They have also turned up the heat on the already highly controversial immigration debate by including rights for same-sex couples in their desired reforms.
About 36,000 same-sex binational couples live in the United States, and those in which one of the partners is legal but the other is not are not allowed to apply for residency the way heterosexual couples can.
Because the Asian Pacific Islanders' call for immigration reform is largely based on family reunification, same-sex immigration reform is a natural fit, Sadhwani said.
Family reunification is the primary reason Asians and Pacific Islanders come to the United States. And though a path to citizenship exists for most family members of U.S. citizens and green card holders, many wait for years in their home countries to get a visa, according to the APALC.
Search results for binational
Asian groups trying to push immigration reform to top of agenda
Posted by
BinatUK 1009 days ago
(http://www.sgvtribune.com)
California Assembly To Hear Testimony On Resolution Supporting UAFA
Posted by
BinatUK 1011 days ago
(http://lezgetreal.com)
The California Assembly Judiciary Committee will be hearing testimony on AJR 15, a California resolution to support the federal Uniting American Families Act (UAFA).
How can we obtain private bills for all the LGBT binational couples? The only recourse is UAFA and that is why Tuesday’s assembly resolution hearing is so significant. It would be California’s way of saying – …”you have to give all Americans the same rights regardless of relationship orientation. ” It would also hopefully send a message to Senator Feinstein who has not yet signed on as a co-sponsor of UAFA; and hopefully those who are signed on and all advocates will stop hanging their hats on the yet to be seen, maybe to happen, mega issue of comprehensive immigration reform. We must push NOW for UAFA. So much talent has been lost to our State because so many of our Californians have had to leave home to be wi
How can we obtain private bills for all the LGBT binational couples? The only recourse is UAFA and that is why Tuesday’s assembly resolution hearing is so significant. It would be California’s way of saying – …”you have to give all Americans the same rights regardless of relationship orientation. ” It would also hopefully send a message to Senator Feinstein who has not yet signed on as a co-sponsor of UAFA; and hopefully those who are signed on and all advocates will stop hanging their hats on the yet to be seen, maybe to happen, mega issue of comprehensive immigration reform. We must push NOW for UAFA. So much talent has been lost to our State because so many of our Californians have had to leave home to be wi
Caught Between Love and Country Part I (The New Gay)
Posted by
Fight4theRight 1015 days ago
(http://thenewgay.net)
There have been quite a few words in past Global Gaze columns dedicated to the plight of sexual minorities seeking asylum in the United States from repressive and discriminatory governments around the world. But there are other difficulties in terms of U.S. immigration policy that queer people face on a daily basis. For those individuals who are running towards something – in this case a lover or spouse from a different country – rather than away from their home, there are challenges to be overcome as well.
This is because American immigration laws treat LGBT and heterosexual couples differently when it comes to sponsoring a partner for residency. This has resulted in the creation of gay and lesbian binational couples in which one half of the pair must choose to either leave the U.S. or end the relationship. As laws regarding same-sex marriage and civil unions continue to
This is because American immigration laws treat LGBT and heterosexual couples differently when it comes to sponsoring a partner for residency. This has resulted in the creation of gay and lesbian binational couples in which one half of the pair must choose to either leave the U.S. or end the relationship. As laws regarding same-sex marriage and civil unions continue to
LGBT Folks Asked To Meet Congress Members
Posted by
UnitedByLove 1022 days ago
(http://www.advocate.com)
The in-district meetings will focus on key legislative priorities in the 111th Congress including:
--Passing immigration reform that recognizes permanent same-sex couples and ends the painful separation of binational families;
--Passing immigration reform that recognizes permanent same-sex couples and ends the painful separation of binational families;
Push For UAFA Passage Out4Immigration Deploys
Posted by
Fight4theRight 1022 days ago
(http://oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com)
The ‘UAFA Waiting List’ is one no one wants to be on – it is one that keeps binational exiles abroad, others in hiding, and inter alia some fifty year olds pleading to stop time so that they are not sixty by the time they get to cohabit with their spouses/partners.
This year a synchronicity of events and increased sponsorship of UAFA gives us hope that maybe we can gain more support in this Congress in a push for passage of the Uniting American Families Act. We are urging fast and prompt action ...
