SENATE SHOULD REMOVE IMMIGRATION BARRIERS FOR SPOUSES OF FALLEN U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL

WASHINGTON, DC Today, as our nation observes Veteran’s Day, the non-partisan Alliance for Marriage urged the Senate to pass the Naturalization and Family Protection for Military Members provisions in the Defense Authorization Bill.  This legislation prevents non-citizen spouses of U.S. military personnel from losing legal immigrant status if their husband or wife is killed in the line of duty.

“On Veteran’s Day, the Congress should honor fallen members of our armed forces by enacting this common sense immigration reform,” said Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage.  “When dealing with the tragic loss of a husband or wife, the last thing that military spouses and their families need to worry about is their ability to stay in America.  America should treat these families with dignity and enable them to continue the immigration and naturalization process leading to citizenship,” Daniels added.

The House of Representatives passed the Defense Authorization which included the spousal provisions on November 7, 2003. The immigration provisions in the Defense Authorization would also allow naturalization proceedings overseas for active duty military, speed up naturalization proceedings for non-citizen active duty servicemen and allow families of non-citizen soldiers who have been granted posthumous citizenship to apply for legal permanent resident status.  

The Alliance for Marriage is a multicultural coalition whose Board of Advisors includes Rev. Walter Fauntroy -- the D.C. Coordinator of the March on Washington for Martin Luther King Jr. -- as well as other civil rights and religious leaders, and national legal experts.