Frederic Deloizy, a French national, and Mark Himes, a Harrisburg, PA native, are a happily married couple with four young children. The couple met in 1990 in Pennsylvania and wed in California in 2008. Their happiness could soon be over, however.

Deloizy spent the past two decades in and out of the United States leapfrogging from one visa to another, in hopes of creating a life together with Himes. His final visa expired in September. Deloizy now faces deportation because immigration officials are barred from recognizing their marriage under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

DOMA was passed in 1996 by the GOP-controlled Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton. It bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages and says states cannot be forced to recognize such marriages from other states.

In February, President Barack Obama ordered the Justice Department to stop defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Despite the order, the administration will continue to enforce the law.

Himes filed a spousal green card petition so he and Deloizy can continue living stateside in Harrisburg with their four children. On Wednesday, the couple will appear before an immigration officer at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ district offices in Philadelphia to defend their relationship and marriage, the usual process for opposite-sex married couples where one spouse is foreign-born and not a U.S. citizen.

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