Join the Call: Include All Families in Immigration Reform

You're invited to join Representative Mike Honda (CA), Bishop Minerva Carcano, and families impacted by our broken immigration system on a special grassroots call designed for advocates and concerned community members like you!

Learn about the moral imperative to move comprehensive immigration reform forward this year, and hear stories about why LGBT families need your support to make sure their immigration rights are protected.

Comprehensive immigration reform isn't truly comprehensive unless all families, gay and straight, are included. We hope you can join us for this important nationwide call!

To register and receive materials for the call, please go to www.LGBTforCIR.org. You'll also have the unique opportunity to submit questions to Rep. Honda before the call.

Truly Inclusive Immigration Reform Must End Discrimination against LGBT Families

Today, key members of Congress stood in unity to call on their colleagues to support passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) as part of any future immigration reform effort. Tens of thousands of LGBT binational families are counting on this critically important legislation in order to achieve the most basic equality: The freedom to be with their families, and the people they love.

FCNL joined fellow coalition members from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), immigrants’ rights, civil rights and faith communities in issuing a statement for the news conference. The statement reads, in part, "Today, leaders made clear that all future immigration legislation must be truly inclusive, and we are proud to stand with them in that call. We are committed to working, together, for this long overdue and much-needed victory and to honoring our country’s commitment to families and its rich history as a nation of immigrants."

Reps. Nadler (NY), Honda (CA), Gutierrez (IL), Polis (CO) and Quigley (IL) participated in this important news conference. For more information, read Immigration Equality's press release.

As my colleague Bill Mefford, director of Civil and Human Rights for the General Board of Church and Society with The United Methodist Church, said recently:

“Just as Jesus did not set any preconditions on identifying himself with, and loving, the sojourner, so too does he call all who claim to follow him to love and welcome the sojourner without moral preconditions... To demand the right to prophetically challenge the nation to incorporate hospitality into our immigration policy, but then to work to exclude some people based on their sexual orientation, is to lose the moral basis for making that prophetic challenge. We want immigration reform that is just and humane, and that is truly comprehensive and truly moral.”

Immigration reform will only truly be comprehensive when all families, including LGBT families, are included. We welcome the commitment by these members of Congress to work to ensure that binational LGBT families will no longer be locked out of the U.S. immigration system.

Rep. Honda discusses his bill, the Reuniting Families Act.

Rep. Honda states, "The President has called on Congress to address immigration reform, and I stand ready to heed that call and support an effort that is inclusive of LGBT families."

Rep. Polis insists, "We must provide all domestic partners and married couples the same rights and obligations in any immigration legislation."

Rep. Quigley reminds us, "Our march in the direction of progress and justice for families across this country cedes its moral high ground unless we say to say to LGBT families that this is their movement, too."

We listen as Rep. Gutierrez says, "We should modernize our laws to facilitate legal immigration so that we keep families together and individuals do not have to twist themselves in knots to conform to our outdated laws." I had no idea Rep. Honda was right behind me!

Brookings Institute Releases Report Calling for Restrictions of Family-Based Immigration

Today, the Brookings Institute released a report titled "Breaking the Immigration Stalemate." The Institute claims that this report brings together people from both sides of the debate on immigration reform. Their website claims that the report identifies areas of agreement where policies could be advanced. However, in reality, the report calls for a nearly complete elimination of family-based immigration. I hope that you find this as concerning as I do.

Recommendations in the report include changing the family immigration system so that only the spouses and children under 21 of green card holders could legally immigrate. Millions of unmarried adult children of green card holders, and adult children and siblings of U.S. citizens, would no longer be eligible for visas.

The report also perpetuates incorrect myths about immigration, including the myth of chain immigration. One quote: "These are difficult and contentious policy choices which directly address critical linkages in the chain migration that results in ever-expanding family-sponsored immigrant networks." This is simply incorrect. It takes so long (between 5 and 22 years) for family members to reunite with their loved ones that it is simply not feasible for chain migration to take place on the scale described by Brookings.

It is neither good policy nor good ethics to separate families. Families are the fundamental unit of this country. Strong families make for stable communities and dynamic local economies. Strong families create support systems for individuals. The solution to the current backlogs in family-based immigration is not to cut out entire populations, making them ineligible for legal immigration -- instead, the solution lies in reforming the visa system for families in order to align it with demand. Legal immigrants in the US should be able to bring their loved ones here to join them, and including the Reuniting Families Act in comprehensive immigration reform would achieve just that.

