On April 14, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Sen. Patrick Leahy will reintroduce the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the 112th Congress.
In the 111th Congress (2009-2010), UAFA had a record 161 co-sponsors in the House and Senate and received a hearing by the Senate Judicial Committee. While there is lots of talk that it will be difficult to get that many to sign on this time, Out4Immigration thinks differently. The game has changed significantly since the end of the 111th Congress. On February 23, 2011, President Obama signaled that the US government should stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. This has opened a new, three-pronged strategy for same-sex binational couples to get the green cards we need to keep our families together in the US aimed at all three branches of government: executive, judicial and legislative.
Tomorrow UAFA joins the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) as two legislative paths to end our struggle for equal immigration rights for same-sex binationals.
Here’s what you can do today to make sure UAFA is the number one story in the news this week:
1) Call your Representatives and urge them to be on the right side of history. Support UAFA. Phone numbers and a simple call script are here: http://immigrationequalityactionfund.org/blog/we_need_your_help_right_now/
2) Sign onto HRC’s letter to Congress urging support of UAFA: https://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifid=1089 (Sign it and circulate it via Facebook and Twitter).
3) Post a link to the Out4Immigration/Change.org petition to President Obama, the Department of Homeland Security and United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) that demands the Obama Administration and these agencies stop deporting our partners until we can amend the laws that stand in our way: http://www.change.org/petitions/dear-uscis-dont-go-back-to-denying-green-cards-to-loving-same-sex-couples#?opt_new=t&opt_fb=t
4) If you are a same-sex binational couple and have a blog, or know anyone in the media (from blogging to national network news), contact them and tell them your story. Direct them to Out4Immigration’s website for additional information. You can also call your local newspaper or write a Letter to the Editor or an Op-Ed. If you are a US citizen stand up and demand your right to stay in this country with the person you love!
5) Take a deep breath and focus. We have a big fight ahead of us, but together, we can change this awful law that has wreaked havoc on so many of our lives and put an end to what Rep. Nadler says is nothing but “gratuitous cruelty”.
Kathy Drasky regularly writes about online culture. Her marketing and communications work with the ANZA Technology Network, Advance Global Australians and with various Australians and Australian enterprises has led to at least a dozen trips Down Under.
An accomplished digital photographer, her photos have appeared in 7×7 Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and Google Schmap.
