Senator Murray Co-Sponsors Legislation to Bring Equality to Immigration Process

 (Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) co-sponsored the Uniting
American Families Act of 2011 which updates U.S. immigration law to allow
American citizens to sponsor same-sex “permanent partners” applying for legal
residency in the United States. The bill was introduced this morning by Senator
Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

“Protecting
family unity has been a principle of our immigration law for many years. It’s
time to extend that principle to the families of same-sex couples,” said Senator Murray. “That’s
why I’m proud to support the United American Families Act because it will
ensure that no American, no matter their sexual orientation, will ever have to
choose between their country and their family.”

The
Uniting American Families Act would apply the same restrictions and penalties
to same-sex couples that are applied to opposite-sex couples under the
Immigration and Naturalization Act. The penalties for any individual found
to have entered into a fraudulent, permanent partnership for the purposes of
obtaining a visa for another individual are a maximum five-year imprisonment, a
$250,000 fine, or both.