Comprehensive immigration reform and how it will affect families and workers

If enacted, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, currently pending in Congress, will impact immigrant communities in a myriad of ways. As nearly two-thirds of Asian Americans are foreign born, Asian Americans have much at stake in how the new immigration bill will be implemented by various government agencies. With Asian Americans sponsoring one-third of all family based visas and 1.8 million of the 4.5 million people in the family backlogs waiting in Asian countries, Asian Americans will be deeply impacted by elimination of visa categories for siblings and married adult children over the age of 30. Many immigrant communities, including Asian Americans, who comprise 1.3 million of the 11.5 million undocumented, also have much to gain from a path to citizenship that is affordable and unencumbered by arduously long waiting periods and border triggers. Unless the bill is strengthened to restored due process and fairness to deportation laws, immigrant communities of color, including Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) who came as refugees, will continue to be detained and deported without the proper review of a judge at disproportionate rates. Finally, the health needs of aspiring Americans must be addressed in order for full integration of immigrants to be possible.

This presentation will provide an overview of how CIR will impact immigrant communities, specifically AAPIs. Participants will also learn about the ways in which the legislation will both lift up and present ongoing or new challenges for immigrant communities.