INS Must Consider ‘Family Ties,’ Appeals Court Rules : Immigration: The deportation case involves a Canadian who had lived with her U.S. boyfriend for many years.

Immigration officials must consider a woman’s “family ties” to her boyfriend and his relatives in deciding whether to deport her, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Ruta Marie Kahn of Encinitas may be able to demonstrate family ties, a factor weighing against deportation, even though the couple’s relationship was not considered a marriage under California law.

The court did not say that all unmarried couples should be considered to have family ties for purposes of the deportation law. But the judges indicated that a relationship qualifying as a common-law marriage in states that recognize such marriages should be considered by immigration officials in assessing cases from other states.

In dissent, Judge Alex Kozinski, who quoted the Paul Simon song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” said the Immigration and Naturalization Service has a legitimate reason to define a couple’s family ties as marital status under state law.

Couples who live together in a state that does not recognize common-law marriages “can go their separate ways any time they please,” Kozinski wrote. He cited one of the “50 ways” in the Simon song: “Just slip out the back, Jack.”

A common-law marriage--two people considering and representing themselves as husband and wife but without a legal ceremony--is considered the equivalent of marriage in 13 states and in Washington. California does not recognize common-law marriages but will accept another state’s determination of such.

Kahn’s attorney, Frank Vecchione, said Kahn and boyfriend John Caldwell were recently married after having lived together for many years. Vecchione said their previous relationship probably would have been considered a marriage in many states.

Kahn, a Canadian national, was admitted to the United States as a permanent legal resident in 1978. The INS sought to deport her after she pleaded guilty to money-laundering and conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.

Vecchione said Kahn’s role was limited to selling glassware in a chemical supply shop in San Clemente five or six years ago. He said she was placed on probation by a federal judge.

Federal law allows deportation to be waived if an immigrant’s good character, ties to the United States and other sympathetic factors outweigh the seriousness of the grounds for deportation.

An immigration judge ruled in Kahn’s favor, citing, among other things, her relationship with Caldwell--who likened it to a common-law marriage--and his family. But the Board of Immigration Appeals denied a waiver, saying California law precludes recognizing the couple’s relationship as a family tie.

The appeals court majority, Judges James Browning and Procter Hug, ordered the case reconsidered, saying deportation must be decided under a uniform federal policy.

If family ties depend on varying state laws, the court said, “whether an alien is granted a waiver of deportation may depend on that alien’s state of residence.”

But Kozinski said the administration of many federal laws, including immigration law, depends on state definitions of marital status. For example, he said, a legal marriage to an American citizen, determined by state law, may make an immigrant eligible for admission to the United States.

“Marriage connotes a level of stability and commitment that simply doesn’t exist between unmarried folks, no matter how warm their relationship,” Kozinski said. He also said the cases of many long-term gay and lesbian couples were more compelling than that of Kahn, who had the option of getting married.

Vecchione said the ruling “reflects a recognition that in modern-day society, most romantic relationships of long standing have equal status with that of a legal marriage.” He declined to comment on the possible implications for same-sex couples.