Arizona Senator John McCain, a
Republican, on Tuesday was asked whether his immigration reform
package introduced on Monday would address gay couples.
Under the current law, a gay or lesbian
American citizen cannot sponsor an immigrant spouse for citizenship
due to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which prevents the federal
government from recognizing their marriage.
President Barack Obama will outline his
plans for immigration reform on Tuesday. According to BuzzFeed,
the president will address the issue.
During an appearance on CBS This
Morning, McCain was asked whether his plan would address the
inequity.
“It's something that frankly is not
of paramount importance at this time,” McCain said. “We'll have
to look at it. We'll have to gauge how the majority of Congress
feels. But that to me is a red flag that frankly we will address in
time. We need to get broad consensus over on our proposal to start
with. And there are a number of very difficult issues we have to
resolve.” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)