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Immigrant in Same-Sex Marriage Won’t Face Deportation

Until recently, life for a same-sex couple in New York, Alcota and Ojeda, had been put on hold for two years. Recently, the couple received a letter authorizing the ruling by Immigration Judge Terry Bain that will permit her wife, Monica Alcota, 36, a native of Argentina, to remain in the country, according to the couple's lawyer, Lavi Soloway.

Alcota had been living in the country for more than a decade since overstaying her tourist visa, when she was removed from a Greyhound bus in July of 2009 and transported to a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Ojeda explained.

Ojeda, a social worker in Queens, traveled two costly hours by subway, train, bus, and sometimes taxi -- there and back each day for several months -- to visit Alcota.

"Looking back on those days, we have come so far, we have accomplished something really big," said Ojeda.

Ojeda and Alcota were married in Connecticut in 2010, before New York regulations permitted same-sex marriages.

"We have gone through a really rough road these past two years. The burden was horrible. We never knew what was going to happen," Ojeda said. "We lived in fear we were going to be torn apart," she added.

While celebrating how far they have come, Ojeda said "the battle is not over."

She told CNN that Alcota's attempts to receive a green card, which was initially turned down, now has been proposed for appeal. "Of course, we will not have full equality until DOMA is gone," the two had written in a statement.

The Defense of Marriage Act prohibits federal acknowledgment of same-sex marriages. The act also says that states cannot be required to identify such unions performed in other states. Despite the long road ahead, the happily wed couple is eager to have their life back.

"At least we have this. We know she is not going to be taken away, we can live our lives a little better, we can do things we haven't been able to do," an overwhelmed Ojeda said.