Immigration Equality congratulates New York’s new Senator. We also urge her to step up and join the senior Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, in cosponsoring the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) when it is reintroduced.

Other potential candidates Gov. Paterson purportedly considered for the seat, including Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel, and Jerry Nadler, all already cosponsored UAFA in the House. Representative Gillibrand did not. In the last Congress, as a freshman in a formerly Republican seat who won by a narrow margin, she was perceived as cautious although generally supportive of LGBT rights. In November’s election, she took the seat again by a much wider margin, so hopefully she would have become a UAFA cosponsor in the House this year. Outcome, Buffalo’s Gay Newspaper, reports: “Representative Gillibrand has expressed support of HRC’s positions regarding the immigration of legal same-sex partners.”

Now, as Senator, she has a much broader base of both immigrant and LGBT consituencies, and more incentive to establish her progressive credentials before what could be a bruising primary campaign in two years.

We urge our New York readers to call and congratulate your new Senator, and urge her to join Senator Schumer in supporting New York’s lesbian and gay binational families by cosponsoring UAFA when it is reintroduced this year. To contact Senator Gillibrand, phone the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for her office.