Immigration

As an immigrant who came to America with my mother and brothers as a young girl, I know how important it is to reform our immigration system. Beyond just bringing the some 11 million documented immigrants out of the shadows, any effort to reform our immigration system should also address the challenges immigrant women and families face. That’s why I worked closely with my colleagues, both in the Judiciary Committee and on the floor of the United States Senate, to craft the immigration reform bill currently pending before Congress that provides key protections for immigrant women and families and delivers real results for Hawaii.

I authored 11 amendments to the bill that were approved during the Judiciary Committee’s markup of the immigration bill. All were included in the final bill that was approved by the U.S. Senate. These include major legislative victories for Hawaii –measures that help Filipino World War II veterans reunite with their children, restore Medicaid eligibility for COFA migrants, help Hawaii’s fishing industry and could expand foreign tourism in the state. I also convinced my colleagues to include key protections for women and families during the committee’s markup. I urge my former house colleagues to take up this bill.

Here’s a list of the measures I was able to get included in the senate’s immigration reform bill:

  • Reunifying Filipino WWII Vets With Their Children : Although thousands of Filipino veterans were granted citizenship in recognition of their service to the United States in World War II, their children were not granted citizenship. Senator Hirono’s amendment would help eliminate the immigration backlog for the families of Filipino World War II vets seeking citizenship. The amendment is identical to Hirono’s previously introduced bill, the bipartisan Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act of 2013.
  • Restoring Medicaid Eligibility For Compact Migrants : In 1996, Congress passed a law that made migrants from Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall islands who now live in Hawaii ineligible for federally backed Medicaid funding. But Hawaii has continued to provide health care services to these families even without federal support. Each year, the state spends an estimated $30-40 million to provide health care to these families. By making these individuals eligible for Medicaid, Hirono’s amendment requires the federal government to once again share the cost of providing health care to these individuals. Restoring Medicaid eligibility for these compact migrants has been a priority of Hawaii leaders for more than a decade. Senator Akaka last introduced a bill in 2011 that would have restored migrants’ Medicaid eligibility.
  • Allowing Hawaii Fishing Vessels To Temporarily Rotate Foreign Crews: Hawaii and Hawaii residents depend on fresh, locally caught fish. Because of Hawaii’s geographic isolation, Hawaii’s longline fishing fleet faces a unique competitive disadvantage. Federal law requires U.S. fleets to rotate their nonimmigrant foreign crews at foreign ports. While mainland fleets can comply with this requirement by rotating foreign crews at ports in Canada or Mexico, Hawaii-based vessels must make a round-trip voyage of more than two weeks to reach the nearest foreign port. Senator Hirono’s amendment would allow U.S. vessels to temporarily rotate their nonimmigrant foreign crew in Hawaii, the same flexibility currently available to U.S. ships rotating crew in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
  • Measure To Potentially Increase Tourism To Hawaii : Senator Hirono’s bipartisan amendment, cosponsored by Senators Hatch and Lee, would designate Hong Kong as eligible to be considered for participation in the visa waiver program (VWP) for visitors to the United States. The VWP allows citizens of participating foreign countries or states to travel to the U.S. without a visa for stays of 90 days or less, provided they meet appropriate requirements. Currently, 37 countries are VWP participants. Hong Kong must still meet all statutory requirements that every country must meet for inclusion in the VWP. The amendment is identical to a billpreviously introduced by Hirono in April 2013.
  • Keeping Families United At the Border: Right now, many families are torn apart at the border since current law requires many adult men to be transferred to a border location hundreds of miles away from where they were intercepted. Meanwhile, their families are simply sent back across the border at the place they were intercepted with no money and no idea of where their husbands or fathers were taken. The situation leaves the women and children vulnerable to trafficking, sexual violence and other dangers. Hirono’s amendment would stop families from being torn apart at the border by allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to consider keeping families together during removal.
  • Making DREAM Act Students Eligible For Federal Student Aid : Senator Hirono’s amendment would make DREAM Act students eligible for federal student loans, work-study, and campus services like academic counseling. The amendment would give these students financial options to pay for their education like other academically qualified Americans. These are students who were brought to the United States before they were 16 years of age and were granted registered provisional immigrant status, or who are immigrant farm workers with blue card status.
  • Protecting Victims Of Child Trafficking: Hirono’s amendment, the Child Trafficking Victims Protection Act, would place independent child welfare professionals at border patrol stations to provide basic humanitarian assistance to unaccompanied immigrant children held in border stations. The measure also ensures appropriate screening of children to identify victims of persecution or trafficking and ensures children are not held for longer than necessary in U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities.
  • Allowing Immigrants On Path To Citizenship To Pay Penalties in Installments: Senator Hirono’s measure makes the path to citizenship more fair for Registered Provisional Immigrants by making penalties payable in installments.
  • Strengthening The DHS Official Charged With Protecting Immigrants’ Rights: The committee also approved an amendment that would strengthen the Department of Homeland Security official charged with protecting the rights of immigrants in our immigration system.
  • Studying How Merit System Impacts Who Can Get Green Cards : Hirono amendment would require the Government Accountability Office to study how the new merit based system impacts who is allowed to immigrate to the United States.
  • Better Understanding Immigration Trends: Senator Hirono’s amendment requires the Department of Homeland Security to gather confidential data on Registered Provisional Immigrants. This information will be used to better understand immigration trends and make necessary policy adjustments.

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