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NAFFAA Welcomes Bush Immigration Reform Proposal, But with Reservations January 9, 2004 Washington D.C. - "We are heartened by President George W. Bush's proposal to reform our country's immigration policy," says NaFFAA National Chair Loida Nicolas Lewis. "Finally, he has heard the clamor for justice of undocumented immigrants who contribute to the national economy of the United States. This is a welcome step to take at the beginning of the New Year. We have long recognized the need for federal action regarding the 8 million to 10 million undocumented immigrants who who have been subjected to exploitation and abuse. It's time they are given legal status." Lewis is concerned, however, that the measures outlined in the president's proposal do not adequately address the fundamental problems of the nation's immigration system. "We would like to see the speedy processing of the petition for relatives of Filipino immigrants for the purpose of family unification," Lewis adds. "The reduction of the massive backlogs in family immigration must be given top priority. Any meaningful reform should also provide reasonable opportunities for people already living and working in the United States to become lawful permanent residents. Moreover, any temporary worker program must be accompanied by an opportunity for lawful permanent residence and full labor protections for U.S. and immigrant workers alike." Citing figures provided by the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC), Lewis notes that approximately 1.5 million of the 3.5 million people caught in the family immigration backlog are from Asian countries. "While we commend the President's renewed interest in immigration reform, he should explicitly call for a reduction in the family immigration backlog," said Lewis. "Family reunification is very important to our community. Something must be done for the millions of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been waiting for a long time to reunite with their families." Lewis also stressed that although the proposal allows undocumented immigrants to receive temporary work visas for three years, it must also provide a reasonable way for them to eventually become permanent residents. "Many of these workers are hard-working and law-abiding members who have established roots and developed close links to the communities they live in. As workers, their contributions to the U.S. economy are tremendous. It would be unrealistic, therefore, to send them back to their country of origin after they have fully integrated themselves in the U.S." Noting that there are currently two
excellent bills in Congress with broad bipartisan support, Lewis
said that these measures should be enacted. One, called the AgJobs
bill, would help 500,000 agriculture workers already in America
to earn a form of legal status. The other, called the Dream Act,
would allow illegal immigrants' children who have grown up in this
country, to pay in-state college tuition rates and earn a path to
citizenship. "We call on President Bush to support these two
bills," Lewis said. "Their passage would most assuredly
help repair what is presently a broken immigration National Federation of Filipino American
Associations (NaFFAA)
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