Congresswoman Chu Opposes Misleading Immigration Hearing

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27) submitted written testimony to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security criticizing their hearing on the Separation of Nuclear Families under U.S. Immigration Law. By focusing solely on nuclear families, the Republican-lead hearing left all other forms of family immigration unaddressed and vulnerable to cuts during reform negotiations. Rep. Chu released the following statement:

 

“Families are at the core of who we are as a nation, and have been since our founding. Family units are as unique as the individuals in them, so we should not pick winners and losers in our immigration system based on family structure. Every U.S. citizen deserves a path for their family members to join them.”

 

Reuniting immigrant families is particularly critical to the Asian Pacific American and Latino communities. Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and China rank among the top five countries with the largest numbers of loved ones waiting to join their American citizen and legal permanent resident families in the United States. Today, unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens from Mexico are forced to wait 20 years to be reunited with their families. Some family members from the Philippines have been forced to wait 24 years to come to the U.S. to join their loved ones.

 

Rep. Chu has been an outspoken advocate throughout the immigration reform debate to ensure family immigration programs remain intact. In her capacity as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), she sent a letter last week with 23 other CAPAC Members to Senate negotiators urging that family immigration be protected.

 

The full CAPAC letter can be found here.

 

Full text of Chu and Honda’s statement for the record can be found here.