Speeches & Testimony

Mr. Speaker, I rise to today to ask for the House's support for the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act, which I introduced with my colleague Congresswoman Jen Kiggans of Virginia. It is the companion version of the bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, along with twelve other Senators.

In 1941, more than 250,000 Filipino soldiers responded to President Roosevelt's call-to-arms in the Philippines and elsewhere and fought bravely for the U.S. and our allies during World War II. These soldiers were promised the opportunity to immigrate to the United States along with their families. However, after sacrificing for our country, many returned home from the War only to be denied the benefits promised for their service. Though many of these veterans became proud U.S. citizens, our immigrant visa backlog, exacerbated by caps on visas from the Philippines, have forced many of their family members to wait decades to come to the United States to join and care for them. This has effectively prevented these aging veterans from reuniting with their families.

In October 2017, Congress finally awarded the Filipino veterans of World War II the Congressional Gold Medal to honor their service to our country, but we must do more as we promised. Additionally, in 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services created the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program, a temporary administrative fix that allows these veterans to request parole for their children or siblings. Under this policy, they can live in the U.S. pending processing of their permanent resident applications, which may still take years if not decades. However, as these veterans near the end of their lives, they deserve the certainty of a non-revocable permanent solution.

The Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act would address this by exempting from existing visa caps the visa applications of the children of Filipino World War II veterans. This would allow them to gain green cards once their applications are processed and approved, including careful vetting in line with existing immigration standards. This will not only assist these veterans in their senior years but also provide a fitting recognition of their critical service in the War.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting these veterans and helping fulfill our promises to them and their families.