Tennessee: Marriage Licenses Denied to Immigrants And Citizens Who Want to Marry Immigrants!
It's the old slippery slope folks. First they come for gays and lesbians, then they come for everybody else.While the Senate debates the rights of gays to marry, heterosexuals are being denied the right to marry in the 'pro family' state of Tennessee.
Yes, that includes legal immigrants and that includes the citizens who want to marry them!
Across the state of Tennessee, couples that cannot present two social security cards are being denied marriage licenses. In the Senate Majority Leader's home state, you are not free to marry if you are gay, and you are not free to marry if you are a heterosexual who cannot produce two social security cards.
Can we say, not free?
In other words, marriage is the union of one man, one woman, and . . . two social security numbers.
Do you need a social security number to pay taxes?
Shades of Loving v. Virginia! The Loving couple was sentenced to one year in jail for the crime of inter-racial marriage.
Will there be a penalty for the crime of marrying an immigrant?
When you call your senator to ask if s/he is protecting marriage from gays, better check to make sure s/he is also protecting marriage from immigrants!
Another day, another outrage. This is what we call 'life' under the ‘Pro Family’ Bush regime.
The Tennessean:
Maikel and Alicia Garcia have just celebrated their wedding, but the state of Tennessee doesn't recognize it. Even though Maikel Garcia is a citizen and Alicia Garcia is a legal resident, the Davidson County clerk's office would not accept her passport and visa when the couple applied for a marriage license, Maikel Garcia said.
After being turned away, they returned with Terry Horgan, coordinator of Hispanic services for Catholic Charities at the Woodbine Center. Even with his help, Horgan said, the couple could not obtain a license.
Across the state, immigrant couples are being denied marriage licenses. In some cases one or both of the pair are undocumented. But even some legal immigrants have had difficulty obtaining licenses because of the identification requirements at some county clerks' offices.
"We called county clerks' offices across the state and, unfortunately, nearly every county clerk is requiring a Social Security number as a condition of receiving a marriage license," said Hedy Weinberg, director of the Tennessee office of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"It's a misinterpretation (of the law)," Weinberg said. "There's a state statute that requires individuals to disclose their Social Security numbers when obtaining a marriage license, if they have one, but it certainly doesn't require you to have a Social Security number, or proof of legal residency."
The policy of recording Social Security numbers on marriage licenses came about in response to a federal law that was designed to make it easier for the government to track down parents who refuse to pay child support.
Tennessee passed a law in 1997 requiring couples that want a marriage license to provide their Social Security numbers to their county clerks. Many counties began restricting marriage licenses for those people without Social Security numbers sometime after that.
Weinberg said the policy is unconstitutional.
"Marriage is a fundamental right, and should be enjoyed by all people in Tennessee," she said. . . .
The Rev. Joseph Breen of St. Edward Church said denying marriage licenses to immigrants places an unnecessary burden on couples and their children, some of whom are American citizens.
"I really think it's something we should be ashamed of," he said "We should have more respect for marriage."
Breen considers that unacceptable and said St. Edward has decided to begin performing sacramental marriages for couples without licenses. He plans to perform a group marriage ceremony for a number of congregants who have been unable to marry, and the church may even charter a bus to Kentucky to allow the couples to get legal marriage licenses after the ceremony.
"This is supposed to be a Christian nation and pro-family," he said. "People should be really upset that this is happening."
Bush Immigration Immigrant Rights Frist Gay Politics Same-sex Marriage Homophobia Gay Marriage
