Time for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

“The time has come for us to mobilize and let other Americans know how the broken immigration system is undermining Asian American and Pacific Islander families and communities.”

Stewart Kwoh’s words reflected how immigration is, by and large, an Asian Pacific Islander issue. As executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and an Asian American law professor at UCLA, Kwoh knows this firsthand.

“Any reform of the immigration laws must fully incorporate our shared American values of family, human rights, civil liberties and due process," Kwoh said.

The current immigration law causes API families to suffer from family reunification. The statistics from Filipino American Service Group, Inc. show that Filipinos need to wait up to 22 years to legally meet their families in the U.S.

“This is totally unacceptable,” said fourth-year international development studies major Steven Bae. “I know healthcare issues are urgent, but we can’t forget about the immigration reform because too many people are suffering from it.

Families are trapped in detention and torn apart by deportation. In addition, U.S. government has imposed mandatory racial profiling for the sake of national security, thus eradicating many API communities.

“In the aftermath of 9/11, the South Asian community bore the brunt of repressive immigration enforcement tactics and policies,” said Tamia Pevez, policy organizer for the South Asian Network.

“We need to stop sweeping detentions and deportation where immigrants are often without access to fair hearings.”

In response, 50 API organizations around the country have gathered to implement fair and humane immigration reform led by the Obama Administration and Congress. In early April 2009, the organizations sent a letter to the California Congressional Delegation in the hopes of securing an immigration reform package.

“It’s going to be a rough ride but I know we will get there,” said fifth-year biology major David Roh. “This reform is very important for improving the many lives in API communities.”