U.S. immigration policy is built on the principle of family unification. Despite this goal, U.S. immigration policy does not allow U.S. citizens or permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration to the United States.

Nearly 40,000 same-sex binational couples are living in the U.S., according to the 2000 U.S. Census. These families dwell in every state, make their way at every income level, raise families with children of all ages, and are a mosaic of American diversity.

This figure does not include the many thousands of lesbian and gay couples who have to hide the fact they are partners, are forced to live apart, or who have been forced to leave the United States. Under discriminatory U.S. statutes, these couples have no recognition under the law. Their relationships—even if they have lived together for decades, even if their commitment is incontrovertible and public—are irrelevant for purposes of entering the United States.

Instead, they face a limbo of legal indifference, harassment and fear. Couples interviewed described the devastating impact not only on their partnerships but on their careers, homes, children, livelihoods, and lives. At least nineteen countries worldwide provide some degree of immigration benefits to the same-sex partners of citizens and permanent residents. Yet, the United States still refuses.

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