Presidential Contender Says He Has “Worked to Improve” the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—February 28, 2008 — Leading Democratic presidential contender Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) issued a statement to America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community today saying that equality for all Americans “is a moral imperative.”
Chief among Senator Obama’s call to end discrimination against gays and lesbians was his mention of having “worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.”
“By including the plight of same-sex binational couples in his statement, Senator Obama shows that he can be a leader who fully grasps the unique and humiliating brand of discrimination gay and lesbian American citizens in a relationship with a foreign partner face on a daily basis,” said Michael Lim, Vice President of the national grassroots organization Out4Immigration, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the discrimination LGBT Americans and their foreign partners face under current US immigration law.
While heterosexual couples in binational relationships—in which one partner is American and the other is foreign born—can solve their immigration concerns through a federally recognized marriage, same-sex binational couples have no such options.
Senator Obama also called for complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal government from recognizing state gay marriage, civil union and domestic partnership laws. As long as DOMA remains in place, the US cannot extend spousal immigration rights to same-sex couples, regardless of their commitment to one another.
A way to avoid creating yet another divisive “gay marriage” debate in an election year, would be the passage of the bill that Obama mentions in his statement—the Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 2221; S.1328). This legislation would add three words—“or permanent partner”—to existing immigration law wherever the word “spouse” appears. This simple act would allow an estimated 40,000 same-sex binational couples currently living legally in the US to make their US home a permanent one. The majority of these couples are biding time while the foreign partner is in the country on a student or work visa. If the visa does not lead to a green card through employment, same-sex binational couples have virtually no chance of remaining together on US soil.
“Senator Obama says ‘It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation,’ but if you’re in a same-sex binational relationship, you simply have no status at all,” said Lim. “Every year thousands of gay and lesbian American citizens are forced to choose between the country they love and the person they love. Out4Immigration is heartened that the potential Democratic candidate for president has spoken so positively in favor of the UAFA.”
The UAFA, introduced in May 2007 by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), currently has 90 co-sponsors in the House and 12 in the Senate.
“Ironically, Senator Obama is not a co-sponsor of this bill,” said Lim. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ), the other presidential contenders, have not signed on either.
“We hope that Senator Obama’s work to improve the UAFA will lead to his co-sponsorship in the near future,” said Lim.
______________
For more information:
Out4Immigration: http://www.out4immigration.org
The Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 2221): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02221:
The Uniting American Families Act (S.1328): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01328:
To read the full text of the Obama open letter to the LGBT community: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/alexokrent/gGggJS
end
____________
Out4Immigration addresses the widespread discriminatory impact of US immigration laws on the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV+ people and their families through education, outreach, advocacy and the maintenance of a resource and support network. For more information, visit www.out4immigration.org. To schedule interviews with same-sex binational couples who are available to speak with the media on this issue, including Spanish-speaking couples, please contact Amos Lim, amos (at) out4immigration.org, 415-375-3765 or Kathy Drasky at kathy (at) out4immigration.org, 415-606-2085.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Ellen speaks about Lawrence King
Lawrence King is a high school kid who was shot dead by a classmate because he was gay. Ellen spoke out about this issue yesterday. Thank you for voicing what everyone of us is feeling - we need to change the dialogue, people should not be killed or hurt because they are different.
Monday, February 18, 2008
McCain's corporate givaway
This past weekend, John McCain hit the Sunday talk shows, and called for more tax cuts. He repeatedly said that American Corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world.
BUNK
This is simply a distortion and another manipulation of data. The official 35% corporate tax rates are rarely ever paid. That is why there is an alternative minimum tax rate - that McCain wants to repeal too!
In Health Care, providers charge one amount, knowing that they'll never get paid, and the insurance company cuts it back. The providers, by contract accept this as payment in full. (look at the EOB, Explanation of Benefits, that the insurance company sends you after your next doctor visit. In Pharmacy, reimbursement is based on the published AWP. AWP stands for Average Wholesale Price. I refer to AWP as Ain't What's Paid. If any pharmacy actually paid AWP, they'd go out of business, because insurance contracts reimburse at AWP -12% to -20%. Sometimes, like the Alternative Minimum Tax, Insurance companies impose MAC pricing... that is to say, Maximum Allowable Cost.
