San Francisco Chronicle: “Keeping all families together is a goal worth achieving”
April 1, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle makes a strong case for the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in an editorial today that perfectly illustrates how binational gay and lesbian couples suffer under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and unfair immigration policies:
Shirley Tan is a 43-year old Pacifica homemaker and mother of twin seventh-grade boys. Tan also wears an ankle bracelet assigned by immigration agents after a dawn raid on her home two months ago. Barring a legal miracle, she faces likely deportation to the Philippines on Friday. That result would devastate her family and friends. But her case also touches off two flashpoint issues - immigration law and same-sex marriage - that are combining in a way that shows the unfairness of this country's laws. If she is deported, Tan will be separated from her partner Jay Mercado, who is a naturalized citizen. For straight couples, there wouldn't be a similar problem because a citizen can sponsor a spouse for residency. But under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, this right doesn't exist for an estimated 37,000 same-sex couples where one partner is a noncitizen.
Read the entire article here. In the 110th Congress, the Uniting American Families Act is sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in the House (H.R. 1024) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the Senate (S. 424). The legislation will finally provide lesbian and gay Americans the same opportunity as different-sex couples to sponsor their partner for immigration purposes 
Use this link to determine if your representative is a cosponsor of the Uniting American Families Act and to stay current on the latest legislative action on the bill. Visit the Immigration Equality UAFA Action Page for information on how you can contact your congressional representatives to thank them or urge their support for the Uniting American Families Act.
