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Press Release
National Asian
Pacific American Legal Consortium
Press Release
For Immediate Release
October 11, 2002
Contact:
Katherine Newell Bierman
202-296-2300
NAPALC Urges the Administration to Join House Democrats in Efforts to Address
Earned Legalization and Family Reunification
Washington, D.C. - The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC)
applauds Representative Richard Gephardt (D-Mo) and House Democrat leadership
for the introduction of earned legalization and family reunification
legislation, and urges President Bush and the House Republican leadership to
work with the Democrats to create a bipartisan effort towards a major, necessary
immigration reform that will honor our nation’s values, strengthen our economy,
and make our nation even stronger.
The Earned Legalization and Family Reunification Act of 2002 was introduced
today by Representative Gephardt and other members of the House Democratic
Immigration Task Force. NAPALC joined other immigrant advocates in support of
this important first step in major immigration reform that addresses the reality
of an immigration system that keeps millions of taxpaying workers and their
families living in uncertainty.
“This legislation recognizes that the same sound policy rationale recognized by
President Bush prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11 and driving a move
toward comprehensive immigration reform is still with us,” said Karen K.
Narasaki, Executive Director of NAPALC. “Additionally, in keeping with the
important steps Congress and the Administration have taken since September 11 to
secure our borders and enhance our nation’s security, this legislation addresses
the need to bring the population of immigrants living without legal status out
of the shadows and into the light of greater accountability.”
The legislation opens a controlled avenue by which certain undocumented
immigrants who are already a part of this country’s economy can apply for
legalization. Hard-working, tax-paying immigrants will be able to adjust their
status and live legally if they have resided in the United States for at least
five years, have a work history of at least two years and are able to pass a
thorough background check.
This important step will allow millions of families to move beyond the constant
fear and apprehension that at any time they could be split apart by arbitrary or
discriminatory immigration enforcement. Furthermore, it will shrink the pool of
undocumented in such a way as to allow law enforcement to better focus resources
on individuals who pose a real terrorist threat.
The Asian community would benefit from an earned legalization plan. While many
tend to overlook the number of Asian immigrants who are undocumented, the size
of the group is significant. One reason is the enormous backlog in family
members waiting for visas to join loved ones already in the U.S., which leaves
families faced with a choice between undocumented immigration and long years of
separation.
The proposed bill will also take important first steps to alleviate this
backlog. Family reunification is a cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy, and
family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents have long been
allowed to apply for visas in order to join their families in the U.S. Different
categories of relatives are subject to annual numerical limits, however, and a
backlog in persons waiting for available visas has developed that keeps some
people, such as certain Filipinos, waiting literally decades to join loved ones
in this country.
This backlog in family reunification-based immigration disproportionately
impacts Asian American families. Over 90 per cent of Asian immigration comes
through the family categories. Almost half of immigrants waiting to reunite with
their families are from Asian countries. Currently, a brother or sister of U.S.
citizens who seek to come here from the Philippines must wait over twenty years
before their application is processed. Adult unmarried sons or daughters of U.S.
citizens cannot marry during the time their applications are pending or they
will be moved to the back of an even longer line for married sons or daughters
of U.S. citizens. For Chinese or Koreans, for example, marriage during the
three-year waiting period would add another six years of waiting, leaving people
faced with heartbreaking choices.
Our family immigration system places people who want to immigrate to the U.S.
into visa categories (most with numerical limits) according to the closeness of
the relationship and the citizenship status of the U.S. family member. There is
no numerical cap for spouses, unmarried minor children, and parents of U.S.
citizens. This category is called "immediate relatives of U.S. citizens." For
all other relations, however, there are strict limits on the total number in
each category. In addition, the total number of visas available for family-based
immigration is subject to a numerical annual limit.
The legislation would remove the number of visas available for immediate
relatives of U.S. citizens from counting towards the numerical annual limit,
thereby making more visas available for other categories of family members.
###
The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (www.napalc.org)
is a national civil rights organization dedicated to advancing and defending the
civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans. The Asian Law Caucus (www.asianlawcaucus.org)
of San Francisco is the oldest Asian Pacific American legal group in the nation.
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (www.aaldef.org)
is the first organization on the East Coast dedicated to promoting the legal
rights of Asian Americans. The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (www.apalc.org)
is the only organization in Southern California dedicated to providing the Asian
Pacific American community with multilingual, culturally sensitive legal
services and civic education.
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