Case presses Bush on Filipino immigration issue
Associated Press
U.S. Rep. Ed Case has asked President Bush and congressional leaders to amend immigration legislation with a measure to help unite families of Filipino veterans.
Case said Filipinos who fought alongside U.S. troops during World War II and later decided to become American citizens have been separated from their children in the Philippines.
The bill would grant children of Filipino veterans an immigration waiver similar to the one they received in 1990.
"We need to fulfill completely our commitment to these veterans, many of whom are in their 80s and 90s, by allowing their sons and daughters to go though the process we established in 1990 to have priority in their respective immigration categories," said Case, D-Hawaii.
In a letter, Case urged Bush and lawmakers to include his bill "in any comprehensive immigration reform measure" or to give his bill "expedited consideration."
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates that 3,200 Filipino veterans have become American citizens since 1990.
Hawaii has an estimated American-Filipino population of more than 275,000, second only to California, where more than 1 million live. This year marks 100 years since a group of 15 farmworkers, also known as "sakada," left the Philippines and came to the Big Island to work in sugar cane fields.