Same-Sex Couples Eligible for Green Cards Following SCOTUS Ruling Griselda Nevarez - VOXXI
go to original June 26, 2013

Juan Talavera (R) kisses his partner Jeff Ronci after the announcement of the Supreme Court’s rulings. One ruling wiped away part of a federal anti-gay marriage law that has kept legally married same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that had denied benefits to legally married same-sex couples means that lesbian and gay Americans can now sponsor their foreign-born spouses for permanent residency status.

The court ruled Wednesday that Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibited the federal government from awarding benefits to legally married same-sex couples, is unconstitutional. That provision of the law banned same-sex couples from receiving immigration benefits, including green cards. But that is about to change, said Karen Tumlin, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center.

Jorge Gutierrez, coordinator for the United We Dream Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, said that today is “a huge day, not only for the LGBT movement, but also for the immigrant rights’ movement.”

Read the rest at VOXXI

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