This is the same with corporate tax rates. No one pays them, and NOW, John McCain wants to drop that starting point further, AND the alternative minimum tax.
Point in fact, the reality is that the bottom line of what corporations pay, those in the United States are near the bottom of the list. (see reference from the CBO below.) With Corporate profits and Executive compensation packages at ridiculously record heights, and the divide between the rich and poor reaching levels not seen since the dawn of the industrial revolution... with all this, it is immoral to suggest even greater giveaways to the wealthy elite.
McCain is a lier.
CORPORATE INCOME TAX RATES:INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
Although the United States’ statutory corporate tax rates are among the highest of those in OECD countries, they are comparable with the statutory rates imposed by other members of the Group of Seven (G7)
Taxes on Corporate Income in OECD Countries in 2002 as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product
1.0 Germany
1.1 Iceland
1.8 United States
2.0 Poland
2.2 Turkey
2.3 Austria
2.4 Hungary
2.4 Sweden
2.7 Switzerland
2.7 Slovak Republic
2.9 Denmark
2.9 France
2.9 United Kingdom
3.1 Republic of Korea
3.1 Japan
3.2 Italy
3.2 Spain
3.4 Canada
3.5 Belgium
3.5 Netherlands
3.6 Portugal
3.8 Greece
4.2 New Zealand
4.3 Finland
4.6 Chech Republic
5.3 Austraila
8.2 Norway
8.6 Luxenbourg
BUNK
This is simply a distortion and another manipulation of data. The official 35% corporate tax rates are rarely ever paid. That is why there is an alternative minimum tax rate - that McCain wants to repeal too!
In Health Care, providers charge one amount, knowing that they'll never get paid, and the insurance company cuts it back. The providers, by contract accept this as payment in full. (look at the EOB, Explanation of Benefits, that the insurance company sends you after your next doctor visit. In Pharmacy, reimbursement is based on the published AWP. AWP stands for Average Wholesale Price. I refer to AWP as Ain't What's Paid. If any pharmacy actually paid AWP, they'd go out of business, because insurance contracts reimburse at AWP -12% to -20%. Sometimes, like the Alternative Minimum Tax, Insurance companies impose MAC pricing... that is to say, Maximum Allowable Cost.
This is the same with corporate tax rates. No one pays them, and NOW, John McCain wants to drop that starting point further, AND the alternative minimum tax.
Point in fact, the reality is that the bottom line of what corporations pay, those in the United States are near the bottom of the list. (see reference from the CBO below.) With Corporate profits and Executive compensation packages at ridiculously record heights, and the divide between the rich and poor reaching levels not seen since the dawn of the industrial revolution... with all this, it is immoral to suggest even greater giveaways to the wealthy elite.
McCain is a lier.
CORPORATE INCOME TAX RATES:INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
Although the United States’ statutory corporate tax rates are among the highest of those in OECD countries, they are comparable with the statutory rates imposed by other members of the Group of Seven (G7)
Taxes on Corporate Income in OECD Countries in 2002 as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product
1.0 Germany
1.1 Iceland
1.8 United States
2.0 Poland
2.2 Turkey
2.3 Austria
2.4 Hungary
2.4 Sweden
2.7 Switzerland
2.7 Slovak Republic
2.9 Denmark
2.9 France
2.9 United Kingdom
3.1 Republic of Korea
3.1 Japan
3.2 Italy
3.2 Spain
3.4 Canada
3.5 Belgium
3.5 Netherlands
3.6 Portugal
3.8 Greece
4.2 New Zealand
4.3 Finland
4.6 Chech Republic
5.3 Austraila
8.2 Norway
8.6 Luxenbourg
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Natalie Portman supports Same Sex Immigration
I have always been impressed with Natalie Portman - from her first movie with Luc Besson to her last movie, V For Vendetta. She is intelligent, beautiful and humble. She is also an activist, going round the world to support micro loans to women in poor countries. Now she has voice her support for same sex immigration, as well as marriage equality, in the latest interview with W Magazine.
