Getty Movie producer Harvey Weinstein contributed $5000 to Elizabeth Warren's 2012 Senate run
Elizabeth Warren, the US Senator from Massachusetts, is calling on the Secretary of State to reverse a Trump administration policy she says is “cruel and discriminatory” towards some foreign diplomats.
.@SecPompeo should reverse the State Department’s decision to deny visas to unmarried same-sex partners of foreign diplomats. It’s a cruel and discriminatory policy that does nothing to enhance our national security.
Last week, the State Department announced that it will stop giving out visas to the domestic partners of foreign diplomats and UN staffers. The State Department said that from now on it will require diplomats and UN staff to show proof of marriage when they apply for their visas.
Warren slammed the move as “cruel and discriminatory.” In a tweet on Tuesday, the Massachusetts senator wrote, “.@SecPompeo should reverse the State Department’s decision to deny visas to unmarried same-sex partners of foreign diplomats. It’s a cruel and discriminatory policy that does nothing to enhance our national security.”
The State Department traditionally makes it easy for diplomats and UN employees working in the United States to get visas for their spouses and domestic partners. But from now on, the State Department will only give out visas to legally married spouses of diplomats and staff of international organizations. Foreign couples will need to present proof of marriage as part of the visa application process. The change was announced last week but has been anticipated for at least a month; in September, the United Nations distributed a memo to its staff setting out the new visa rules. You can read that memo here.
The move drew criticism from many gay rights advocates, since many countries around the world do not recognize same-sex marriage. That means that many same-sex partners cannot get married in their own countries.
The change could impact not only foreign diplomats and UN staff, but also people working in the United States for the World Bank, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and other groups.
Diplomats Posted in the US Have Been Given Three Months to Either Marry or Face Their Partners’ Deportation
Elizabeth Warren
The State Department is promoting its new policy as egalitarian. A State Department official told the Washington Post last week that the change, which took effect Monday, was made to “ensure and promote equal treatment” for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
“The change in policy ensures consistent treatment between opposite-sex partners and same-sex partners by requiring that same-sex partners, like opposite-sex partners, must marry to qualify for derivative diplomatic visas,” the official said.
Diplomats and staff at international organizations who came to the US with their domestic partners have been given three months to marry their partners. If they don’t get married, their domestic partners will lose their visas.
Since 2009, the United States has defined “family” to include domestic partnerships, which allowed diplomats and UN staff to obtain visas for their partners even when they were not legally married.
Human Rights Watch Warns LGBT Diplomats Might Face Death Threats at Home if They Marry Their Partners
In a statement last week, the US-based Human Rights Watch slammed the State Department’s new visa policy, charging that it would “tear LGBT staff from their partners” by making it impossible for UN staff and diplomats to get visas for their domestic partners.
Human Rights Watch noted that in most countries around the world, same-sex marriage is still illegal. The group warned that same-sex marriage is also stigmatized in many countries, and people who get married to a same-sex partner in the US could face threats when they return home.
The group gave the example of a Nigerian man who married his same-sex partner while abroad and then reported that he, and his family, had faced death threats afterwards.