Gay couples seek inclusion in immigration reform
source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-gay-deportation_2-20100208
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Six members of the U.S. House sent a letter last week to President Barack Obama and other leaders, expressing strong support for a little-known piece of legislation that would grant gay and lesbian couples the same residency benefits as heterosexual partners.
The measure — called the Uniting American Families Act — could affect 36,000 gay and lesbian binational couples, who would earn a path to citizenship not by getting entangled in matrimony, but by creating a new immigration category for "permanent partners."
For Chicago residents Karla Thomas, a native of Trinidad, and Stacy Beardsley, a U.S. citizen, the legislation is intensely personal.
The two women — who met four years ago— share a North Side Victorian cottage, two black Labs and some investment properties. Thomas' citizenship was never much of an issue until her job as an engineering project manager at an international cosmetics company was eliminated last summer.
The layoff threatened not only her paycheck but her employment-based green card, which means her time in the United States could be running out.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-gay-deportation_2-20100208,0,651...
The measure — called the Uniting American Families Act — could affect 36,000 gay and lesbian binational couples, who would earn a path to citizenship not by getting entangled in matrimony, but by creating a new immigration category for "permanent partners."
For Chicago residents Karla Thomas, a native of Trinidad, and Stacy Beardsley, a U.S. citizen, the legislation is intensely personal.
The two women — who met four years ago— share a North Side Victorian cottage, two black Labs and some investment properties. Thomas' citizenship was never much of an issue until her job as an engineering project manager at an international cosmetics company was eliminated last summer.
The layoff threatened not only her paycheck but her employment-based green card, which means her time in the United States could be running out.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-gay-deportation_2-20100208,0,651...
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- groups:
- Community, Sex and Love, Immigration
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- tags:
- LGBT, Immigration, Chicago
