Illinois congressman to add right for homosexuals to claim foreign spouses to President Obama's comprehensive immigration reform plans
UPDATE 9/30/10: Gay Agenda included in immigration "DREAM Act" for children
UPDATE 7/15/10: "It tries to redefine traditional marriage. I can't support that," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah
-- From "Gay U.S. citizens seek to claim residency for foreign spouses" by Alfonso Chardy and Steve Rothaus, Miami Herald 7/1/10
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who last December introduced the first immigration reform bill of the current congressional session, announced in May that he intends to add provisions that would include same-sex couples and their families.
Gutierrez plans to incorporate into his bill language from the Uniting American Families Act, offered by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., a longtime proponent of the measure.
"Our immigration system must reflect the reality of our economy and society and how we treat same-sex couples and families is just one example," Gutierrez said. "Right now, too many same-sex binational couples face an impossible choice: to live apart or break the law to be with their partners, families and children. That's not good for them, and it is not good for the rest of us either."
Such a change would for the first time allow U.S. citizens in gay relationships to claim foreign partners as relatives so they can apply for permanent residency and then citizenship.
Under existing immigration law, a U.S. citizen or resident married to a foreign husband or wife can file what is known as a Petition for Alien Relative, which is not available to gay or unmarried couples.
Proposals would modify immigration law, adding a permanent-partner option. The change would define a permanent partner as an individual 18 or older in a committed, intimate relationship with another adult in which both intend a lifelong commitment. The United States does not recognize same-sex marriages.
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