Yesterday, the Washington Post published an article that if true, will have a devastating impact on our community. The Senate Gang of 8 (which is drafting the Senate immigration reform bill) will likely eliminate the adult married children and brother/sister of a U.S. citizen family immigration categories.
Our communities will disproportionately suffer if these categories are eliminated. The majority of Asians immigrating to the U.S. do so through the family-based immigration system. Although Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders comprise only 6% of the U.S. population, we use one-third of all immigration visas.
Specifically, here’s the breakdown for each family category that is on the chopping block:
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For adult married children of U.S. citizens:
- Philippines, Vietnam, India, China, Pakistan are in the top 10 list of countries waiting in the backlogs for this category (making up over 40% of the total number of individuals in the backlogs)
- For brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens:
- India, Philippines, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Korea are in the top 10 list of countries waiting in the backlogs for this category (making up over 42% of the total number of individuals in the backlogs)
Eliminating these categories will also economically hurt us. Family-based immigration is essential to entrepreneurship. Research has shown a positive correlation between siblings admission and immigrant entrepreneurship, where adult children and siblings often contribute to family-owned businesses, pooling resources such as time and money to ensure the success of their ventures.
Lastly, denying the ability to reunite by eliminating family immigration categories would impose an unacceptably narrow concept of “family” upon many ethnic groups and downplays the contributions made by these family members.
We need to rise up and ensure that these categories are safe. Please sign on to our 18 Million Hearts petition, calling for family unity:
--by Connie Choi, Staff Attorney
