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Last week a press conference was held by Congressional leaders to encourage their colleagues to support the passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) as part of any immigration reform legislation.
The Uniting American Families Act would allow a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to sponsor their same-sex partner for immigration to the U.S. Currently this right does not exist for same-sex couples.According to Steve Ralls at Immigration Equality,
“There are an estimated 36,000 lesbian and gay Americans who have an immigrant partner. Nearly half of those families -- about 17,000 -- are raising young children who are American citizens. For those children, the United States is the only country they have ever called "home." Yet, because of discriminatory immigration laws, those same children face the prospect of losing one parent, or losing their home.” Immigration Equality also notes that “In 79% of binational families, the non-citizen partner is from a country that doesn’t provide immigration benefits to these couples, meaning neither partner is able to sponsor the other for immigration in their home countries.”Clearly there is a need, but the question remains if Congress will step up to pass LGBT-inclusive immigration reform this year. What also is uncertain is if LGBT couples will be left behind as the Obama administration works closer with the evangelical movement to pass immigration reform. Either way, it's up to us advocates to make sure both immigration reform moves forward with UAFA language.
There are, however, members of Congress who are stepping up to push for reform inclusive of UAFA. Reps. Nadler, Polis, Gutierrez, Honda and Quigley spoke out at the UAFA press conference last Thursday on the Hill. Videos are below.
I was especially excited to see so many straight men taking on the equality fight (and of course we all love the work of Rep. Polis!). Too often people shy away from ally roles because they are concerned with their own identity being questioned. As of today, there are 124 members of congress and23 senators signed on to UAFA as a stand alone bill. Rep. Honda included UAFA language in his immigration bill, the Reuniting Families Act and the Senate has already included UAFA language in their own immigration reform principles.
Also, in case you're wondering about the real-world impact of this bill, check out the story that Mr. DeLeon shared about his own experience and the need for reform now.
To see the press release from the press conference, click here.
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