American Bar Association Supports the Uniting American Families Act
By American Bar Association,Thursday, February 19, 2009
The American Bar Association today adopted a resolution in support of the passage of the Uniting American Families Act. The resolution can be downloaded here.
They resolved that:
"That the American Bar Association supports the enactment of legislation and the implementation of public policy to enable a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident who: (1) shares a committed, intimate relationship with another adult individual of the same-sex; (2) is not married to or in any other legally-recognized partnership with anyone other than that individual; and (3) is unable to enter into a marriage with that other individual that is cognizable under the Immigration and Nationality Act, to sponsor that individual for permanent residence in the United States."
In their 13 page report, they also state the following (emphasis our own):
"Family unification is an express and central goal of immigration policy in the United States and has been for more than fifty years. Currently, however, this principle does not protect the families U.S. citizens and permanent residents form with same-sex partners who are foreign nationals. U.S. policy allows foreign spouses and fiancé(e)s to immigrate and live with their U.S. partners. But it does not allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for residence in the U.S. As a result, thousands of lesbian and gay bi-national couples and their children are kept apart, driven abroad, or forced to live in fear of being separated.
This policy damages not only those families, but U.S. society generally. Data from the 2000 U.S. Census reported 35,820 same-sex bi-national couples live together in the U.S. Because current law and policy prevents overseas same-sex partners from immigrating to the U.S., many of these bi-national couples are forced to leave this country, depriving our nation of the economic, cultural, social and other contributions these individuals could make here.
This proposed resolution addresses this inequity by supporting the enactment of legislation and the implementation of public policy that enables a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who shares a mutual, interdependent, committed relationship with a non-citizen of the same sex to sponsor that person for permanent residence in the United"
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