A new immigration reform policy that aims to help Filipino-American World War II veterans bring their adult children to the U.S. from the Philippines is now in effect.
The policy announced this week by the White House is among recommendations to improve the immigration system as part of President Barack Obama’s executive action last November. The Department of Homeland Security led an interagency effort to develop recommendations.
In an emailed statement, Sen. Mazie Hirono, who made reunification for veterans and their children one of her top priorities, said, "Many Filipino veterans have waited decades to be reunited with their children — the administration’s action is the right thing to do for these brave people who served our country."
Due to the enormous backlog of the family-based immigration visa process, the wait time to reunify with family members in the U.S. is more than 20 years.
A report released by the White House, "Modernizing & Streamlining Our Legal Immigration System for the 21st Century," recommends strengthening the humanitarian system to allow certain family members of Filipino veterans, who are currently in the family immigration backlogs, to seek parole so they can care for their aging veteran family members in the U.S.
According to the report, parole under the Immigration and National Act allows individuals to come to the U.S. temporarily "based upon urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit."
The recommendation calls for the Department of Homeland Security to create a parole program through which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and State Department officials will collaborate to guide applicants on the process. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Filipino-American WWII veterans live in the U.S. Of that figure, approximately 300 veterans live in Hawaii. Ronald Han, director of the state Office of Veteran Services, said there could be more Filipino-American WWII veterans in the state.
Regarding the new policy, Han said, "I’m happy. This is a breakthrough."
"It’s a long time coming," he said, adding that he hopes the Obama administration will soon provide information on eligibility requirements so aging veterans can be assisted as soon as possible.
Veteran Art Caleda, 91, of Ewa Beach said he petitioned in the mid-1990s to bring his children to the U.S. from the Philippines. The petitions were approved but no visas were issued. "We waited. Until now we have not received any visa."
"We are all aging," said Caleda, former president of the Hawaii Chapter of WWII Filipino-American Veterans, of his fellow veterans, adding they need their children to help care for them.
Because of the backlog, many veterans in the U.S. have returned to the Philippines to be with their families. Veterans have died without the chance of having their sons and daughters join them in the U.S., Caleda said Friday in a phone interview from Pittsburgh.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Obama by Hirono seeking his action to grant humanitarian parole to children of veterans while they wait for the visa, she said, "As our World War II veterans age, they — like most elderly Americans — become more reliant on their families for care. Given that many Filipino veterans continue to experience difficulty obtaining veterans’ benefits for their service, it is particularly important that they have their children with them to assist with the care that they deserve."
In 1941 more than 260,000 Filipino soldiers responded to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call to arms in WWII.
President George H.W. Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990, which offered naturalized citizenship to Filipino World War II veterans. Approximately 26,000 became U.S. citizens, but the law did not allow the veterans to bring their children with them to the U.S.
For many years Hawaii’s congressional delegation pushed to reunite families of WWII Filipino-American veterans. Hirono said, "We made a promise to these individuals, and expediting reunification with their children through parole brings us one significant step close in fulfilling that promise."
Eric Lachica, volunteer executive director of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans in Virginia, said details of the program eligibility requirements have to be fleshed out. "I’m concerned about what the parole requirements will be. You have to demonstrate hardship by the petitioner that might be a burden on the veteran or the widow," he said during a phone interview Friday from Maryland.
