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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Jun 3, 2010
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez on May 24 endorsed the inclusion of a provision protecting same-sex couples and their families in any comprehensive immigration reform package.
Gutierrez, a Democrat from Chicago, is considered the House leader on immigration reform efforts and is the sponsor of the only comprehensive immigration bill pending. So, his endorsement is significant to LGBT equality advocates.
On May 24, Gutierrez held a press conference in Chicago with U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, and Jared Polis, D-Colo. All three pledged unwavering support for including the provisions of the Uniting American Families Act in any major immigration bill.
The Uniting American Families Act, sponsored for the past eight years by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., would allow Americans in same-sex relationships to sponsor their “permanent partners” for immigration purposes.
Existing immigration law allows for a U.S. citizen to sponsor his or her spouse for immigration, a coveted “green card.” However, the provision does not apply to same-sex spouses or partners.
“We need to recognize that one of the main problems facing the U.S. when it comes to immigration is that our legal immigration system is so dysfunctional and restrictive that we have created incentives for people to go around our system rather than going through it,” Gutierrez said in a statement. “Nowhere is this more true than for committed same-sex couples who have to make a painful choice between their family and the immigration laws of the U.S. that do not recognize these family units for the purposes of immigration. By disallowing legal immigration and family unity for these couples and families, our immigration laws are separating families and preventing the reunification of families separated by borders because of immigration bureaucracy and restrictions.”
U.S. law essentially can force same-sex couples into divorces, extended separations or major relocations away from good friends and close relatives. U.S. policy affords no recognition of these relationships and guarantees no rights.
“LGBT people and people living with HIV are disproportionately affected by our country’s discriminatory immigration system,” said Francisco Duenas of Lambda Legal, a national LGBT civil liberties group. “Many inhabit a double closet, afraid of disclosing their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and afraid of disclosing that they are undocumented.”
Duenas said reform must include “at a minimum, an end to unequal treatment of same-sex bi-national couples.”
A number of other countries already allow their citizens to sponsor permanent partners or same-sex spouses for immigration. Those countries include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
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