Obama Approves Same Sex Couples as Family for Immigration

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

Quietly, while almost anyone who would notice such things was distracted by the noise coming from the presidential election stump and spin, President Obama made a tactical change to his immigration policy. Word of the change came third hand – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday that Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano had told her in a letter that she had, and this is according to a Reuters report:

ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to notify its field offices “that the interpretation of the phrase ‘family relationships’ includes long-term, same-sex partners.”

Huge. On several fronts.

First, it directly challenges the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996 that says the Federal government cannot grant federal benefits – like Social Security – to gay and lesbian couples.  The act prohibits gay and lesbian couples from being  treated the same as heterosexual couples, so the President’s directive is a direct challenge. again Reuters:

Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama called DOMA unconstitutional and said they would no longer defend the measure in court. In response, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives stepped in to fund an effort to try to uphold the law.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide next month whether it will review a number of cases questioning the constitutionality of DOMA.

Second, the directive strengthens the case for keeping families together during immigration proceedings. Last year federal officials said they would consider same-sex couples as family in cases where deportation of undocumented immigrants was at stake, but Pelosi and a group of liberal legislators had wanted clearer, written guidelines.

 [Photo by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com]