| dbo:abstract | - The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA, H.R. 519, S. 296) is a U.S. bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to eliminate discrimination in immigration by permitting of United States citizens and of lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the same manner as spouses of citizens and of lawful permanent residents and to penalize immigration fraud in connection with . If the partnership ends within two years, the sponsored partner's immigrant status would be subject to review. Beginning in the 111th Congress, the full text of UAFA, further expanded to provide rights to the children or stepchildren of the foreign-born partner, has been included as Title II of the Reuniting Families Act (H.R. 717), an immigration reform bill, last introduced in the United States House of Representatives on February 14, 2013, by California Congressman Michael Honda (D-CA). UAFA was introduced on February 13, 2013, in the United States Senate by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and in the United States House of Representatives by New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). The Senate version has 29 cosponsors. The Senate legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Most of the cosponsors are Democrats and there is little Republican support for the legislation. The 2013 bill was cosponsored by Republican Congressmen Charlie Dent and Richard L. Hanna. There are an estimated 36,000 same-sex binational couples in 2000, according to the Census, who could benefit from this act. (en)
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