Trump administration halts visas for same-sex UN employees
The U.N. portrayed the decision which foreign diplomats fear will increase hardships for same-sex couples in countries that don’t recognize same-sex marriage as an effort to bring its international visa practices in line with current U.S. policy.
The statement is about unmarried, same-sex partners of diplomats and U.N. employees have until the end the year to get married or leave the U.S..
According to the President Donald Trump administration has began denying visas to the unmarried, same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and officials and employees of the United Nations on Monday making marriage a requirement to be eligible for a visa.
The shift was detailed in a memo circulated at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York last month but unveiled in July, according to the State Department.
The policy shift gives the same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and U.N. workers until the end of the year to get married or leave the country.
The State Department said in a briefing Tuesday, told USA Today, that the policy will affect about 105 families in the USA, 55 of which have links to various international organizations. It was not clear how many foreign diplomats and U.N. employees with pending U.S. posts will be affected by the policy change.
Twelve percent of the 193 U.N. member states represented in New York allow same-sex marriage, according to Samantha Power, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who served under President Barack Obama.
The Trump administration said the new policy is more consistent with the Supreme Court ruling in 2015 that legalized same-sex marriage. The heterosexual partners of foreign diplomats and U.N. employees are also not eligible for U.S. visas.
