Client Base
According to Immigration Equality, there are roughly 36,000 bi-national same-sex couples unable to "secure green cards for their partners like heterosexual spouses can." The census recorded 594,391 same-sex couples, six percent composed of one citizen and one non-citizen. The 2000 Census figures are also likely lower as same-sex couples will only officially be counted in the 2010 Census and same-sex marriages only became legal in since the early 1990s in some European countries and legal in Massachusetts in 2004. The group also believes some couples did not report themselves because of fears about their immigration status. According to an 2004 Urban Institute analysis conducted for Immigration Equality, researchers believe that figure could be under-counted by anywhere from 10% to 50%. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prevents immigration officials from recognizing same-sex marriages, even if valid in other jurisdictions.
Read more about this topic: Immigration Equality (organization)
Famous quotes containing the words client and/or base:
“A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“The desire of most parents is first and foremost to do what is best for their children. Every interview with a mother or father confirms this, every letter written by a parent breathes this deep-seated wish, “I hope I am doing the right thing for my child.” This is real and honest, and at the very base of parenthood.”
—Irma Simonton Black (20th century)