Feinstein Fails, Immigration Reform Advances

From Chinese for Affirmative Action:

Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in support of legislation to fix our country’s broken immigration policies.

The bill now moves to the full Senate and it retains many features of the original proposal from April.  Some of the key components include:

A pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
A plan to clear the massive visa backlogs that are separating families
A faster process for DREAMers (young people who have entered the U.S. before the age of 16) to earn their citizenship
A new priority for spouses and children of legal permanent residents be petitioned without numerical limitations

The Committee also amended the bill to address special circumstances facing children of Filipino WWII veterans, victims of domestic violence, and immigrant parents facing deportation.

Nevertheless, serious problems remain.  Most Republicans are holding onto excessively harsh citizenship requirements and preventing the fair treatment of bi-national same sex couples. 

We are especially frustrated that the broadest efforts to strengthen family-based immigration — including a measure to save the sibling visa category — have been unsuccessful.  American families from Mexico, Asia, and Central America in particular have benefited from family-based visas, and family-based immigration helps the small businesses that fuel our economy.

Senator Dianne Feinstein cast one of the most disappointing votes against these family-based measures even while she acknowledged, “For my constituency, California, this is the one issue people have commented the most on.”  We believe her vote completely ignored the wishes and best ideals of the constituency she references.

However, the legislation is far from complete.  In addition to amendments and votes by the full Senate, action from the House of Representatives, and ultimately the President will be necessary.

Thank you for standing with us in support of fair and inclusive immigration reform and to all of you who have taken action with us thus far. 

Sincerely,
Jenny Lam
Director of Community Initiatives   

Vincent Pan
Executive Director

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