The Stake for Asian Americans in Immigration Reform
New America Media, News Report, Carolyn Goossen, Posted: Apr 12, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO - The current immigration debate has huge implications for the Asian American community but they have largely been left out of the coverage of the immigration rights movement. On a teleconference call organized by New America Media and the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Traci Hong, Director of Immigration Programs for AAJC, told a group of 25 reporters and editors from the Asian press across the country that immigration was the civil rights issues of the 21st century and would affect all their communities. Of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, one million are from Asia.
The security heavy HR 4437 bill which easily cleared the House of Representatives in December has aspects that would effectively undermine the rights of all non-citizens, legal or not, including Asians. Hong says that while the media focus has been on the undocumented and Latinos, the bill has dire consequences for many who are here legally.
If it becomes law, HR 4437 would criminalize both students on F1 visas who dropped below a full course load, and workers on H1 visas who are laid off and unable to find work within a short period of time. It would also expand the powers of local and state police, turning them into on-the-ground immigration officers, something that Hong says has huge racial profiling implications.
Also countries like Vietnam, Laos and China who don’t normally allow repatriation might find their citizens blocked by the Department of Homeland Security when they visit the US.
This is also the first time that Congress is attacking long-term legal residents without any criminal record. For example, HR4437 has expanded the definition of “moral character” as a means of denying residents naturalization. Already a Korean church elder with U.S. citizen children was denied citizenship for picking 12 clams over the daily limit. A young woman in Minnesota was denied citizenship for having a baby out of wedlock.
All of this comes against the backdrop of no effort being made to address the underlying problems bedeviling the immigration system for example the huge backlogs in the family reunification programs which are keeping many Asian families separated from each other.
The compromise bills hammered out in the Senate judiciary committee and by Senators Hagel and Martinez plans to eliminate the legal immigration backlog and help family reunification. But Hong points out that many of the punitive measures in HR4437 did make it into the Senate bills too.
Refugees are also impacted by the current immigration proposals, says Hong although they have also been overlooked by the mainstream media’s discussion of the immigration debate. HR 4437 includes mandatory detainment for all people who cross U.S. borders without documents, including those who come here as refugees in hopes of claiming political asylum. HR 4437 would make it possible for people to be deported through the “expedited removal” process, even before they’ve had a hearing.
So where do we go from here? Hong laid out two possible scenarios for what may occur once Congress returns from recess. The first scenario is that the Senate would come back and reach a compromise on the bipartisan Hagel-Martinez bill which includes the guest worker program. That bill would have to conference with HR 4437. The second possibility is that the House of Representatives or Majority Leader Bill Frist would introduce a bill with more punitive provisions on the floor, in the name of securing our borders.
One positive aspect of the current debate is that the Dream Act is still alive says Hong. The Dream Act, a bill that would give undocumented immigrant children educated in the U.S. the opportunity to pursue higher education and eventual legal status, has been strongly supported by Asian American communities, particularly the Korean community. It is attached to the judiciary bill, and if it moves forward, the Dream Act will hopefully go along with it.
Hong hoped that the week of protests would send a clear signal to lawmakers of both sides for comprehensive reform that doesn’t just seek to be punitive.
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