Customs plan would ease travel for gay couples

Source: Bay Area Reporter

Same-sex couples would be allowed to re-enter the country with a single customs declaration form under a new proposal that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Departments of Homeland Security and Treasury formally unveiled on March 27.

Current policy allows members of a family who are related through blood, marriage, or adoption and live in the same household to file a single customs declaration form. The proposal would expand the definition of "members of a family living in one household" to include domestic partners, same-sex couples, and those in other relationships where "the partners share financial assets and obligations, and are not married to, or a partner of, anyone else."

A customs spokesperson declined to comment on the proposal, but an Obama administration official told the Bay Area Reporter that the White House "welcomes this move."

"Separating families in the customs line was a waste of government resources and a painful symbol of the double standard LGBT families face at the federal level," said Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality. "This proposal ends that insult. It sends an unmistakable message that the administration and the United States recognize gay families as 'real families,' too."

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