Honda Introduces Legislation To Reunite Families

Press Release

Today, U.S. Rep. Mike Honda (D-Silicon Valley, Calif.) joined several of his Congressional colleagues at a press conference introducing the Reuniting Families Act (RFA), a piece of commonsense legislation designed to cut the backlog causing the separation of 4.4 million family members from U.S. citizens and green card holders.

"Today's press conference was to show our commitment to the family values that America stands for," said Honda. "America was built by families of immigrants, spreading out across our nation, building their homes and their dreams. Right now, far too many of those dreams are being put on hold because of bureaucracy that simply does not need to be."

Some of these families have been waiting for more than 20 years to be reunited, because of a broken immigration system. The RFA will, in part, help that backlog by making use of thousands of visas that have been unused, over the past two decades. It will also exempt husbands, wives and children of green card holders from numerical caps.

"Family unity is a cornerstone of our immigration system," said Mee Moua, executive director of Asians Advancing Justice, one of several outside groups that have endorsed the RFA. "Since the founding of our nation, immigrants have come to our shores to create better lives for their families. But today, our broken immigration system hurts families by keeping loved ones apart for years, and often decades. We need to update our immigration system with commonsense solutions like those included in Congressman Mike Honda's Reuniting Families Act to strengthen our communities by strengthening families. We at Advancing Justice | AAJC are proud to support the Reuniting Families Act and commend Congressman Honda for championing family reunification."

The RFA would also ensure that same-sex, interfaith and other couples unable to wed in their home countries are still treated the same as opposite-sex couples.

"In most of the world, same-sex permanent partners do not have access to marriage equality," said Aaron Morris, executive director of Immigration Equality. "The Reuniting Families Act provides these loving, committed couples the ability to stay together just like every other immigrant family. We are grateful to Congressman Honda for his leadership in crafting and introducing this critical legislation."

The RFA is currently supported by more than 65 Representatives. Several of those, including Reps. Xavier Becerra, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus; Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; Barbara Lee and Raul Grijalva, joined Honda at the press availability announcing introduction. They joined several of the groups supporting the RFA.

"More than four million spouses, children and parents are waiting in backlogs that can last more than two decades, and Asian American immigrant families are disproportionately affected," said Chris Kang, executive director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. "Updates to the family-based immigration system are long overdue. Indeed, comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue. NCAPA strongly supports the Reuniting Families Act, which would reunite these family members, strengthen our communities, and bolster our economy. Congressman Honda has been a tireless leader--on this issue and on behalf of all Asian Americans--and we thank him for introducing this bill today."

Not only will reunited families bring loved ones back together, but it will create economic benefits including increased consumer spending and worker productivity.

"Family based-immigration systems in America have not been modernized in the past 20 years, leaving millions of immigrants and families separated due to visa backlogs," said Gregory Cedana, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. "APALA applauds Congressman Honda for reintroducing the Reuniting Families Act to help reunite immigrant families and create a more fair, just and inclusive family-based reunification process."

"NCLR thanks Representative Honda for his steadfast leadership on reforming the family immigration system," said Janet Murguía, National Council of La Raza President and CEO. "Family unity is a fundamental principle in our country, and it is against our values to separate spouses from one another and parents from their children for up to a decade as we currently do in our outdated immigration system."

"Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service strongly believes that our nation's immigration system must stop tearing families apart and must instead protect family unity for all migrants and refugees," said Linda Hartke, LIRS President and CEO. "For this reason, we welcome the Reuniting Families Act, a bill that contains key reforms that will allow family members to reunite with their loved ones more quickly. As people of faith, we view family as the basic unit of strong communities and congregations. The value of family strengthens our resolve to stand for meaningful and just reform of this nation's family-based immigration system."

The RFA is also supported by National Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union, HIAS, Church World Service, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Immigration Equality, Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations and National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance.

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