The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice welcomes several important provisions in the bill, as they will deeply impact the lives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). We commend Senators Menendez and Leahy allowing for the timely reunification of families and for providing a legalization program that also provides a path to legal status for bright and dedicated undocumented students. However, we are concerned about other provisions, including those that make E-Verify mandatory and continue unjust interior enforcement practices. The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice also would like to see stronger provisions that safeguard the ability of immigrants to remain here on H-1B worker visas.

Family Reunification

The CIR Act of 2010 incorporates practical solutions for reducing waiting times for family immigrant visas and promoting the humane and timely reunification of immigrant families. The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice has championed reforms to the family immigration system, as Asian Americans have faced some of the longest waits to reunite with their loved ones. Currently, the longest wait time is for Filipino Americans, where they must wait 19 years to reunite with their brother or sister; Chinese and Indian Americans must wait 9 years.

When Pedro heard that the U.S. would finally fulfill its promise of U.S. citizenship to Filipino World War II veterans, he began dreaming of a better life for himself and his family. Pedro proudly became a U.S. citizen and began a new life in California with his wife at the elderly age of 70. Within months, he began the task of bringing his immediate family to the U.S., filing applications for his 7 children. However, his heart sank upon hearing that his children would not receive visas for at least 15 years. "I waited almost half a century to become a U.S. citizen," Pedro said. "I did not think I would have to wait again for my family to join us."

The CIR Act of 2010 also allows same sex bi-national U.S. citizens and green card holders to sponsor their permanent partners, ending discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigrants and families. Thousands of couples are affected, including AAPIs. These fixes will dramatically update our broken immigration system, an outdated system that has not been fixed in over 20 years.

Legalization

We commend Senators Menendez and Leahy for providing a workable path to earned legalization, enabling those in the shadows to come out and achieve the dignity that they deserve. An estimated 10-12 million undocumented individuals in the U.S. and in the AAPI community, about 10% of the community is undocumented. The CIR Act of 2010 also includes the DREAM Act, which provides a path to legalization for high-achieving immigrant youth who grew up here and are committed to attending college or serving in the military. About 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school every year. In the University of California system alone, 40-44% of the undocumented undergraduate student population is AAPI.

The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice has long supported legalization. Numerous studies show that CIR would generate $1.5 trillion in additional Gross Domestic Product over 10 years. However, we are concerned that the Act requires a minimum six year waiting period before an individual would be eligible for a green card.  This is an onerous burden to impose upon those who are already living, working, and contributing to our society.

E-Verify
The CIR Act of 2010 mandates that every employer enroll in E-Verify, an electronic employment verification system that confirms work authorization for every worker, including U.S. citizens. While we commend the bill's worker protections, such as procedures for the confirmation/non-confirmation process as well as administrative and judicial procedures for challenging non-confirmations, we are still concerned that E-Verify will have a devastating impact on most all immigrant workers.

  For our community, the almost 10% error rate for foreign-born citizens processed in the system means that over 650,000 AAPIs will be wrongly identified and have their jobs jeopardized. While the bill contains anti-discrimination protections, E-Verify may promote discrimination, as employers may assume an AAPI worker is undocumented and unduly fire the worker or simply not hire them at all. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) study found that employer noncompliance with the E-Verify pilot program was "substantial." E-Verify is of particular concern for the 60% of our community who suffers from language barriers. Moreover, it would require all employers to spend money on compliance training and infrastructure. These costs will disproportionately affect small businesses that have fewer resources to spare. AAPIs own more than 1.1 million small businesses throughout the U.S. With the flagging economy, we cannot afford to burden these businesses any further.

Interior Enforcement

The Center for Advancing Justice is disappointed that two programs would not repealed by the CIR Act of 2010: the Secure Communities (S-COMM) and the 287(g) program. These two programs have devastated the AAPI immigrant community, eroding trust in law enforcement and ultimately jeopardizing the public safety of all of us.

S-COMM has been ineffective in its purported goal of deporting serious criminals. Instead, the program has applied to immigrants regardless of guilt or innocence, how or why they were arrested, and whether or not their arrests were based on racial or ethnic profiling or pretext for checking immigration status. Earlier this year, the DHS Office of Inspector General report showed that the 287(g) program, a program that deputizes state and local law enforcement agencies to act as immigration agents, is also fundamentally flawed. The report found that local and state agencies did not focus on non-citizens who actually posed a threat to public safety or were a danger to the community, and there was little oversight and supervision over the program. Instead, 287(g) has terrorized our communities, where crime victims and witnesses have been reluctant to report to the police because they are afraid of being deported.

H-1B Worker Visas

AAPI immigrants use a significant percentage of employment-based visas. While the CIR Act of 2010 provides stronger protections for immigrant workers, it does not go far enough. In light of the difficult economy, the bill should include provisions that allow workers on H-1B visas greater ability to change employers, jobs, or positions without losing their immigration status, and provide a longer grace period against laid-off H-1B workers to find replacement jobs or make arrangements prior to leaving.

Vish is a 40-year-old IT professional working for a major company in the Chicago area for the last 6 years. In June 2008, Vish was laid off, where his employed cancelled his H-1B visa on the same day of his termination. Because of the tough market, he was unable to find a job and was forced to leave the U.S. immediately. Vish had established a life here for himself and his family, creating a 401(K) savings account and owning a house and 2 cars. He had no choice but to leave all of that behind.

We urge Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to contact their senators and ask them to become a co-sponsor. This bill provides a strong starting point for Congress to honestly debate meaningful immigration reforms. The Asian Americans Center for Advancing Justice hopes that obstructionists in Congress will put partisanship aside and fix our broken immigration system.

The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice's statement on the necessary elements of meaningful immigration reform is available at: http://advancingjustice.org/.