Will Gay Couples Find Protection in Immigration Bill?

Both the child rapist enablers in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy and the anti-gay hate groups - e.g., Family Research Council - who seemingly are now the authors of GOP social policy are adamant that they want no coverage of bi-national same sex couples in the immigration reform bill now struggling to make its way through Congress.  Their agenda (as is always the case) is to keep LGBT individuals stigmatized and as inferior under the law as possible even as they claim the don't "hate anyone."   With "love" such as theirs, one truly doesn't need an enemy.  The bill as introduced contains no coverage whatsoever for bi-national couples who have found themselves in many cases having to leave America in order to remain together.  Now, there is a push by some Democrats to add protections for such couples into the bill.  The New York Times looks at the issue.  Here are article highlights:

An 844-page bill introduced in the Senate in mid-April by a bipartisan group of eight lawmakers includes measures to make legal immigration easier for highly skilled immigrants, migrant farmworkers and those living here illegally. It has no provisions that would help foreigners who are same-sex partners of American citizens to become legal permanent residents. 

[I]n the lengthy closed-door negotiations that produced the overhaul proposal, the four Republicans in the bipartisan group made it clear early on that they did not want to include such a hot-button issue in a bill that would be a challenge to sell to their party even without it, according to Senate staff members. The Republicans are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, and Marco Rubio of Florida. 

Many Republicans in both houses of Congress oppose any recognition of same-sex unions. Now, with the immigration bill scheduled to advance next week toward a vote in the Judiciary Committee, Democrats are in a quandary about whether to offer an amendment that would give green cards to same-sex partners. 

Republican sponsors of the overhaul warned on Tuesday that such an amendment would sink the entire measure.  “There’s a reason this language wasn’t included in the Gang of Eight’s bill: It’s a deal-breaker for most Republicans,” Senator Flake said. “Finding consensus on immigration legislation is tough enough without opening the bill up to social issues.”

Senator Leahy’s bill does not seek to legalize gay marriage. Instead, it would allow an American citizen to petition for a green card for a “permanent partner.” Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican, is a co-sponsor of that bill. “Our legislation would simply update our nation’s immigration laws to treat binational, same-sex permanent partners fairly,” she said on Tuesday.  She and Senate Democrats are looking to Mr. Leahy to decide whether to attach that measure as an amendment to the larger bill. He has not yet tipped his hand. 

But in an interview Tuesday with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Senator Rubio was blunt in his assessment of the impact of any same-sex amendment. “This immigration bill is difficult enough as it is,” he said. “If that issue is injected into this bill, this bill will fail. It will not have the support. It will not have my support.”  

Rubio may be trying to cast himself as a new kind of Republican but in truth he's just another lap dog for the Chrisofascists who have made "Christians" best known for their hate and bigotry towards others.  The Gospel message has no place in their hate and fear infused version of Christianity.   It's one reason why I no longer typically describe myself as a Christian.  Who wants to be identified with hate, bigotry and racism.