The full article can be found here but here's what she said about this issue:
On equality for all in marriage: “I’m into monogamy. But I’m not really into marriage right now. I sort of hate the legal aspect of it. What does the state have to do with it? Why are they making rules that say my lover can stay in the United States if they’re foreign or share my health care benefits because I’m straight—but if you’re gay, you can’t have that?”
Many people don't understand that the fight for marriage equality is not about special rights.... it is in fact about being allowed/given the same rights as straight couples. Something which at 2008, gay people still do not have.
Thank you Natalie!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Out4Immigration Supports National Freedom to Marry Week
Notes that Inequality in Federal Marriage Law Denies Same-Sex Binational Couples Basic Rights
The 11th annual Freedom to Marry Week (February 10-16) is here, and while some gay and lesbian Americans see this as a cause to celebrate how far the issue of gay marriage in the US has advanced, one sector of the community has good cause to say that domestic partnerships, civil unions and state marriage laws are not enough.
"Same-sex binational couples, in which one partner is American and the other is foreign born, suffer a unique and humiliating brand of discrimination when they try to keep their relationships intact on US soil," explains Michael Lim, Vice President of the national grassroots organization Out4Immigration, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the discrimination LGBT Americans and their foreign partners face under current US immigration law.
"Unlike our heterosexual counterparts in binational relationships who can solve their immigration concerns through a marriage recognized at the federal level, same-sex binational couples, like all gay and lesbian couples in the US, are shut out of federal level marriage rights."
One of the 1,138 rights that come with a federal marriage certificate is the right for an American citizen to sponsor a foreign partner for a green card. The toll this denial of rights takes on the estimated 40,000 same-sex binational couples living in the US, and those who have been forced into exile, is "incalculable," says Lim. "The emotional and financial burdens of staying together in a climate of uncertainty is a scenario few couples—gay or straight—can be expected to endure."
Since Out4Immigration's inception in 2006, the all-volunteer run group has collected stories from its members that it posts on its website. The stories come from Americans in relationships with foreign partners from all over the world. Some of the couples have been lucky enough to see the foreign partner obtain a student or work visa—or the grand prize—a green card secured through employment that ends the couple's no-win choice: leave the country or leave each other. Those who have been forced to make the decision between home and family detail the pain and heartbreak of leaving behind parents, adult children and other relatives, friends and communities; giving up careers; battling HIV/AIDS or other illnesses in countries where health care is substandard; denial of applications for political asylum that can send a foreign partner back to a hostile or violent environment; and tearful separations and breakups.
"It will break your heart to read these stories," says Lim. "We applaud campaigns like Freedom to Marry that remind people that so-called 'separate but equal' ideas like domestic partnerships, civil unions and state marriage laws are inherently unequal. Many Americans dismiss those 1,138 federal rights that come with a federally recognized heterosexual marriage as 'unimportant'. But these rights include critical issues like social security and tax benefits—as well as the right to stay in your own country with the person you love."
The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) is a piece of legislation currently in Congress that seeks to circumvent the same-sex marriage debate and simply provide Americans in same-sex binational relationships the right to sponsor their partner for a green card. The bill (H.R. 2221; S.1328) sponsored by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) would add three words—"or permanent partner"—to existing immigration law wherever the word "spouse" appears. It currently has 88 co-sponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate. It needs 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate to go to the President for signature. While Democratic presidential frontrunners Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) say that they support passage of the UAFA, neither has signed on yet as a co-sponsor.
For more information:
Out4Immigration: http://www.out4immigration.org
Freedom to Marry: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/
The Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 2221): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02221:
The United American Families Act (S.1328): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01328:
The 11th annual Freedom to Marry Week (February 10-16) is here, and while some gay and lesbian Americans see this as a cause to celebrate how far the issue of gay marriage in the US has advanced, one sector of the community has good cause to say that domestic partnerships, civil unions and state marriage laws are not enough.
