HRC Blog

Yesterday, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) bill, which includes the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). UAFA allows United States citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for family-based immigration.

As HRC fights to get the Senate to take up the FY 2011 Defense Authorization bill, which contains language to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), Senate Majority Leader Reid has also made clear that he wants to offer an amendment to the Defense bill that would make undocumented youth eligible for a path to citizenship as they complete a college degree or two years of military service (the “DREAM Act”). While it is obvious why repealing DADT is important to the LGBT community, reforming our nation’s broken immigration system is important to our community as well.

Today the Human Rights Campaign joined in a coalition of LGBT, immigrants’ rights, civil rights and faith groups calling on Congress to enact the Uniting American Families Act (H.R.1024) as part of any future immigration reform effort.

Today, Senators Reid (D-NV), Schumer (D-NY) and Menendez (D-NJ) began circulating a draft proposal for immigration reform which includes a provision to allow U.S. citizens and legal residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for residency. The provision suggests eliminating “discrimination in the immigration laws by permitting permanent partners of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status.”

With his permission, we've reprinted the following letter from Tobias Wolff addressing why LGBT people should stand up against the draconian immigration law recently passed in Arizona. He writes: "I have been studying the laws of the United States and working on civil rights issues for fifteen years, but I have never seen a more appalling and dehumanizing statute in present-day America than this measure."