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On January 28, 2009, there was a knock on Shirley Tan's door. The mother of two, originally from The Philippines, was starting her morning as usual.
Congress has promised to begin the process of reforming America's broken immigration system later this year. There is widespread consensus that reform is urgently needed, and a growing insistence among lawmakers that any reform effort must adhere to our nation's long-standing commitment to family unification. Under current immigration law, millions of families remain separated because of inexcusable visa backlogs, unnecessary bureaucratic paper trails and discriminatory policies that do not recognize lesbian and gay families for the purposes of equal immigration rights.

For all of those families, time is of the essence. Every day, loved ones are forcibly separated from each other. For too many, the American dream is one that cannot yet be shared with their spouse, sibling or significant other.

As Congress begins to debate immigration reform, all of our families
full equality for the LGBT community. The event, named the National Equality March, comes on the heels of growing calls for the federal government to pick up the pace on civil rights legislation, such as recognition for LGBT couples, repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and finally passing an inclusive employment non-discrimination act. Organizers say they are expecting tens of thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of participants for the event.

Steve and Joe, however, will be notably absent.

The couple, who recently married in Connecticut and bought a home in Washington, D.C., will not be in the capital on Sunday. Instead, they will be packing Joe’s belongings. Under federal law, Steve and Joe are no longer allowed to live together in the country they call home.
Steve and Joe live in the shadow of the capital, both literally and figuratively.

The Washington, D.C. couple, who have been together for almost a decade, recently bought a new home in the city's Columbia Heights neighborhood. Two weeks ago, they were married in Connecticut. And in early August, they will celebrate their life together with friends and family who will gather to toast the couple and salute their commitment to each other.
I am not sure if the bill will go forward on its own or as suggested by Immigration Equality will be part of the bigger picture that is reform of immigration law. In other good news there are more co-sponsors who have signed up for UAFA ...

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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.