Binational couples need your help. Unlike other unfortunate discriminatory practices against our community, here in the US and abroad, this is the one that either keeps partners apart or forces them to choose between heart and home....
This year a synchronicity of events and increased sponsorship of UAFA gives us hope that maybe we can gain more support in this Congress in a push for passage of the Uniting American Families Act. We are urging fast and prompt action ...
Binational couples need your help. Unlike other unfortunate discriminatory practices against our community, here in the US and abroad, this is the one that either keeps partners apart or forces them to choose between heart and home....
A Gross Unfairness (I Said I Do Today)
Posted by
Fight4theRight 1028 days ago
(http://isaididotoday.com)
A report issued in 2006 by two nongovernmental organizations, Human Rights Watch and Immigration Equality, describes the written response made in 1975 by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to an American citizen's petition to sponsor a foreign same-sex partner for legal residency in the United States. The INS denied the petition for the following reason: "You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots." Except perhaps in the explicitness of language, federal policy toward same-sex binational couples has changed little since then. On June 3 of this year, Congress held its first-ever hearing on the plight of such couples and brought attention to the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), sponsored in the Senate by Patrick Leahy and in the House by Jerrold Nadler (and subsequently folded into a larger immigration reform bill). Introd
A Gross Unfairness The Workings of the Straight State (The Nation)
Posted by
BinatUK 1028 days ago
(http://www.thenation.com)
It is not really news that inhabitants of the United States are governed by what historian Margot Canaday calls, in the title of her excellent book, a "straight state." For some time now, scholars of sexuality (following in the footsteps of those who have studied and challenged the race and gender hierarchies embedded in state policies and actions) have professed the analytical goal of what historian Lisa Duggan, writing in 1994, called "queering the state." These scholars have argued that the supposed naturalness of the heterosexual couple, and the unnaturalness of alternatives, is presumed and reinforced in the ordinary workings of government. Canaday's substantial contribution is to trace, in gripping and at times horrifying detail, exactly how the United States came to operate in this fashion over the course of much of the twentieth century. The Straight State provides a compelling
Congressmen face uphill battle to pass pro gay immigration reform
Posted by
BinatUK 1028 days ago
(http://www.ebar.com)
The two congressmen leading the fight for pro-gay immigration reform in Washington acknowledge they have an uphill fight to see their legislation passed by both the House and the Senate. The result is that binational LGBT couples face difficult decisions about where to live or even if they can remain together. Their options are often limited.
But his bill has failed to gain traction within the House, and the legislation's co-sponsor, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), recently acknowledged to the Bay Area Reporter it has few chances of being passed anytime soon.
But his bill has failed to gain traction within the House, and the legislation's co-sponsor, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), recently acknowledged to the Bay Area Reporter it has few chances of being passed anytime soon.
When the couple flew back to the United States, Campos-Maidhof learned a painful lesson — one that millions of other binational spouses have encountered because they didn't do enough research on immigration laws, assumed that certain requirements didn't apply to them or tried their best to follow the rules but received bad advice.
“This has been the most traumatic situation I've experienced in my life,” Campos-Maidhof, 31, said by phone from Costa Rica.
The road to married bliss for binational couples can be paved with legal land mines. People frequently — and wrongly — presume that when one person is a U.S. citizen, it's easy for the foreign-born bride or groom to obtain permanent legal status.
“This has been the most traumatic situation I've experienced in my life,” Campos-Maidhof, 31, said by phone from Costa Rica.
The road to married bliss for binational couples can be paved with legal land mines. People frequently — and wrongly — presume that when one person is a U.S. citizen, it's easy for the foreign-born bride or groom to obtain permanent legal status.
DADT UAFA Food For Thought
Posted by
uluckidog 1030 days ago
(http://pizzadiavola.wordpress.com)
DADT is to me what a lack of UAFA [Uniting American Families Act] is to a binational couple. It means that officially, I do not exist to my Beloved. It means little things, seemingly trivial parts of the closet we are all familiar with. When her fellow troops chat about what they did over the weekend with their spouses and children, she “hung out with friends.” When her command has picnics or other “family days,” she goes alone or not at all. When she receives an award or is promoted, I am not there to smile, take pictures, or pin on her new rank, like other wives are. …
I plead with all pro-CIR organizations to keep the coalition together at all costs. We cannot leave any part of our coalition behind. That being said, I ask that everyone here support the inclusion of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in Comprehensive Immigration Reform. There are approximately 40 000 same-sex binational couples that are being separated or discriminated against in immigration law. The conservatives will argue that allowing same-sex couples access to equal immigration rights is an attempt to legalize same-sex marriage. This simply is not true. Same-sex binational couples have such a difficult time remaining together in the USA that marriage is not even in the equation. It should be known that the gay and lesbian community supports CIR, so please don’t leave us behind.
