Sasha has advocated tirelessly on behalf of the LGBTQ community for more than 20 years.  She began her advocacy work in high school and at Boston College.  She strongly believes that LGBTQ rights are human rights and that gay, lesbian, queer, intersex, and transgender individuals are entitled to equal treatment under the law and respect and acceptance within their communities.  She works everyday to inspire those beliefs in others.  She works closely with same-sex couples throughout the country in gay marriage immigration cases.  She has successfully obtained hundreds of green cards (permanent residency) and K-1 fiance visa approvals on behalf of gay and lesbian couples.  Mrs. Westerman-Keuning represented the first same-sex fiance visa applicants who were interviewed and approved at the U.S. Consulates in Amman, Jordan and Bogota, Colombia as well as the first couple with an approved same-sex marriage petition in the whole United States at their residency interview in Oakland Park, Florida.  

A sampling of our office's accomplishments in the field of LGBT immigration:

• Hundreds of green card approvals based on same-sex marriages in various field offices across the United States for gay and lesbian individuals and dozens more pending marriage interviews in the upcoming months, including cases at the following field offices: Miami, Oakland Park, Kendall, Hialeah, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Jacksonville, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Manchester (NH), San Bernardino, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, New York City, Greer (SC) Field, Las Vegas, Atlanta, among many others.  
• Hundreds of same-sex I-129F fiance visa approvals, including three I-129F fiance visa applications approved in less than 2 months.
• Approval of an I-130 marriage petition for a same-sex couple residing in Japan less than two weeks from filing.  
• Approvals of I-601A Waivers of Inadmissibility for applicants in a same-sex marriage to a U.S. citizen for citizens from the following countries:  Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Colombia, and Honduras.  Some I-601A waivers were approved in less than two months.
• The first approval of a K-1 fiance visa at the U.S. Consulates in Bogota, Colombia and Amman, Jordan. 
• Approvals of same-sex fiance visa petitions and green card applications for couples with nearly 40-year age gaps and trios.
• Countless approvals of several same-sex marriage cases where the applicant was previously in a heterosexual marriage.
• Approvals of many marriage-based residencies where one spouse was a transgender individual and issuance of the green card with the correct gender marker.
• Approval of a VAWA domestic violence petition for a gay man from France who suffered abuse at the hands of his U.S. citizen husband.

(Actual Results May Vary)

Background

During her time as a student at Boston College ("BC"), Mrs. Westerman-Keuning became a powerful gay rights activist, leading a rally of more than 1,000 BC students and faculty in opposition to the university's discriminatory policies towards the LGBTQ community.  She was elected the Vice-President of the GLBT Leadership Council and represented the rights of LGBTQ students in meetings with Boston College deans and administrators. Her time at Boston College fighting against the university's discriminatory practices solidified her commitment to fighting for gay and lesbian rights.  She has represented several gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals in asylum claims before the Immigration Court. 

More recently, she has participated as a speaker in workshops sponsored by Unity Coalition such as "International Love and the Law" series, alongside distinguished panelists such as U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Former Judge David Young.  These panels focused on the negative impact of the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") in the immigration arena and the positive changes seen in the field of LGBTQ rights in recent months and years. She works closely with the non-profit group Unity Coalition, the largest LGBT Hispanic organization in Florida.  She walked in the 2014 and 2015 Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade and the Miami AIDS Walk, benefiting CARE Resources.  She has also served as a Board Member of the non-profit LGBT rights group, Unity Coalition/Coalicion Unida for five years.  

In 2015, Mrs. Westerman-Keuning established a unique pro bono project on behalf of the local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  This project called the LGBTQ Undocumented Homeless Youth Initiative pairs qualified immigration lawyers with homeless or at-risk for homelessness LGBTQ youth who need representation before U.S. immigration agencies.  The project is a collaboration between the local South Florida AILA Chapter and several local LGBT non-profit organizations such as Unity Coalition, Project SAFE, the Alliance for LGBT Youth, and Pridelines, among others.

Did you know that 40% of South Florida’s population of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ?  Across the country, LGBTQ youth are disproportionately subjected to abuse, homelessness, violence and harassment than their heterosexual counterparts. Undocumented LGBTQ youth are especially vulnerable to homelessness and street violence in the United States.   Due to the strongly held cultural, religious and societal beliefs brought to this country by their parents, undocumented LGBTQ youth too often find themselves subjected to abuse and thrown out into the streets when they “come out of the closet” to their families.  With no lawful immigration status and a smaller safety net of family and community resources in the U.S. than native-born citizens, these teens and young adults find themselves living life on the street with little hope. This project gives these youth hope by providing free legal services to this vulnerable population.  Our law firm is very proud of the creation and implementation of this important pro bono service. 

The Effect of the Repeal of DOMA in the Field of Immigration Law

On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) is unconstitutional as a violation of the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. See United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675, 2695-96 (2013).   On July 17, 2013, the Board of Immigration Appeals acknowledged the Supreme Court’s holding in Windsor as binding in the immigration context permitting same-sex couples to have the same rights as opposite-sex couples in all immigration matters.  Matter of Zeleniak, 26 I&N Dec. 158 (BIA 2013). 

In Zeleniak, the Board made clear that “[t]he Supreme Court’s ruling in Windsor has therefore removed section 3 of the DOMA as an impediment to the recognition of lawful same-sex marriages and spouses if the marriage is valid under the laws of the State where it was celebrated. This ruling is applicable to various provisions of the Act, including, but not limited to, sections 101(a)(15)(K) (fiancé and fiancée visas), 203 and 204 (immigrant visa petitions), 207 and 208 (refugee and asylee derivative status), 212 (inadmissibility and waivers ofinadmissibility), 237 (removability and waivers of removability), 240A (cancellation of removal), and 245 (adjustment of status), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(15)(K), 1153, 1154, 1157, 1158, 1182, 1227, 1229b, and 1255 (2012).”  

It is an exciting and historic time for gay and lesbian couples who are now for the first time recognized as spouses under federal immigration law and may file petitions on behalf of their spouses and fiance(e)s and act as qualifying relatives for immigration waivers.  Mrs. Westerman-Keuning currently represents hundreds of gay and lesbian couples in the residency process before USCIS and in K-1 fiance visa petitions before the U.S. Consulates.  She has also successfully represented transgendered individuals in immigration marriage proceedings.  Mrs. Westerman-Keuning continues to fight for LGBTQ and immigrant rights in all arenas.