Task Force applauds reintroduction of Uniting American Families Act in Congress

The Task Force applauds today’s reintroduction of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) in the U.S. House. This overdue legislation would allow Americans to sponsor their same-sex permanent partners for legal residency in the United States, a right under immigration law that is currently afforded to married opposite-sex couples. Because the U.S. does not legally recognize same-sex couples and their children as families, many binational same-sex couples are forced to separate and their families are wrenched apart.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

U.S. immigration policy is supposed to be based on the principle of bringing and keeping families together, but the system is broken. Instead of unification, the nation’s current policy often results in painful separation of loved ones. We applaud Congressman Nadler and other lead sponsors of UAFA for reintroducing this important legislation. This discriminatory practice is unfair and inhumane to thousands of binational same-sex couples. No one should ever have to choose between their partner and their country or be denied the freedom to be with their families. The Uniting American Families Act seeks to change this inequity.