i am also in gay binational relationship, i am forced to live separated from my partner for la
i am also in gay binational relationship, i am forced to live separated from my partner for la
Same sex couples seek immigration benefit (Associated Press)
Posted by
BinatUK 1038 days ago
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com)
Gay-rights groups hopeful for inclusion, which might threaten bills' passage - Judy Rickard took an early retirement and a reduced pension so she could be assured of more time with her partner, a British citizen whose stays in the U.S. are limited to six months.
Rickard, 61, would have preferred to keep working at San Jose State University and sponsor her partner, Karin Bogliolo, for residency in the United States, just as heterosexual couples can. But U.S. law does not allow for that.
"If you're going to have a system that's designed to keep families together, it should focus on keeping families together," Rickard said....
Rickard, 61, would have preferred to keep working at San Jose State University and sponsor her partner, Karin Bogliolo, for residency in the United States, just as heterosexual couples can. But U.S. law does not allow for that.
"If you're going to have a system that's designed to keep families together, it should focus on keeping families together," Rickard said....
One way to look at bi-national couples, couples of differing nationalities, is as a booming business. Enter "mail order brides" into nearly any search engine and it will return a bounty of hits from companies offering to facilitate introductions and dialogue -- for a fee. Some even offer helpful immigration advice, such as the Rose Brides site: "[I]f done correctly and with the right patience and necessary evidence, paperwork, and steps, filing for and having your Russian bride enter the United States is relatively simple."
Under different circumstances, such a Web site might even amuse Joe and Steve. But with the clock ticking, and the federal government poised to extinguish their nine-year relationship -- which it legally refuses to acknowledge to any degree, despite their D.C. domestic partnership and Connecticut marriage -- nobody's laughing. Instead, Joe and Steve are
Under different circumstances, such a Web site might even amuse Joe and Steve. But with the clock ticking, and the federal government poised to extinguish their nine-year relationship -- which it legally refuses to acknowledge to any degree, despite their D.C. domestic partnership and Connecticut marriage -- nobody's laughing. Instead, Joe and Steve are
It is long past time for Congress to help gay binational couples
Posted by
DividedByLaw 1048 days ago
(http://immigrationequality.org)
“If Congress finally passes immigration reform,” Price concludes, “the Leahy-Nadler fix might be folded into the overall package, finally giving the Tan-Mercado family and thousands of others the security they are crying out for.”
BiNational Gay Couples Cry Out for Security
Posted by
ATLdave 1049 days ago
(http://lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com)
This is an issue facing many LGBT Foreign Service families. Our heterosexual colleagues can fall in love overseas and get immigration visas for their spouses. IN fact, because of their service, heterosexual Foreign Service Officers can get what is referred to as "expeditious naturalization" for their spouses, meaning the spouse does not have to live in the U.S. the requisite amount of time before being naturalized.
Not so for LGBT folks in the Foreign Service. We are still often not allowed to bring our partners back to the U.S. if we want to do a D.C. posting (which is necessary to advance your career) unless we can get them a student visa or, if possible, a work visa. And forget retiring to the country you spent your life serving unless you plan to leave behind the partner who served it with you....The Uniting American Families Act, pending in the House and Senate, would
Not so for LGBT folks in the Foreign Service. We are still often not allowed to bring our partners back to the U.S. if we want to do a D.C. posting (which is necessary to advance your career) unless we can get them a student visa or, if possible, a work visa. And forget retiring to the country you spent your life serving unless you plan to leave behind the partner who served it with you....The Uniting American Families Act, pending in the House and Senate, would
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Promoting public awareness of the need for fairness in immigration policy particularly as it relates to the rights of same-sex bi-national couples in the United States who seek equal immigration rights; Providing information regarding political issues relating to gay immigration equality issues, rights and policy.