FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate on Monday returned to the Violence Against Women Act, seeking to accomplish what Congress last year failed to do _ extend the federal government's chief means of protecting women from domestic abuse while broadening those protections to better include Native Americans, gays and lesbians. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Leahy wants immigration benefits for gay couples
Published: 03:24:51 PM, Wed 13 February 2013 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Patrick Leahy want the government to start affording same sex, married couples the same immigration benefits that heterosexual couples now enjoy.
Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, says he will introduce later Wednesday the Uniting Families Act, a bill that would provide spousal immigration benefits to same sex couples. Leahy discussed the bill briefly during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration reform.
Because the federal government does not currently recognize same sex marriages, U.S. citizens cannot sponsor their same sex partners for immigration benefits, including green cards.
The Justice Department is no longer defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. The Supreme Court is set to take up gay marriage cases later this year.
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