In a New Op-Ed, Rep. Honda Calls for Inclusive Reform

By Steve Ralls on 05/13/2011 @ 10:12 AM

In a new op-ed appearing in this morning's San Jose Mercury-News, California Congressman Mike Honda calls on his colleagues in Congress to pass immigration reform legislation that includes LGBT families.

Congressman Honda, who is lead sponsor of the LGBT-inclusive Reuniting Families Act, makes a personal appeal for an inclusive reform package that would end the obstacles immigrant families - including LGBT families - face under current immigration laws.

"People who have their families by their side are happier, healthier and more able to succeed than those living apart from loved ones for years on end," Honda writes. "By pooling resources, families can do together what they can't do alone--start family businesses, create American jobs and contribute more to the general welfare. The healthier the community, the more expendable income is available and the lower the burden on social services."

"In my home district of San Jose, one family is making heart-wrenching decisions in order to remain together," he continues. "Judy Rickard recently took early retirement from her job in the California State University system to live abroad six months each year to be with her wife, Karin, who is British. Under current U.S. law, Judy's marriage is not recognized. Why? Because she and Karin are a lesbian couple. Karin can visit Judy in the U.S. only on a tourist visa, which provides her entry to the U.S. for only a portion of each year. Now, Judy is faced with the prospect of having to leave her home in California and go into exile abroad--all to keep her family together."

[The RFA], he notes, "would expand the definition of families to include couples like Judy and Karin. In doing so, it ensures our country has the ability to attract new workers to fuel the U.S. economy, and gives employers, like Judy's, a valuable tool to keep talented Americans on the job, rather than forcing them to leave their employers in order to keep their families together."

"Stories like Judy's," the Congressman writes, "are increasingly the rule, not the exception, when it comes to family unification. Federal laws are literally tearing families apart and separating American citizens from their loved ones. This is wrong, and it is time that American lawmakers do something to protect and preserve the American family."

To read Honda's full op-ed, click here.

Photo via Flickr.