Family Immigration Works–Even for Siblings from the Philippines

Guest blogger: Jeni Frudden, third-year law student, University of San Francisco

My mother met my father in 1976 when he was stationed in the Philippines for the Peace Corps. It is a love story that is often remembered on Valentines Day. It is the story of my father who had won some extra money at a cock-fight in Manila and with his earnings decided to treat himself to a nice dinner on February 13, 1976. My mother ended up being his waitress, he would end up asking her out for a Valentine’s date, and she would later end up his wife.

My mom immigrated through her marriage to my father and came to the States as a lawful permanent residence. Though my mom could have adjusted her status relatively soon after entering the United States, it was only when my mom’s 22 year old brother died of tuberculosis in the Philippines that she decided she would become a citizen and petition for her two brothers to join her in the States in an effort to “save them.” The impact that the current family-based visa system has had on my family is nothing less than astonishing. My own family is a perfect example of the importance of family-based visas.

In 1991 my mother petitioned for her unmarried brother and his three daughters to come to the U.S. It wasn’t until 22 years later that she received notice that the visa had been granted. Just two weeks ago my three cousins and their father flew together to the United States to settle in Iowa where my parents have made a home. When I called home the other day, my father jovially answered the telephone in Filipino (a language I once knew, but without practice have forgotten).

My three cousins and parents were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. When my mom came on the phone she laughed and told me my dad had just tried to offer the girls a glass of cold milk. “Ayako” they said – I don’t want it. Laughing my mom recounted the story of how when she first arrived in the States my father’s parents sat her down for a dry turkey sandwich and cold glass of milk, “I almost gagged! Cold milk is just something we didn’t grow up having” my mom exclaimed.

This was a story just as familiar to me as the Valentine’s Day love story. I know all about the difficulties my mom had when she first came to the United States. Unable to speak the language, and only knowing my father, she jokes that she “cried the entire first year and a half until I had your brother.” When I asked my cousins if they cried leaving the Philippines, they said no, noting that they had no reason to cry boarding the plane with their family and deplaning in Iowa to join my other uncle who immigrated in 1993, his wife, and their two American-born children. Unlike my mother, my cousins and their father are immigrating to the U.S. with a support system in place to help them find jobs and navigate their new home.

My mother has been here for over 26 years, 4 years more than the time she spent growing up in the Philippines. With the help of her youngest brother (who also came to the U.S. on a family-based visa) she has become a successful business woman running her own catering company and becoming famous for her food stand outside of Iowa Hawkeye football games (if you’ve ever been to Iowa City on game day you might know her as the ‘pork-on-a-stick-lady’).

My mom’s story of immigrating to the U.S. and the trials and triumphs she has found here are proudly retold by her three children, who know that she truly exemplifies the American dream. Now that my cousins are here I wonder what stories and successes they will bring to the family narrative. I imagine that they will be around to help out around the house and share more meals with my aging parents in a way that my brother and I, in California, and my sister, in Colorado, cannot. I imagine that they will be there for my two elementary-aged cousins, Anthony and Angelina, to teach them about Filipino culture and practice speaking Filipino so that they will not forget the language as I once did. Most of all I’m relieved that they arrived before the latest round of immigration reform, which may very well decide that family reunification doesn’t matter in the way that my family knows it does.

Lawmakers have now proposed to do away with visas for non-immediate family members. The new bill proposes that 18 months after the proposed legislation is enacted, citizens, like my mother, would no longer be able to sponsor siblings. The new merit-based immigration system severely limits family based petitions in favor of job-based skills and education.

At the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission Hearing this past February, Lillian Galedo, Executive Director of Filipino Advocates for Justice, noted that “family reunification has been a cornerstone of U.S. immigration law since 1965, based on the logic that immigrants thrive and are more likely to succeed in their integration in their new country when they have a base of mutual support and are surrounded by their loved ones. This works.”

She’s right. It does work. It worked for my immigrant mom to have my uncle there for emotional support while my dad underwent brain surgery. It worked for my family when my uncle was around to help my mom after she had a kidney transplant. It works for me who will now have a broader base of familial support. It will work for my American-born cousins who will now get a chance to practice Filipino with their newly arrived cousins. It will work for my newly arrived family who will be supported in their integration into the States.

Unfortunately, if lawmakers have their way, it will no longer work for other immigrant families. It is striking to me that the proposed Senate immigration bill seeks to undermine the importance of family-based immigration and the role it plays in supporting successful immigrants like my own mother.

bh