NAKASEC applauds H.R. 5582 vote

For immediate release
August 1, 2008 Contact:
Sookyung Oh, NAKASEC, 323.937.3703, ext. 206

(Los Angeles, CA) The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and its affiliates join Asian Pacific American, immigrant rights, and business coalitions in applauding the House Judiciary Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Subcommittee’s passage of H.R. 5882 by a vote of 8-1. This measure recaptures unused visas due to processing inefficiencies in past years and makes them available for future admissions, addressing the tremendous family and employment backlogs.“Korean Americans and Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) immigrate to the United States in a variety of ways. However, most arrive through family-based immigration. According to the Office of Immigration Statistics, 63% of immigrants from Asia came through family-based immigration in 2006. Yet our communities face some of the worst backlogs. Approximately 1.5 million AAPI family members are waiting to be reunited. For example, a U.S. citizen petitioning for a brother or sister from Korea must wait at least 11 years,” stated Inhe Choi, Senior Organizing Director, Korean American Resource & Cultural Center.“Following the markup discussion on Thursday night, it is clear that the road ahead for any measures that seek to keep families together will be full of challenges. Some of the amendments introduced, such as eliminating the fourth preference category that allows United States citizens to sponsor adult siblings, not only threatens the existing system, but would have gutted H.R. 5882. NAKASEC and its affiliates will continue its community education, legislative monitoring and coalition advocacy activities. This is just the first step in protecting family-based immigration, one of the cornerstones of America’s immigration tradition,” stated Sookyung Oh, Immigrant Rights Project Coordinator, NAKASEC.