US citizen born in refugee camp sues to marry
LAFAYETTE, La. — Two weeks before their wedding, Viet “Victor” Anh Vo and his fiancee were stunned when a court clerk rejected their application for a marriage license because he couldn’t produce a birth certificate.
The couple had spent thousands of dollars on a wedding planner, caterer, florist, disc jockey and a reception hall for 350 guests before they learned that a newly amended Louisiana law would block them from getting married. They went ahead with February’s ceremony without a license to make it official, but they aren’t giving up on legally tying the knot.
Vo, a 31-year-old U.S. citizen who was born in an Indonesian refugee camp, sued Tuesday in federal court to challenge a law that has prevented other immigrants from getting married for the same reason he couldn’t.
“I don’t understand the law. I just want them to fix it, to make things right,” Vo told The Associated Press during an interview in his Lafayette hometown.