The Press Enterprise: Immigration Reform: Takano urges same-sex partner rights
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, said he will work to restore rights for same-sex couples in the comprehensive immigration bill that is now before the Senate.
Republican senators had threatened to vote against the bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, unless the protections for gay and lesbian couples were taken out of the legislation.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. said he reluctantly withdrew an amendment he introduced for gay-partner rights because it could have led to the defeat of the entire immigration-reform bill. The bill also would strengthen border security and require employers to check the immigration status of workers.
Leahy’s amendment would have permitted foreign same-sex spouses and long-term partners of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to apply for the same types of immigration visas that opposite-sex partners request.
Takano, who is openly gay, said in a statement that he was “incredibly disappointed that the Senate Judiciary Committee decided not to include provisions in the Immigration Reform bill that would have granted bi-national same-sex couples the same rights as everybody else.
“While this is a definite step backward,” Takano said, “I am committed to working with both parties, from both houses, to ensure that comprehensive immigration reform is as inclusive as possible and is focused on bringing families together, instead of keeping them apart.”
Takano is a cosponsor of the Uniting American Families Act, which would grant immigration rights to same-sex partners.
The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages. That is why even legally married bi-national same-sex couples do not have the same immigration rights as married opposite-sex couples.
The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and is expected to issue its decision in June.
Even if the court strikes down the law as unconstitutional – as many legal analysts predict – only married gay and lesbian couples would be affected. Same-sex marriage is banned in 38 states, including California.
The Uniting American Families Acts also includes protections for unmarried same-sex partners who are in committed, long-term, financially interdependent relationships, and who are unable to legally marry.