Immigrants’ rights advocates on Long Island are asking everyone who believes in social justice to call Senator Chuck Schumer on Wednesday, March 27, to insist that LGBT families be included and protected in immigration reform.

Currently, even if a same-sex couple is legally married in the United States, the U.S. citizen spouse cannot file an immigration application to be united with his or her immigrant spouse. This is keeping tens of thousands of couples separated. Many of these couples have children, and the children are forced to grow up without the presence of one of their parents. This is an intolerable situation for these families.

Two of the senators drafting the immigration reform legislation, Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, have said that they oppose the protection of the rights of LGBT families. That means we need Senator Chuck Schumer to forcefully advocate for immigration equality. Schumer comes from the first state to legislate marriage equality and he owes it to New York’s progressive stance on fairness for the LGBT community to push forcefully for this step forward.

Advocacy groups [including an advocacy group from Make the Road New York] here on Long Island also call on our allies around New York State to join us in making sure that Senator Schumer knows that there is widespread support for keeping ALL families together.

We expect an immigration reform bill to be introduced within the next two weeks, so we don’t have much time to make our voices heard.

Here is information on the call-in from our terrific network of community groups here on Long Island. Please do your part and call now to ensure that LGBT people are included in the immigration reform bill:

Senator Schumer’s office can be reached at (202) 224-6542. Tell him you want an immigration reform bill that includes all families, including LGBT couples!

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