Marriage Discrimination Breaks Up Families
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Marriage Discrimination Breaks Up Families
More than 10% of Black same-sex households include a partner born outside the U.S. The ability to marry can impact these families and their children greatly – in some cases determining their ability to stay together.
Because same-sex couples cannot marry, one cannot sponsor a partner from another country for a Permanent Resident Card to stay in the United States and eventually become a U.S. citizen.
- Current U.S. law forces thousands of same-sex couples to be separated or live in constant fear of being stopped by officials who demand to see documentation and threaten detention. Many U.S. citizens are sometimes left with no other choice but to migrate with their partners to a country with more fair-minded immigration laws.
- The United States lags behind at least 19 countries around the world that provide some form of immigration benefits to same-sex partners of citizens and permanent residents, including: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The children of Black same-sex parents are more likely than those of married parents to be forced to relocate or to live without their parents. Should people be forced to choose between the love of their life and their country, families, and livelihoods?
