The United American Families Act
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign PolicyDo you know what Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom all have in common? Well, they all allow one half of a same sex couple the ability to sponsor the foreign half.
Why brings this up now? Well, today I was sent an email from an acquaintance detailing his and his partner’s situation. I urge you to read it, consider it and act if that’s what you’re compelled to do.
Hello All:It is not my style to write and ask for others to support causes that are important to me, but I want to make an exception. For many years, American citizens have been able to marry non-resident aliens (people in the US who are not permanent residents or citizens). Once married (and sometimes before), the American citizen can sponsor his or her non-resident spouse for permanent residency in the US based solely on the marriage. Because homosexuals cannot legally marry under federal law, homosexuals have been unable to sponser their significant others even after many years of being together. This is due to the fact that imigration law is also entirely governed by federal law.
The result is that same-sex couples are forced to make tough decisions -they can choose to split up, which means that the non-resident leaves the US – or they can choose to move away from the US together.
For the past several years, legislation has been introduced into Congress that would allow same-sex partners to sponsor his or her non-resident partner for permanent residency, in the same way that married partners are so allowed. Formerly titled the Permanent Partners Immigration Act, the United American Families Act has 10 sponsors from the Senate (including John Kerry), and 91 sponsors in the House of Representatives. The bills are currently in the judiciary committees of the House and the Senate. In orderfor this bill to become law, it must clear the committees, be voted on by Congress, and be signed by the president or passed by a supermajority.
Vlad, who is a non-resident, and I have been together over two years now. We plan to spend our lives together, and for this reason, this legislation is very important to us. I ask that you forward this email to others who would support this legislation, and I ask that you write your legislators (see the link at the end of this LONG email) in support of this legislation. Thank you for your help and email me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Aaron House
Surely the right will make this about marriage, but it’s not. This is simply about being able to sponsor somebody you love and want to spend the rest of your life with. Nobody is asking to get married, but they are asking to allow them the right to keep the ones they love close to them.
- Here’s more information about The Uniting American Families Act.
- Here’s the Senate bill and here’s the House bill.
- And you can contact your Representative click here, and your Senator click here.
If you want a sample letter you copy or modify and send to your Rep or Senator, just ask me in the comments section and I’ll send it to you privately. Thanks everybody.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 24th, 2006 and is filed under Foreign Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 24th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Followed this link from the themoderatevoice website. Have spread the news to my local political group. Thank you for bringing this act to my attention.
January 30th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
This is a huge personal issue for me, my husband of over 7 years, who is still my best friend and roommate 6 years after that, is a Mexican citizen.
He went through coursework to become certified as a teacher in Texas, then started the immigration process, spending thousands of dollars on legal fees.
He then moved to California before the process was completed, and had to start all over again. Due to 9-11, immigration was nearly completely halted for years, and even now the backlog is growing larger rather than decreasing, especially for Mexican immigrants.
The upshot of it is, if I had been allowed to sponsor him back in June, 1992, he would have been able to work wherever he wanted, immediately, and been able to switch jobs at will after that point. Instead, he has been straightjacketed into a job as a teacher, which he doesn’t even like very much, unable to even change schools districts, for a decade. In addition, the legal fees he has had to spend were easily 10 or 20 times that needed for a sponsored visa, and he has to reauthorize with the INS every single year (with attendant legal fees) until he attains his green card – and in an INS designed to keep people out this is not as easy as you might think.
The only alternative is a sham marriage to a willing resident, which happens far more frequently than you might think. Oftentimes, however, that sort of relationship goes sour, either they discover they can’t stand each other, or financial problems arise, or any number of other problems. Often the American is asking for cash upwards of $10k or $15k to even consider the union – blatantly illegal.
So after 4 years in Houston, then another 5 years in LA trying the same thing, you’d think he’s nearly there, right? Nope, it’s looking like it’ll be at least another year or two before he’s done. Assuming he doesn’t lose his job for some reason, in which case he gets to start all over again, or just leave.
March 11th, 2006 at 1:34 am
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November 26th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Order Quibron…
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August 29th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
please send me sample letters!
thanks!
January 24th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I too am in the same situation as Aaron. I have been together with my partner for nearly 8 years, but now we have run out of time and options. He was a university student and now we will have to leave not only the US, but family and friends that have welcomed him as their own. We will be going to either Australia or England where he has little family. We have written to all the politicians and influential people and organizations we could, but nothing has helped our cause. The only way we will be able to stay here is if we win the lottery or the United Families Act passes. The most ironic thing about this is his brother recently married an American girl after knowing her less than a year and he is able to stay here in the US, but we can not. Please write to your representatives and President Obama and urge them to quickly pass the UFA. Thanks!
February 6th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Hi: I am a foreign national and have been with my American partner Bill for more than 10 years now. We have been trying to live together in different parts of the world but it has always been on temporary basis due to local immigration laws, working status etc. Now I am near finishing my studies and we plan to be together permanently (we have been trying just that for more than 8 years now!) and we still do not know where we will end up. I just read that the UFA is going to be heard soon and my hopes surged. The recent Prop 8 in California has taken a big toll on my usually very optimistic outlook though. For the time being, I have to look for a job in a country where he may try to be posted or in another nearby country. Eventually, I will try to immigrate to Canada or New Zealand and sponsor him afterwards. I have great hopes in Obama’s administration but I do not want to be disappointed once more. I will just try to be level headed! Is there a way to write to the office of Obama? Thanks and let’s cross our fingers
February 6th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Even those who want to reserve the word “marriage” for heterosexual couples but permit “separate but equal” civil unions for homosexual couples could not be opposed to this. A civil union is the legal equivalent of marriage or it is complete B.S. Including civil unions with foreign nationals. Obama never supported gay marriage, but paid lip service to civil unions. I cannot believe that he would have any problem with supporting this.
The problem is that Obama is first and foremost a political animal and a student of history. The Clinton administration was perceived to get off on the wrong foot by going after “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” for the military soon after taking office. Obama will see that as a mistake to be avoided. I don’t expect him to get anywhere near any gay rights issues until after the midterms at the earliest. He could surprise.