In Our Community: Immigration News

Here are highlights of the news on immigration from Tuesday, September 8 to Monday, September 14. Enjoy!

If you read only one article on immigration from this week, read the story of Xiu Ping Jiang, a Chinese immigrant with a history of mental illness who was detained in solitary confinement, without representation by a lawyer, for a year and a half. Ms. Jiang fled China in 1995 after being forcibly sterilized. She was detained despite having no criminal record. Her hardship, as the article mentions, could have been avoided if immigration courts had the same standard protections for persons with mental disabilities as all other courts. As it stands today, there is no procedure for establishing mental competence in immigration cases, and the courts are not required to provide persons with mental disabilities with legal representation. For immigrants in detention, the experience of being detained can itself be traumatic. For those who already face mental health issues and receive little or no treatment in detention, the experience can be devastating. Read this letter asking Attorney General Holder to provide protections in immigration courts for individuals with mental disabilities.

A New York Times article on Mustafa Salih's plight puts a human face on the bureaucratic backlog which causes many immigrants to wade through the legalization process for years before gaining citizenship. As the article reports, Salih immigrated to the U.S. in 1991, became a legal permanent resident four years later in 1995, and has been waiting since then to become a citizen. He and 150 of his peers who belong to the same mosque in Falls Church, VA, are in a sort of bureaucratic limbo in which it is unclear why they have not yet been granted citizenship. The article raises questions as to whether this bureaucratic backlog unfairly prolongs the wait time for Muslim applicants, many of whom have been told that they must wait indefinitely until an unspecified "background check" has been completed. To date, Salih has waited eighteen years to become a U.S. citizen.

In the aftermath of the May 2008 raid in Postville, IA, in which 389 workers were arrested and detained, and eventually deported, a Jewish organization in Postville seeks to move forward. The organization has crafted a postcard to be sent to the meatpacking plant at which the raid took place. The message: to improve working conditions, communications, and consumer confidence in the coming year.

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration and the Haiti Action Committee are calling for support in their quest for Haitians to receive Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States. TPS is a temporary provision that would permit Haitians to remain in the United States for a limited time as their country rebuilds from the 2008 hurricanes that devastated its communities, infrastructure, and economy. The humanitarian crisis in Haiti would only be aggravated by the deportation of Haitians currently residing in the United States.

In terms of legislative updates, we have some new cosponsors on board! Senator Al Franken (MN) and Representative Laura Richardson (CA) have signed on as cosponsors for the Uniting American Families Act (S. 424, H.R. 1024). Representatives Steve Cohen (TN), Edolphus Towns (NY), Bobby Scott (VA), George Miller (CA), and John Lewis (GA) have each signed on as cosponsors for the Reuniting Families Act (H.R. 2709). Even though health care reform will be the primary issue addressed in Congress this week, support for components of comprehensive immigration reform is building.

Will Coley and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center have put together a series of short documentaries on the challenges and successes for immigrants seeking to learn English. In this video, volunteer teachers speak about their passion for teaching English as a second language and their respect for the determination that they see in their students. The primary value of this video, as I see it, is its ability to demonstrate how learning English does not have to be a one-way assimilation tactic. Instead, it can be a rich cultural exchange that benefits both teachers and students alike. As one of the volunteer teachers in the video says of her students, "I value you, who you are, and what you have to teach me, and I think it can only lead to better things."

Keeping Families--All Families--Together: A Personal Story

- a recent blogpost on "Of Peace and Politics" by my wonderful colleague Stephen Donahoe, Campaigns Program Assistant, Friends Committee on National Legislation

As a white male, I haven't had the experience of dealing with prejudice, racism or sexism that many people face every day. While I certainly try to understand how they feel, I have not been able to really know the struggles of women or people of color because I haven't experienced it myself.

I have also not truly felt the effects of laws that have been changed or created in order to create more justice for oppressed people. For example, I celebrated the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, but not from the perspective of someone who's life would be affected personally because of the law. While I know that all laws that promote justice have an impact on the world (and thus impact my life), I have not had the experience of feeling that my life would be made different if a law were passed.

The Reuniting Families Act, recently introduced by Rep. Honda, is changing this for me. This law would allow gay and lesbian Americans to sponsor their immigrant "permanent partners" for legal U.S. residency.

As a gay American with an Indian partner, this bill would make a tremendous difference in my life. This has an impact on many more things than I would have previously imagined, all the way from the big question of where my partner and I live down to the mundane details. For example, today my partner is spending the day at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles getting his license renewed because as a foreign national he has to get his license renewed more frequently than citizens or legal residents. He also has to go to the BMV in DC for foreign nationals which normally has a much longer wait than other BMVs. One of the most important differences this would make would be that my partner and I would not have to worry about him getting a work visa in order to stay here. It is extremely unnerving to think that if he lost his job and couldn't find another employer to sponsor his visa he would be deported to India.

