Haters Opposing Immigration Bill

In their never ending quest to deny the legal legitimacy of same sex relationships under the CIVIL laws, many of the Christianists are gearing up to flood Congressional in-boxes with messages to vote against the Reuniting Families Act using the same old tired whine that it undermines marriage and would lead to immigration fraud. Never mind that couples and families are being torn apart or that some Americans are being forced to move overseas to be with the one they love. Once again,, alleged Christian values are used to perpetuate an evil. I really am so tired of the never ending message of intolerance any false piety that streams from these nasty folk. I truly do not understand a mind set where one's everyday preoccupation is denigrating others and working to deny civil legal rights to other citizens. Here's some of the spin they are generating via CNSNews:

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An immigration bill introduced in the House of Representatives last week would allow homosexuals to sponsor their “permanent partners” for residency in the United States in the same way that heterosexual married couples are allowed to do. Critics say the legislation opens the door to widespread fraud.

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Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.), who chairs the Asian Pacific American Caucus, introduced the Reuniting Families Act on June 4, saying it will help clear the current immigration backlog of 5.8 million people and induce more people to use legal channels to join their families in the United States. “Our family-based immigration system has not been updated in 20 years, separating spouses, children and their parents, who have played by the rules for years, often decades,” Honda says on his Web site. He described his bill as “family values” legislation that will “save taxpayer money” by streamlining the visa application process.

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In a June 2 letter to Rep. Honda, the Rev. John C. Wester – writing on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – said “family reunification” should be the cornerstone of the U.S. immigration system. “In our view, our country should enhance opportunities for families to remain together and should resist proposals which would erode the family-based immigration system,” Wester wrote. He said including “permanent partners” in the bill “would erode the institution of marriage and family by according marriage-like immigration benefits to same sex relationships, a position that is contrary to the very nature of marriage which pre-dates the Church and the state.”

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Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that same-sex partner provisions would further stress a flawed immigration system. . . . Without a marriage certificate, verifying the legitimacy of same-sex partnerships would be difficult -- and would “introduce the opportunity for more fraud,” Vaughan said. “It is not clear the partnerships could be substantiated in places where there is no official recognition of the union,” she told the committee.

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It is no surprise that the Roman Catholic Church - which ignores the doctrine of separation of church and state except when it's expedient to do so - opposes the bill since the Church inreasingly opposes anything that would improve the quality of life or enhance the legal status of same sex couples. The Center for Immigration Studies it should be noted works to limit the number of immigrants entering the USA.