A New Jersey judge yesterday halted the deportation of a Venezuelan salsa dancer who legally married an American man in a same-sex ceremony last year.

The decision comes a day after US Attorney General Eric Holder set aside a Board of Immigration Appeals ruling in a similar case.

Henry Velandia, 27, is petitioning to be allowed to remain in the country as the spouse of Josh Vandiver, a 29-year-old US citizen and Princeton grad student.

Judge Alberto Riefkohl granted an adjournment of the case yesterday in a federal immigration court in Newark.

The couple were married last year in Connecticut.