Most importantly, the Reuniting Families Act would be a tremendous step toward the equal rights that gay couples deserve. There is no reason why my partner and I or any other gay couples should be discriminated against because of our sexual orientation. We should all be accorded the same fundamental right to choose our own relationships.

FCNL has taken the lead among faith-based organizations in lobbying for the Reuniting Families Act. I am so thankful to work for an organization that is working for my rights. As a matter of fact, FCNL hosted the press conference with Rep. Honda for the release of the bill. To find out more about the work of FCNL on this issue, check out our immigration blog--"Immigration: It's Our Community."

Faith Leaders Announce Support for the Reuniting Families Act

Rabbi, Quaker, United Methodists and Eucharistic Minister Call on Congress to Uphold Family Unity

Listen in!

Washington, D.C. – Today, several leaders from diverse faith denominations joined with Congressman Mike Honda at a telephone press conference to announce their support of his bill, the Reuniting Families Act (H.R. 2709). If enacted, this bill would implement critically needed reforms to the U.S. family immigration system and restore family unity as a fundamental principle of U.S. immigration policy. At least 10 mainstream faith organizations support this bill.

“Family is the fundamental unit in society through which individuals are able to grow and experience the love of God,” said Joe Volk, Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. “As people of faith, we are given hope by Congressman Honda’s introduction of the Reuniting Families Act. The passage of this bill would offer pragmatic solutions to a broken system and ensure that families are reunited in a timely and humane manner.”

The Reuniting Families Act, introduced on June 4, 2009, reforms the U.S. family immigration system to end the lengthy separation of loved ones, promote family stability, and foster economic growth. There are 5.8 million people caught in the backlog of family immigration cases waiting unconscionable periods of time to reunite with their relatives. The current immigration system has not been updated in 20 years – keeping spouses, children, and their parents separated for years and often decades, despite the fact that the family has played by the rules. The Reuniting Families Act takes important steps toward fixing the broken family immigration system by reducing wait times for legal immigrants and ending discrimination against same-sex, permanent partners and their families.

“The United States is based on family values,” said Congressman Honda. “Upholding family is the American thing to do.”

This sentiment was echoed by other faith leaders during the conference. “The fair treatment of the stranger, the sojourner, the immigrant is a core concern of biblical religions and the Bible itself. This is part of the reason why we who are Christians care so much about this legislation,” said Rev. Dean Snyder of the United Methodist Church. “Keeping spouses, children and their parents separated for years and often decades is unnecessary and unacceptable.”

“For the Jewish community, immigration is a core concern. So rarely have we been accepted openly, yet this is one country that did,” said Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. “We came for love of our families, to create for them the life that families deserve. To have an immigration system that tears and keeps families apart is counterproductive.”

Shirley Tan, a Filipina and Eucharistic minister from the Good Shephard Catholic Church in Pacifica, California, also shared her personal story of getting caught in the broken family immigration system. “Our lives were almost perfect until January 28, 2009 when Immigration and Customs agents came to our door. I was handcuffed and taken away like a criminal,” she said. “My partner and my children are all US citizens, yet none of them can petition for me to stay in the United States.”

Rev. Bud Heckman of the World Conference of Religions for Peace concluded by stating, “Why should religious communities speak up about this issue? Because immigrants and their families are also people of faith.”

The faith leaders expressed their hopes that the Reuniting Families Act will be included in a broader comprehensive immigration reform bill this fall.

For information: http://www.honda.house.gov/rfa
Contact: alexandra@fcnl.org/202.903.2513

# # #

The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, DC. Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL staff and volunteers work with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people from many different races, religions, and cultures to advocate social and economic justice, peace, and good government. FCNL is a nonpartisan 501(c)4 public interest lobby.

ADVISORY: FCNL Hosts Press Conference With Congressman Mike Honda

Hey all...sorry I've been MIA for a week. I was out in New Mexico with Intermountain Yearly Meeting (a yearly Quaker gathering of sorts). And then came back and had to catch up on all the madness I had missed in Washington last week.

But out of this madness has come something really exciting.

Today, FCNL will host a press conference with Congressman Mike Honda to talk about his bill, the Reuniting Families Act (H.R. 2709). On the call will be our executive director Joe Volk, Rev. Dean Snyder of the United Methodists Church, Rabbi Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Rev. Bud Heckman from World Religions for Peace. We'll also hear from Shirley Tan, a Filipina woman who will tell her own story of dealing with the broken family immigration system.