"Same-sex binational couples, in which one partner is American and the other is foreign born, suffer a unique and humiliating brand of discrimination when they try to keep their relationships intact on US soil," explains Michael Lim, Vice President of the national grassroots organization Out4Immigration, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the discrimination LGBT Americans and their foreign partners face under current US immigration law.
"Unlike our heterosexual counterparts in binational relationships who can solve their immigration concerns through a marriage recognized at the federal level, same-sex binational couples, like all gay and lesbian couples in the US, are shut out of federal level marriage rights."
One of the 1,138 rights that come with a federal marriage certificate is the right for an American citizen to sponsor a foreign partner for a green card. The toll this denial of rights takes on the estimated 40,000 same-sex binational couples living in the US, and those who have been forced into exile, is "incalculable," says Lim. "The emotional and financial burdens of staying together in a climate of uncertainty is a scenario few couples—gay or straight—can be expected to endure."
Since Out4Immigration's inception in 2006, the all-volunteer run group has collected stories from its members that it posts on its website. The stories come from Americans in relationships with foreign partners from all over the world. Some of the couples have been lucky enough to see the foreign partner obtain a student or work visa—or the grand prize—a green card secured through employment that ends the couple's no-win choice: leave the country or leave each other. Those who have been forced to make the decision between home and family detail the pain and heartbreak of leaving behind parents, adult children and other relatives, friends and communities; giving up careers; battling HIV/AIDS or other illnesses in countries where health care is substandard; denial of applications for political asylum that can send a foreign partner back to a hostile or violent environment; and tearful separations and breakups.
"It will break your heart to read these stories," says Lim. "We applaud campaigns like Freedom to Marry that remind people that so-called 'separate but equal' ideas like domestic partnerships, civil unions and state marriage laws are inherently unequal. Many Americans dismiss those 1,138 federal rights that come with a federally recognized heterosexual marriage as 'unimportant'. But these rights include critical issues like social security and tax benefits—as well as the right to stay in your own country with the person you love."
The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) is a piece of legislation currently in Congress that seeks to circumvent the same-sex marriage debate and simply provide Americans in same-sex binational relationships the right to sponsor their partner for a green card. The bill (H.R. 2221; S.1328) sponsored by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) would add three words—"or permanent partner"—to existing immigration law wherever the word "spouse" appears. It currently has 88 co-sponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate. It needs 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate to go to the President for signature. While Democratic presidential frontrunners Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) say that they support passage of the UAFA, neither has signed on yet as a co-sponsor.
For more information:
Out4Immigration: http://www.out4immigration.org
Freedom to Marry: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/
The Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 2221): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02221:
The United American Families Act (S.1328): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01328:
Monday, February 11, 2008
Congressman Tom Lantos
Mickey and I are saddened today by the news of the passing of Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA). We have lived in Rep. Lantos' district for a number of years and could always count on him as a leader in the world fighing against discrimination and for equal rights.
He was--as many of you know---a longtime supporter of LGBT rights and an original supporter of the Uniting American Families Act, and for that support Out4Immigration will always be grateful.
We could always depend on Congressman Lantos to act in our interests and with courage against injustice and as a strong ally for our community.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Congressman Lantos' wife, daughters and families. Thank you for sharing his talent with us. His legacy will continue to shine.
Amos Lim
Note: For those of you who would like to offer your condolences to the Lantos family directly, please go to the Congressman's website at:http://www.lantos.house.gov/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
He was--as many of you know---a longtime supporter of LGBT rights and an original supporter of the Uniting American Families Act, and for that support Out4Immigration will always be grateful.
We could always depend on Congressman Lantos to act in our interests and with courage against injustice and as a strong ally for our community.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Congressman Lantos' wife, daughters and families. Thank you for sharing his talent with us. His legacy will continue to shine.
Amos Lim
Note: For those of you who would like to offer your condolences to the Lantos family directly, please go to the Congressman's website at:
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