* FINAL VERSION - Concurred
Resolution:D076
Title:Support for Immigration Equality for Same-Sex Couples
Topic:Immigration
Committee:09 - National and International Concerns
House of Initial Action:Deputies
Proposer:The Very Rev. Bonnie A. Perry

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church urge that the leadership of both Houses of Congress assure fairness in immigration and specifically provide immigration equality for same-sex couples by permitting a citizen or permanent resident alien to sponsor an immigrant partner for permanent residence in the United States.


EXPLANATION

Despite some progress on local and state levels for same-sex couples, Federal immigration law ignores committed long-term relationships, sundering bi-national couples when the non-citizen's temporary visa or work permit runs out, and denying them the rights heterosexual couples gain via civil marriage.
 
Estimates from the 2000 census indicated that at least 35,000 same-sex couples in the U.S. were bi-national, i.e., one partner is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Under current law, these committed relationships are not recognized, and the citizen partner cannot sponsor his/her immigrant partner for residency.
 
Immigrants in the U.S. under temporary visas have sworn that they will leave at the expiration of their current status. In an outrageous injustice, the immigrant partner of a same-sex couple who seek to make their relationship permanent via a civil union or marriage faces deportation or other legal consequences for violating the terms of his/her visa. Similarly situated heterosexual immigrants are free to marry at any time.
 
Same-sex couples can face hard choices: move to the immigrant partner's home country (if sponsorship is allowed there), spend much of the year apart (if the immigrant partner can obtain multiple-entry visas), or separate permanently. Legislation introduced as the "Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)" would amend U.S. immigration law to give same-sex couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples to sponsor an immigrant partner for permanent residence.
 
The Episcopal Church makes "justice and peace among all people, and respect [for the] the dignity of every human being" a part of its Baptismal Covenant. Same-sex couples in which one partner is an immigrant can face insurmountable obstacles to creating a permanent relationship as a result of the discrimination inherent in current immigration law. By supporting this civil rights legislation, the Episcopal Church can add a Christian voice to those demanding that all citizens be treated equally under U.S. immigration laws.


* Note: The final language, as well as the final status of each resolution, is being reviewed by the General Convention office. The Journal of the 76th General Convention and the Constitution and Canons will be published once the review process has been completed.