Immigration law unfair to gay couples
Arizona Republic:license key MaSaI
It’s an immigration predicament that is faced by tens of thousands of same-sex couples in the United States because U.S. immigration laws do not treat gay couples the same as married couples when it comes to giving out visas.
A foreigner who marries an American can get nearly automatic residency in the United States. But same-sex couples, even ones who have been together for decades, get no advantages at all. (Link)
According to the Census Bureau, there are almost 36,000 binational same-sex couples in the United States.license key MaSaI
[Correction added at 7 p.m. CST: The statement above should read “almost 36,000 binational same-sex couples,” not “almost 36,000 binational couples.” Thanks to raj for pointing out my error. — Ed.]license key MaSaI
Could you please explain what your comment has to do with the quotation from the AZ Republic article? Unless you are going to suggest that the Census Bureau is saying that there are almost 36,000 binational same sex couples in the US—which you did not mention—your comment doesn’t seem to be related to the AZ Republic’s article. license key MaSaI
In addition, I am wondering where you got the information that the Census Bureau is claiming that there are almost 36,000 binational same-sex couples in the US. According to the 2000 census, there were some 500,000 same sex couples-partners—sharing living quarters. Assuming that a significant portion of the 36,000 binational same sex couples share living quarters, that would mean that some 7% of the 500,000 same sex couples are binational. I guess that is possible, but it does strain credulity.license key MaSaI
Moreover, the immigration issue is not so much the number of binational same-sex couples in the US, the issue is what happens when the visa of the alien member of a same-sex couple expires and the US gov’t is unwilling to extend it. What the AZ Republic is saying is that it is much easier for the alien member of an opposite sex couple who is married to an American citizen to get his or her visa extended, than it is for the alien member of an opposite sex couple. I doubt if you would dispute that.license key MaSaI
Raj,license key MaSaI
Mistake fixed. As for where the figure 36,000 comes from, it comes from the article at the link. The article calculates that 6% of same-sex couples living in the U.S. are binational.license key MaSaI
I made specific mention of the figure to show how many same-sex couples are affected by the problem that you correctly summarize above.license key MaSaI