SALON

Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 2:03 PM UTC

Same-sex couples reportedly part of Obama’s immigration push

The president will call for broad immigration reform in a speech Tuesday in Las Vegas

By

Topics: Barack Obama, Immigration, Immigration Reform, Same-sex marriage, Undocumented immigrants,

Same-sex couples reportedly part of Obama's immigration push (Credit: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The president is scheduled to make a big speech in Las Vegas outlining his proposals for immigration reform on Tuesday, and will reportedly include his support for addressing binational same-sex couples in any legislation.

According to Washington Post sources, “The president also is likely to support treating same-sex couples in which one partner is an immigrant the same as married heterosexual couples — meaning gay and lesbian immigrants in relationships with U.S. citizens could apply for citizenship.”

BuzzFeed also reports that an unnamed Democratic source says, “Same-sex couples will be part of [Obama's] proposal.”

But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Tuesday that addressing binational couples is ”not of paramount importance at this time.”

“We’ll have to look at it,” he said on “This Morning” on CBS. “We’ll have to gauge how the majority of Congress feels. But that, to me, is a red flag that, frankly, we will address in time. We need to get broad consensus over on our proposal to start with. And there are a number of very difficult issues we have to resolve.”

On Monday, a bipartisan group of eight senators, including McCain, announced a framework for addressing immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the country. But that part of the plan has the murky specification that a pathway to citizenship is “contingent upon our success in securing our borders and addressing visa overstays.”

The Post reports that in general, Obama’s proposals will be more liberal than those of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight”:

For example, the Senate proposal would let illegal immigrants obtain legal residency quickly. But it would not allow them to seek full citizenship until border security had been improved and a new system was in place for employers to verify the employment status of workers.

Obama will not endorse such a proposal, the administration official said. The president intends to make clear the need for a more straightforward route for un­documented workers and students to obtain citizenship, reflecting fears among advocates that a cumbersome process would create a decades-long wait for some migrants.

Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, wouldn’t say in a press conference Monday whether Obama supports that part of the proposal, but he noted that border security measures “have never been better enforced than they are now,” including 410,000 deportations in 2012.

Though the “Gang of Eight” senators said in a press conference Tuesday that they were confident immigration reform will happen this year, House Republicans will not make it easy. So far, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner was noncommittal, saying Monday that Boehner “welcomes the work of leaders like Senator Rubio on this issue, and is looking forward to learning more about the proposal.”

But more conservative Republicans, in both the House and Senate, are already voicing objections, including Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, who said a pathway to citizenship would be a “sticking point” between the House and the Senate, and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who said, “By granting amnesty, the Senate proposal actually compounds the problem by encouraging more illegal immigration.”

Conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also said that he has “deep concerns with the proposed path to citizenship,” while Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a member of the Tea Party caucus, said he doesn’t support the framework: “These guidelines contemplate a policy that will grant special benefits to illegal immigrants based on their unlawful presence in the country.”

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 4 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations