NAPAWF Applauds Introduction of the Reuniting Families Act; Act Now to Show Your Support

NAPAWF Applauds Introduction of the Reuniting Families Act

Today, Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA), along with Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), reintroduced the Reuniting Families Act. This important piece of legislation contains practical solutions for allocating visas more efficiently, alleviating lengthy wait times that keep families separated for years, and decreasing measures that prevent close family members from obtaining visas. The bill also has provisions for eliminating discrimination in immigration law against same-sex permanent partners and their families who are seeking to reunite.

There are currently 5.8 million people in the family immigration backlog, and nearly half originate from Asian countries. Family members in China, India, and the Philippines face some of the longest waiting periods-sometimes waiting up to 22 years before reuniting with their loved ones. API women and girls apply for family-based visas more than any type of visa. In 2004, 69% of all female immigrants received their permanent residency through the family-based immigration system. Women were 38% more likely to obtain legal permanent resident status through a family-based visa than men.

The Reuniting Families Act contains provisions that will alleviate wait times and decrease obstacles to immigrant family members seeking to obtain a visa by:

· Recapturing family and work visas that have gone unused and unclaimed due to bureaucratic delay;

· Classifying lawful permanent resident spouses and children as "immediate relatives" and exempting them from numerical caps on family immigration;

· Increasing per country limits from 7% to 10% of total admissions to remedy long backlogs;

· Allowing orphans, widows, and widowers to immigrate despite the death of a sponsoring relative;

· Recognizing the sacrifices of Filipino service members by exempting children of World War II Filipino veterans from numerical caps;

· Treating stepchildren and biological children equally under immigration law; and

· Allowing same-sex permanent partners to sponsor their foreign partner for a permanent visa.

NAPAWF praises Congressman Honda for recognizing the importance of family unity. Families that rely on the legal immigration application process should not be punished by excessive wait times or administrative inefficiencies before being reunited. In addition, NAPAWF believes that all families deserve equal treatment, and we commend Congressman Honda for addressing the injustice same-sex transnational families face under current immigration laws. Discrimination against one type of family hurts our entire community.



ACT NOW to Urge Your Member of Congress to Support the Reuniting Families Act!

A system that keeps family members apart hurts everyone. We need your help to remind our elected officials that it is time to reunite family members in a timely and humane manner. Legislation that supports family unity is a critical building block to comprehensive immigration reform that will help repair our badly broken system.

We must ACT NOW to make sure that the Reuniting Families Act gets as much support as possible from Members of Congress! They need to understand family immigration is a key part of immigration reform!


There are three QUICK ACTIONS you can DO TODAY to support family unity:



· Call NOW to urge your Representative to cosponsor the Reuniting Families Act! Contact the Capital Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be directly connected to your Representative. (If you don't know who your representative is you can find out here)



Call your representative:

"Please co-sponsor the Reuniting Families Act and help reform our outdated family immigration system that is keeping 5.8 million family members separated from their loved ones. Currently, the wait for a family immigration visa can span decades, which is a lifetime for the spouse, child, or parent of a hardworking immigrant. As an Asian American/Pacific Islander, I am especially concerned that family members from Asia and immigrant women are disproportionally hurt by inefficiencies in the system. It's time to update the family immigration system to reflect the needs of our society today."





· To endorse this legislation as an organization, contact Parag Mehta at parag@alumni.utexas.net



· Forward this message to 10 friends immediately and urge them to participate.



Together we can repair the broken immigration system and help families be together! Thank you for your support.

Click here for more information about the Reuniting Families Act or contact Priscilla at phuang@napawf.org.

Pride & Heritage - Save the Date for May 2nd!

Please Join Us for Pride & Heritage Celebration on May 2nd, 2009!

Come celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with LGBTQ Asian/South Asian/Pacific Islander folks and allies from the metro DC area. The program will include dinner, performances, presentation of community awards, and a special recognition for founders of our coalition's organizations!

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!!

Location: Christ Church, Washington Parish; 620 G St. SE, Washington, DC
Date and Time: Saturday, May 2; 6:30-10:00pm
To purchase tickets, please visit www.dcprideandheritage.org
For more info, please contact dcprideandheritage@gmail.com

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BUY YOUR TICKETS EARLY!! - On sale at www.dcprideandheritage.org :
April 11 through midnight April 22 - $15 Early Bird Online Special
April 23 through midnight May 1 - $20 Regular Online
May 2, 6:30pm - $25 At the Door
Tables of 8 can be purchased at 15% off applicable ticket prices through April 24. For more information, please contact Hyacinth Alvaran at 650.353.0978 or dcprideandheritage@gmail.com.

Please note, a cash bar will cater beverages at the event at the following prices:

Mixed Drinks $5
Wine $4
Beer $3
Water $2
Soda $1

We welcome ticketed guests to volunteer May 2nd to arrive early and help setup for the event or stay after to help breakdown and cleanup. Please contact dcprideandheritage@gmail.com if interested.

We look forward to meeting you at Pride and Heritage Celebration 2009!!!

Sincerely,
2009 Pride and Heritage Celebration Committee

Pride & Heritage (P&H) is a coalition of local community-based organizations serving the Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI) and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities in the greater Washington DC metropolitan area.

Save the Date! NAPAWF-DC Membership Kick-Off April 22

Please SAVE THE DATE for NAPAWF-DC's Membership Kick-Off on Wednesday, April 22!

* Come learn about NAPAWF-DC chapter's goals, mission and our upcoming events for the year.
* Meet current board members and reconnect with fellow NAPAWF sisters
* Join a committee!
* Learn how you can be a part of Creative Explosion, our healthy Nail Salon Workers campaign, and APA Quiz Bowl
* Sign up to host an Afternoon Tea
* Refreshments provided

When: Wednesday, April 22 at 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Where: 1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036. Rome Building, room 812 on the 8th floor.

Getting There: The event will be held at Johns Hopkins University-SAIS near Dupont Circle. From Dupont Circle Metro, walk SE on Massachusetts Ave. toward 16th St./Scott Circle. We're located on Massachusettts between 16th and 17th St., across from the Philippine Embassy.
Google map directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1619+Massachusetts+Ave.,+NW+DC&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.214763,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=38.9085,-77.03903&spn=0.007965,0.019226&z=16

Sign the petition: Tell the CDC to Reverse the HPV Vaccine Requirement for Immigrant Women and Girls!

Please note that the petition deadline has been extended to February 13, 2009. Please circulate this email to your listserves.

Dear Friends:

Please sign the petition to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking it to reverse the newly imposed Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination mandate for immigrant women and girls. To view and sign the petition, go to http://www.petitiononline.com/napawf/petition.html by COB Friday, February 13, 2009.

In response to the high number of individuals who wished to sign-on to the organizational sign-on letter to the CDC circulated last week, this petition was created to allow individuals to express their opposition to the mandate. The petition will serve as a follow-up to the organizational sign-on letter to the CDC that will be sent next week.

As you may know, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2007 recommended that Gardasil, the only FDA approved HPV vaccine, be administered to females ages 11 to 26 in the U.S. This recommendation became an automatic requirement for those applying for immigrant visas or adjustment to permanent residency status when the government updated its vaccination list in July 2008. U.S. citizens are currently not required to receive the vaccination, and yet it is mandatory for prospective immigrants. Although the HPV vaccine has been deemed safe and effective by the FDA, it is not designed to combat the types of infectious diseases that the immigration requirements are intended to address. Moreover, the vaccine is prohibitively expensive-costing a minimum of $360 to receive the three-dose vaccination in addition to over $1,000 in filing fees-making the mandate an undue financial burden for prospective immigrant women and their families.

Please join us in asking the CDC to retract its listing of HPV as a required vaccination for immigrants in the revised Technical Instructions to the Civil Surgeons for Vaccination Requirements, which would eliminate the directive for civil surgeons to administer the vaccine to immigrant females ages 11 to 26.

We urge you to sign on to this petition to put pressure on the CDC to correct this unfair and burdensome requirement on immigrants. To learn more, please contact Nancy Chung at nchung@napawf.org.

The deadline for sign-ons is COB Friday, February 13, 2009.

Nancy K. Chung, Esq.
Reproductive Justice Fellow and Georgetown Women's Law and Public Policy Fellow
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
6930 Carroll Avenue, Ste 506
Takoma Park, MD 20912
o: 301-270-4440
f: 301-270-1882
www.napawf.org