There has been much discussion on this site about Obama's inaction on a number of gay issues ... DADT, DOMA, etc. There has also been a lot of "backlash" from others on the site saying "He's only been in office for five months!" "The economy sucks!" "DADT is the law ... there's nothing he can do!"
However, on another issue, the Obama administration has ordered that a law be ignored until Congress has the time to fix it -- something gay activists have been asking for with regard to DADT and something Obama has the power to do.
The law in question is the so-called "widow's penalty." A foreign national who marries a U.S. citizen can apply for permanent residency after a two year waiting period—two years after marrying—but, sorry, if your American spouse dies before your second anniversary, you have to leave the country. And if you don't leave voluntarily the federal government will deport you. It's cold, it's harsh, it's unfair. But it's the law.
However, my hometown paper The Stranger, notes this:
The widows’ and widowers’ plight came to the attention of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano within days of her taking office. That according to her spokesman Matt Chandler. He says broader immigration and border policy has proven quite complicated. But this was something Napolitano decided to take an early stab at.
Matt Chandler: “There were some sad cases there. We had a responsibility to not only enforce the laws of this country as they are written, especially as it pertains to immigration. But we also have a responsibility to do so in a practical and commonsense way.”
Napolitano has ordered deportations of surviving spouses and their children deferred for two years. That gives Congress time to fix the law if it chooses to.
So, the Obama has time to fix this injustice even with the economic meltdown, even with being in office for only five months. So why can't this administration right another wrong with regard to DADT?