Obama and Equal Immigration Rights
If there's one promise that President Obama has made, it is of his commitment, his work and of his continuity of leadership on our behalf until full equality is reached for all Americans. In our opinion, those are really big promises and if he keeps those promises, along with his commitment to "improve the Uniting American Families Act," we will have our immigration equality once and for all.Additionally, in an open letter to the LGBT community, Barack Obama declared his support for UAFA and equal immigration rights for same-sex couples.“...so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system,” he wrote. His biggest promise of all, however, is that he would not forget us once he is in office.
- "I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans."
- "I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)...I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does."
- “to eliminate discrimination against LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Americans”
- "Let’s treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law....
- With leadership and hard work, we can fulfill the promise of equality for all.”
- “But my commitment is to try to make sure that we are moving in the direction of full equality, and I think the federal government historically has led on civil rights”
- ”Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans. Gay and straight alike.”
- “to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters.”
- “And finally, an area that I’m very interested in is making sure that federal benefits are available to same-sex couples who have a civil union. I think as more states sign civil union bills into law the federal government should be helping to usher in a time when there’s full equality in terms of what that means for federal benefits.”
- White House spokesman Shin Inouye said in a statement that, "The president thinks Americans with partners from other countries should not be faced with a painful choice between staying with their partner or staying in their country. We will work closely with Congress to craft comprehensive immigration reform legislation."
