Womens Enews has an article today on lesbians and the immigration system.
Some things I didn’t know, gay couples are not allowed to sponser each other in the same way that hetrosexual couples are.
One major barrier is U.S. refusal to recognize same-sex relationships for immigration purposes, which means that U.S. lesbians are unable to sponsor foreign partners as hundreds of thousands of heterosexuals do. In 2006 about 27 percent of the total grants of permanent residency were awarded to members of a heterosexual couple.
“If someone is straight and in a relationship, boom-boom-boom and they’re done,” says private attorney Noemi Masliah in New York. “Same-sex partners have to jump through the hoops and find different ways. Or some just give up . . . It’s not fair that a lesbian’s status is employment-based and the other (straight) piece is family-based. I think it’s very sad and very dismal and very unfair.”
Community