Gay immigration rights in bill

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democrat from Vermont who is the powerful chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has offered a bill that would allow American citizens and legal immigrants to seek residency in the United States for their same-sex partners, just as spouses now petition for foreign-born husbands and wives.

The most contentious part of the immigration legislation that the administration supports, which is known as comprehensive immigration reform, is a program to give legal status to more than 11 million illegal immigrants living in the country. But current proposals also include a variety of measures intended, like Leahy's, to expand or streamline the legal immigration system.

Leahy's proposal for same-sex immigration benefits was not included in the immigration legislation that the Bush administration brought forward in 2007, which failed after a firestorm of opposition, mainly from Republican voters.

Groups backing the overhaul this year have cobbled together a wide-ranging but fragile coalition supporting the overhaul.

Under family unification provisions in immigration law, American citizens and legal residents can petition for residency for their spouses. There is no numerical limit on permanent residence visas, known as green cards, for spouses of American citizens, and this is one of the main channels for legal immigration to the United States.

Leahy's bill would add the term "permanent partner" to sections of current immigration law that refer to married couples, and would provide a legal definition of those terms.

Supporters said the bill would assist about 36,000 same-sex couples nationwide.