For Immediate Release | Contact: Jennie McCue | |||
October 1, 2003 | 202-225-5635 | |||
Nadler Calls for Reversal of Anti-Same Sex Partnership Policy |
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Washington, DC—Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today called on the U.S. Customs Service to reverse a policy that denies same sex married couples the right to enter the United States as tourists if their marital status is included on their entry card. Nadler's request for a policy change follows a recent action by Customs officials, who refused to allow a same sex married Canadian couple to enter the United States because their Canadian marital status was written on their entry cards. Nadler joined Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) in writing a letter to U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Robert C. Bonner to urge a reversal of this policy. "The fact that this Canadian couple was married under the terms of Canadian law has absolutely nothing to do with their status as tourists in America. The Customs Department's action to deny this couple entry unless they changed their entry card to depict an inaccurate description of their marriage serves no legal purpose in this country and is downright degrading. This policy must be reversed immediately," stated Nadler. The text of the letter to Commissioner Bonner is as follows:
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