MSNBC Interviews Binational Gay Couple Facing Deportation

PhoboQuotable - William Gheen

"Targeting anybody for importation into the country based on their sexuality doesn't sound like something that Congress should be messing with at all. They're looking to bring in anybody challenging the established culture inside the United States that they want to bring down. And though the majority culture of the United States for the last 200 years has been predominately European Christian, they are looking for anybody that would take issue with that. And, of course, Christianity preaches against sodomy." - William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, denouncing the Uniting American Families Act.

Expat Glenn Greenwald On UAFA

Today MNBC interviewed Salon columnist Glenn Greenwald about the pending Uniting American Families Act. Greenwald was forced to emigrate to Brazil in order to stay with his partner.

Love Exiles: Leif & Mo

Part of the reason for my trip to San Francisco is to see off my dear friend Leif, who is being forced to emigrate to New Zealand on Tuesday because the United States won't recognize his relationship with his husband, Mo. New Zealand, however, had no problem admitting Leif as Mo's partner. They suggest you visit Love Exiles, where binational couples discuss the fight for immigration equality in the United States.

PhoboQuotable - Peter LaBarbera

"This is just a really bad idea. We do not want to incentivize people practicing homosexuality to come into the United States -- it's that simple. There are people waiting in line for years and years, normal families, to legally immigrate into the United States. The idea that we would recreate the family to now include two men or two women instead of a mom and a dad, all the while importing more practicing homosexuals into the United States, is absurd. And this is very radical legislation." - Porno Pete LaBarbera, speaking the American Family Association's OneNewsNow.

In the above-linked article, the AFA mischaracterizes the Uniting American Families Act as "designed to allow illegal immigrants with American family members to stay in the country." The UAFA actually provides for legal residence for the "permanent partners of United States citizens and legal residents" and is only one part of the comprehensive immigration reform package now before Congress. Major evangelical groups have vowed to block immigration reform if it includes any mention of dirty queers.

Yesterday Politico noted that except for them damn homos, evangelicals are salivating at the prospect of millions of new converts (and their wallets). The president of the National Association of Evangelicals says, “When people migrate, they’re open to all kinds of change, including religious change." LGBT immigration attorney Lavi Soloway tells Politico that he isn't too worried about opposition from the religious right, adding, “We are a small issue. … I don’t think in the end we’re a deal breaker." I'm not so optimistic.

Citizen Non-Citizen

The NYCLU sends this today:

The NYCLU, in collaboration with the LGBT Community Center and the Office of Congressman Jerrold Nadler, looks at discrimination against LGBT families in our immigration system and the ongoing efforts to reform the system in Congress through the Uniting American Families Act and comprehensive immigration reform. Citizen/Non-Citizen highlights the heart wrenching story of Britta and Carla, a married same-sex binational couple living in New York City fighting to stay together in the United States. To find out more about the NYCLUs work in support of comprehensive immigration reform and to take action, visit our site.

Sen. Jeff Sessions Makes Kids Cry

At Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of the Uniting American Families Act, Shirley Tan plead eloquently against her pending deportation as her 10 year-old son wept behind her. Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions was quite unsympathetic.

As you can see in the video below, one of Tan's children started crying within seconds of the start of her testimony. At the sight of this, Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy stopped the hearing and asked Tan if her son might want to sit in another room, where presumably a Senate staffer would console him for the duration of what was clearly an emotionally fraught experience. For most people, the sight of a 12-year-old boy in tears at the prospect of his mother being deported halfway around the world would invoke some sympathy. Unmoved, however, was Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, ranking minority member of the Committee and the only Republican to bother to attend the hearing. At the sight of the weeping boy, according to a Senate staffer who was at the hearing, Sessions leaned towards one of his aides and sighed, "Enough with the histrionics."

The UAFA hearing has spawned furious opposition from the nation's right-wing, who claim the act is an end run around DOMA.

Uniting American Families Act: Live Stream

The Senate Judiciary Committee hears the Uniting American Families Act at 10am today. The act would allow gay Americans to sponsor a foreign spouse for immigration to the United States. View a live video stream of the proceedings here or on C-SPAN.

Wednesday: Immigration Equality Bill Faces Senate Judiciary Review

On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear the Uniting American Families Act, a bill that would allow LGBT Americans to sponsor foreign spouses for immigration to the United States. Just like the straighties! Over on Free Republic, the bill is being called the Importing Filthy Disease-Ridden Queers Act. Of course.

Texas Mayor Resigns To Move To Mexico With Undocumented Immigrant Partner

Mayor J.W. Lown of San Angelo, Texas sent a FedEx to his city council to let them know he had moved to Mexico so that he could be with his partner, who had been in the United States illegally.

