Uniting American Families Act

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held their first ever hearings on the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) that will amend existing immigration laws to grant same-sex partners of US citizens the same immigration rights as heterosexual couples.

There were two dissenting opinions shared in the hearing. One was just a knee-jerk "America has too many immigrants" response that I *knew* would surface, and the other was actually thought-provoking, arguing instead that this legislation was superfluous, if DOMA is repealed (this is true). That being said, a potential repeal of DOMA must also be coupled with individual states granting same-sex marriages in order for bi-national couples to stay together. It also said that the potential for abuse of the system was much higher, because of the non-standardization of same-sex recognition across the country (also true, but no fault of same-sex couples). I was particularly disturbed that the testimony of this particular person referenced a bi-national marriage gone wrong, as a reason NOT to allow same-sex immigration benefits. I couldn't see the logic in that.

Doubtful that this will be passed this time around, but it's always good to hope.