A Major Step Forward For Immigration Reform

In a dramatic show of support for the Uniting American Families Act [UAFA] and LGBT-inclusive Comprehensive Immigration Reform [CIR], members of the LGBT Equality Caucus--a group of US Representatives--sent a letter to President Obama, as well as to the Senate and House leadership. Sixty of the eighty-two member caucus signed the letter which urgently calls for immigration reform and demands inclusion of LGBT families who have historically been locked out of our immigration system.

The letter adds new constituencies in Congress pressing for reform: the Congressional Hispanic Caucus [CHC], the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus [CAPAC], the Congressional Black Caucus [CBC], and the Congressional Progressive Caucus [CPC]. The leaders of all four new groups, all Democrats, signed the letter as well: Nydia Velazquez of New York, Mike Honda of California, Barbara Lee and Raul Grijalva of Arizona, and Lynn Woolsey of California.

The letter is just one in a series of steps the LGBT Equality Caucus has taken to advocate for the Uniting American Families Act and LGBT binational families.

Congressional sign-on letters are important because they show a voting block of support for a specific policy and can have major influence over content of legislation. This letter sends a strong demand for fairness for all families.

Immigration Equality [

HERE] commends the leader of the sign-on effort, Representative Tammy Baldwin, along with the other five House members who spearheaded the effort: Jared Polis and Barney Frank, who co-chair the LGBT Equality Caucus along with Baldwin; Jerrold Nadler, Mike Honda, and Mike Quigley, an emerging champion of LGBT binational families.

Here is a list of the U.S. Representatives who signed on to the letter; if your Representative signed, please call or email their office to thank them. They need to know we appreciate them standing up for all families!

Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin

Jared Polis, Colorado

Barney Frank, Massachusetts

Mike Honda, California

Jerrold Nadler, New York

Mike Quigley, Illinois

Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii

Shelley Berkley, Nevada

Howard Berman, California

Earl Blumenauer, Oregon

Robert Brady, Pennsylvania

Lois Capps, California

Michael Capuano, Massachusetts

Andre Carson, Indiana

Judy Chu, California

Yvette Clarke, New York

Susan Davis, California,

Diana DeGette, Colorado

William Delahunt, Massachusetts

Mike Doyle, Pennsylvania

Keith Ellison, Minnesota

Eliott Engel, New York

Bob Filner, California

Raul Grijalva, Arizona

Luis Gutierrez, Illinois

Phil Hare, Illinois

Jane Harman, California

Alcee Hastings, Florida

Mazie Hirono, Hawaii

Rush Holt, New Jersey

Steve Israel, New York

Patrick Kennedy, Rhode Island

Dennis Kucinich, Ohio

Barbara Lee, California

John Lewis, Georgia

Nita Lowey, New York

Carolyn Maloney, New York

Doris Matsui, California

Jim McDermott, Washington

James McGovern, Massachusetts

James Moran, Virginia

Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia

Frank Pallone, New Jersey

Chellie Pingree, Maine

Steve Rothman, New jersey

Linda Sánchez, California

Janice Schakowsky, Illinois

Jose Serrano, New York

Brad Sherman, California

Jackie Speier, California

Pete Stark, California

Edolphis Towns, New york

Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts

Nydia Velázquez, New York

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida

Henry Waxman, California

Anthony Weiner, New York

Peter Welch, Vermont

Lynn Woolsey, California

David Wu, Oregon