J W Lown was elected in 2003 as the city's youngest ever mayor at the age of 32. He has been re-elected three times, gaining 89 per cent of the latest vote, held ten days ago. He told the San Angelo Standard-Times he fell in love with his partner in March, after he announced he would be standing for re-election. It is thought the unnamed Mexican man had a student visa which has now expired. Lown said he had chosen not to take the oath of office while “aiding and assisting” a person who was illegally in the country. “I made the final decision when I knew it was the right decision to make for me and my partner and our future - and for the community,” he said. He added he planned to stay in Mexico to try to obtain a visa so that his partner can return with him if “the people of San Angelo will welcome me back.”

City officials say they hope to welcome him back soon. Now if only the U.S. had immigration equality....

CNN: Gay Issues Closing In On Obama

Last night CNN broadcast this in-depth report on the LGBT issues closing in on President Obama. When even the networks note that little has been achieved on our behalf, that's saying something. Still, the report accurately notes that most LGBT Americans are willing to give the President a lot more time, considering what is on his plate.

Where Is Our "Fierce Advocate"?

Today the New York Times wonders when our president, who promised to be a "fierce advocate" for LGBT causes, is going to step up to the plate.

President Obama was noticeably silent last month when the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. But now Mr. Obama — who has said he opposes same-sex marriage as a Christian but describes himself as a “fierce advocate of equality” for gay men and lesbians — is under pressure to engage on a variety of gay issues that are coming to the fore amid a dizzying pace of social, political, legal and legislative change. Two of Mr. Obama’s potential Supreme Court nominees are openly gay; some advocates, irked that there are no gay men or lesbians in his cabinet, are mounting a campaign to influence his choice to replace Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring. Same-sex marriage is advancing in states — the latest to allow it is Maine — and a new flare-up in the District of Columbia could ultimately put the controversy in the lap of the president. Mr. Obama’s new global health initiative has infuriated activists who say he is not financing AIDS programs generously enough. And while the president has urged Congress to pass a hate crimes bill, a high priority for gay groups, he has delayed action on one of his key campaign promises, repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule.

On Monday the president tried to allay the growing fears of abandonment and invited reps from major LGBT organizations to the White House for a chat. Afterwards, the HRC's Joe Solmonese emerged to say, "They have a vision. They have a plan."

We're waiting.

WaPo Says Yes To UAFA

Calling it the righting of a "gross unfairness", today the Washington Post editorialized in favor of the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow the foreign partners of same-sex binational couples the same rights as married heterosexuals.

The strain of the status quo on gay and lesbian binational couples should not be discounted. Because their relationships are not legally recognized by the United States, some couples have resorted to illegal marriages where the foreign nationals marry Americans to get green cards that allow them to stay in the country permanently. In other cases, Americans have exiled themselves to be with their partners. Sixteen countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United Kingdom, allow residents to sponsor same-sex permanent partners for legal immigration. American gays and lesbians should not have to choose between their country and their partners.

The bill was introduced in both chambers of Congress last month. The penalty for same-sex partner immigration fraud will be the same as for heterosexuals - up to five years in prison.

Uniting American Families Act Introduced

A bill that would allow same-sex binational couples the same immigration rights as straight couples was reintroduced to Congress yesterday.

The bill, known as the Uniting American Families Act, was introduced in the House by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Versions of the bills have been introduced in each session of Congress since 2000, when the legislation was known as the Permanent Partners Immigration Act. Current law allows spouses of foreign nationals to sponsor their immigration to the United States, and the bill would allow the partners of gay foreign nationals to bring them into the country on the same basis.

In a conference call with reporters Thursday, Nadler said he submitted the bill because it’s “gratuitous cruelty to keep people who love each other apart.” Nadler said there’s a “fair chance” the legislation could pass this session. He said one possibility for passing the bill would be to fold it into a larger immigration omnibus bill. Nadler said if UAFA becomes law, incidents of fraud would carry “the same harsh penalties” as they do for married couples. Fraud would be punishable by up to five years in prison and as much as $250,000 in fines, according to Immigration Equality.

Read Immigration Equality's press release on the legislation here. Urge your representative in Congress to support the UAFA by using this contact form.

Gay Partners Immigration Act To Be Reintroduced To Congress Next Week

The Uniting American Families Act will be reintroduced to the House next Friday by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). The act would allow the same-sex partners of legal U.S. residents to enjoy the same immigration rights as heterosexual couples. The unfair current law has stranded thousands of gay couples overseas or forced them to separate to their native countries. Please use this contact form created by Immigration Equality to contact your member of Congress and urge them to cosponsor the act with Rep. Nadler.