Schumer Voices Concern Over Immigration and Same-Sex Couples

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said on Thursday that an amendment that would allow American citizens to seek permanent resident visas, known as green cards, for same-sex foreign partners keeps him up at night.

Mr. Schumer, a member of the bipartisan group of senators that drafted legislation to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, said that while he personally favors the amendment, known as the Uniting American Families Act, he worries that it could harm the bill’s overall success.

“This one is something I worry about all the time,” Mr. Schumer said. “I’m a good sleeper but I wake up in the morning thinking of these things, sometimes early in the morning.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee began considering more than 300 amendments to the immigration measure, including versions of the Uniting American Families Act, on Thursday. Mr. Schumer’s Republican colleagues in the group have previously said that any provision that offers increased protections for same-sex couples from different countries would be unacceptable to them.

“I would like very much to see it in the bill, but we have to have a bill that has support to get U.A.F.A. passed,” Mr. Schumer said. “That’s the conundrum, because if there’s no bill, then there’s no U.A.F.A. either.”

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has filed two amendments for the Uniting American Families Act â€" one for those in same-sex partnerships and one for those in recognized marriages â€" that would allow American citizens to apply for green cards on behalf of their foreign partners.

Under current law, citizens can get a green card for a foreign spouse in a traditional marriage with relative ease, but cannot apply for a green card for a gay spouse or partner.

Mr. Leahy’s amendments, if offered, promise to create a politically sticky situation for Democrats in the bipartisan group like Mr. Schumer, who personally support the measures but are hesitant to vote for anything they believe could hurt the broader bill. Though Mr. Schumer is already facing pressure from gay rights groups, he declined to say how he might vote.

“I’m not going to get into speculatives,” he said.