled on Tuesday, until the legal status of the Defense of Marriage Act is better defined.

Monica Alcota, who married American citizen Cristina Ojeda in Connecticut, faced deportation after overstaying her tourist visa. Ojeda petitioned to get her wife a green card in August but the federal government, following the Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996, did not recognize same-sex marriages that are performed legally in a handful of states.

Alcota's case is among the first of its kind since President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder announced last month that they will no longer defend DOMA in court when it is challenged by same-sex couples.

Last Wednesday, Senate Democrats introduced legislation to repeal DOMA, while House Republicans had already started their legal defense of the Act that would prohibit same-sex couples from receiving many of the rights granted to heterosexual couples.

Alcota and Ojeda will go back to court in December to further determine Alcota's immigration status, according to the New York Daily News.