Dear Honorable Senators and Members of Congress:

I am your constituent, and I urge you to cosponsor the Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 1024, S. 424).

The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) allows gay and lesbian Americans to sponsor their foreign national partners for residency in the United States, and ends the unconscionable choice those Americans are currently forced to make: between the family they love and the country they call home.

Our discriminatory immigration laws often have devastating consequences for families. An estimated 36,000 LGBT binational couples are facing imminent separation or exile. Nearly half of those — 46% — are raising children. For all of them, time is of the essence as they struggle to remain together in the United States. Tens of thousands of binational families are already living separately, facing imminent separation, or leaving the United States entirely in order to remain together. Our existing immigration laws hurt not only those individuals, but also their extended families, businesses, and communities.

I also urge you to support UAFA as part of comprehensive immigration reform. America’s immigration system impacts everyone – citizens and non-citizens, families and individuals, and those who are gay and straight – and truly comprehensive reform must leave no one behind.

Sincerely,