Uniting American Families Act: Equal Protection Under the Law
The first section to the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution reads:
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. Nor shall any State deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. These are bedrock standards of nondiscrimination in the United States of America. How seriously do members of Congress take this section of the U.S. Constitution? H.R. 1024 is a test.
H.R. 1024, the Uniting American Families Act, is a bill which aims to put into closer compliance with the U.S. Constitution by removing discrimination according to the status of permanent couples. According to law, same-sex couples in permanent relationships cannot marry; only different-sex couples can. The creates two classes of couple in the United States. They are separate. Are they equal? Not currently. Under current immigration law, married immigrant spouses of citizens and permanent residents have a preferred route toward gaining permanent resident status themselves. Unmarried partners of citizens and permanent residents have this avenue closed to them. That is unequal treatment under law for immigrants under American jurisdiction, and it is an unequal abridgment of legal privilege for the citizens whose permanent partners wish to join them.
Introduced by New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler, the Uniting American Families Act would end this status discrimination by amending various the immigration laws that discriminate against same-sex couples when one member of a couple is a citizen or permanent resident and the other is seeking citizenship or residency status.
The following members of the House of Representatives are to be congratulated for recognizing the legal supremacy of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, and for upholding the constitutional and moral standard of equality under law. As of today, these are the Representatives who have joined with Rep. Nadler in cosponsorship of H.R. 1024:
| Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI, District 1) Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY, District 5) Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI, District 2) Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA, District 31) Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV, District 1) Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA, District 28) Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR, District 3) Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA, District 23) Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA, District 8 ) Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN, District 7) Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT, District 2) Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY, District 7) Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL, District 7) Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA, District 53) Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR, District 4) Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO, District 1) Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA, District 10) Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT, District 3) Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA, District 14) Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN, District 5) Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY, District 17) Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA, District 14) Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA, District 17) Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA, District 2) Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA, District 51) Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA, District 4) Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ, District 7) Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL, District 4) Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL, District 17) Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY, District 22) Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI, District 2) Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ, District 12) Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA, District 15) Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX, District 18) |
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX, District 30) Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA, District 4) Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH, District 10) Rep. James Langevin (D-RI, District 2) Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA, District 9) Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI, District 12) Rep. John Lewis (D-GA, District 5) Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY, District 18) Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY, District 14) Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA, District 7) Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA, District 5) Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY, District 4) Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN, District 4) Rep. James McGovern (D-MA, District 3) Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME, District 2) Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI, District 4) Rep. James Moran (D-VA, District 8 ) Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA, District 38) Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA, District 2) Rep. Eleanor Norton (D-DC, District 0) Rep. John Olver (D-MA, District 1) Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ, District 8 ) Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ, District 10) Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME, District 1) Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO, District 2) Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ, District 9) Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA, District 34) Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA, District 39) Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL, District 9) Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA, District 29) Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY, District 16) Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA, District 27) Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA, District 12) Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA, District 13) Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH, District 13) Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA, District 10) Rep. John Tierney (D-MA, District 6) Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-MA, District 5) Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY, District 12) Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, District 20) Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA, District 30) Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY, District 9) Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT, District 0) Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL, District 19) Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA, District 6) Rep. David Wu (D-OR, District 1) |
[...] H.R. 1024, a bill to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in immigration law. Foreigners heterosexually married to citizens have a special priority in gaining immigration, one [...]
[...] 2709 embeds the Uniting American Families Act within a broader bill to rationalize and provide equity in family immigration rules not only for [...]