I'll update you after the conference, but for now, check out the press advisory!

PRESS ADVISORY

Contacts: Alexandra Douglas 202.903.2513/alexandra@fcnl.org
- or - Caroline Anderson 202.903.2516

For Immediate Release

CONGRESSMAN MIKE HONDA AND FAITH LEADERS DISCUSS THE REUNITING FAMILIES ACT
June 18th media call includes Rabbi, Quaker, United Methodists

* * * PLEASE NOTE NEW START TIME FOR PRESS CALL * * *

WHAT: Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 4, 2009, the Reuniting Families Act (H.R. 2709) is landmark legislation, sponsored by Congressman Mike Honda (CA-15), addressing a broad range of obstacles families encounter in their efforts to remain together under U.S. immigration law. The bill contains practical solutions for reducing family visa backlogs and promoting humane and timely reunification of immigrant families.

WHO: Congressman Honda will be joined by Joe Volk, Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Other participants will include Reverend Dean Snyder from the United Methodist Church, Rabbi David Saperstein from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Reverend Donald “Bud” Heckman from the World -Conference of Religions for Peace. The call with also feature Shirley Tan, a Filipina and Eucharistic minister from Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Pacifica, California. Shirley will share her compelling story, including the overwhelming support she received from her pastor and faith community after being threatened with deportation and separation from her partner of 23 years and their 12-year-old twin sons.

WHY: There are 5.8 million people caught in the backlog of family immigration cases waiting unconscionable periods of time to reunite with their relatives. The current family-based immigration system has not been updated in 20 years – keeping spouses, children and their parents separated for years and often decades, despite the fact that the family has played by the rules. The Reuniting Families Act takes important steps toward fixing our broken family immigration system by reducing wait times for legal immigrants and ending discrimination against same-sex, permanent partners and their families.

WHEN: Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 10:15 AM [EST]

WHERE: Via Conference Call – To dial-in, call 480-629-9868 (or toll free at 1-888-561-1721) The conference ID is 4096721

WEBSITE:www.Honda.House.gov/RFA

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The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is the oldest registered ecumenical lobby in Washington, DC. Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL staff and volunteers work with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people from many different races, religions, and cultures to advocate social and economic justice, peace, and good government. FCNL is a nonpartisan 501(c)4 public interest lobby.

Honda Introduces a Key Component of Comprehensive Immigration Reform

As I type, Representative Mike Honda is holding a press conference announcing the introduction of a key component of comprehensive immigration reform: the Reuniting Families Act.

The Reuniting Families Act takes important steps in helping immigrant families reunite more quickly by ending backlogs that create unconscionable wait periods and helping protect families from being separated.

At FCNL, we see family as the bedrock of U.S. society and believe that it is critical in the development of healthy individuals and strong communities. Immigration policies should make expeditious family reunification a top priority and should include all families as part of that foundation which holds our communities together. It is atrocious that our current system requires siblings of US citizens to wait between 10 and 22 years to be reunited and that the children and spouses of permanent residents must wait as long as seven years to legally come to the United States. Families should be together.

We are also pleased that Rep. Honda's bill upholds the rights of both same-sex and opposite-sex partners. Under current immigration law, LGBT persons cannot sponsor their foreign born partners for immigration, no matter how long they have been together or how committed their relationship, even though U.S. immigration law is based on the principle of “family unification.” This is simply a matter of unequal treatment and clearly a matter of civil rights. We applaud Rep. Honda for this attempt to reverse years of discrimination against LGBT people in immigration law.

The Reuniting Families Act goes a long way in righting the injustices of the current family immigration system and moves towards keeping families together. Thank you, Rep. Honda!

The Reuniting Families Act Is Introduced in the Senate!

Today, Senators Menendez, Kennedy, and Gillibrand introduced the Reuniting Families Act (S. 1085), a bill which would enable US citizens and permanent residents to reunite with their foreign born family members more quickly and reduce the emotional and financial hardship placed on families separated for years or even decades.

FCNL applauds the introduction of this bill as we see families as critical to the development of healthy individuals and strong communities. It is atrocious that our current system requires siblings of US citizens to wait between 10 and 22 years to be reunited and that the children and spouses of permanent residents must wait as long as seven years to legally come to the United States. Families should be together.

The Reuniting Families Act goes a long way in righting the injustices of the current family immigration system and moves towards keeping families together.