The issue of whether the federal government’s definition of marriage should expand to include gay couples that’s currently making its way through the U.S. Supreme Court is particularly poignant for immigrant couples like Santiago Ortiz and Pablo Garcia. The ruling could mean a lifetime together or the constant fear of separation.

Ortiz, a Puerto Rican-American who was born in New York, and Garcia, a Venezuelan native, fell in love a quarter century ago and married in Connecticut in May 2011. The couple wanted to live together, especially since Ortiz is HIV-positive and they were unsure how long he might have. So Garcia got a six-month tourist visa in the late 1980s and was able to renew it for one year.

But the federal government doesn’t recognize the two men as relatives, meaning Garcia cannot get a green card as Ortiz’s husband. Unable to renew the visa again and ineligible for a green card, the couple made the decision to have Garcia stay in the country without papers, and he has lived that way for more than 20 years.

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