As Congress gears up to craft immigration reform legislation, some LGBT advocates are demanding that it include equal rights for same-sex binational couples, who currently face a mountain of legal hurdles in the system.

At a Stonewall Democrats meeting on Tuesday, freshman congressman Marc Veasey (D-TX) demanded that this equality be in the legislation.

VEASEY: Comprehensive immigration reform to me means including same-sex families. Same-sex families that want to have their loved ones reuinted with them hear in the United States, that has to be covered, that has to be included. Any bill we pass does not go far enough if same-sex language is not included.

Watch it (relevant section begins at 4:21):

Prominent gay Americans have faced drastic circumstances due to the lack of equality for LGBT partners in U.S. immigration law. For example, prolific civil liberties writer Glenn Greenwald was forced to live in Brazil part time because he could not live alongside his partner in New York City, where he studied law.