A coalition of 40 Asian American groups is uging President Obama to clear a 20 year visa backlog that is keeping families separated, reports the Orange County Register (photo by IHMEC).
“Many have been waiting more than 20 years for family members to join them in the United States. The current system is clearly not working, and it particularly impacts the Asian American community because nearly half of the 4 million waiting in the backlog are from Asian countries,” said Mee Moua, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Washington, D.C.
President Obama recently announced the formation of a Visa Modernization Task Force. The coalition is calling on the President to take a number of steps including counting dependent families of say four people as one visa to maximize the number of visas.
They are also urging him to use his discretionary power to reunite documented residents with family members.
You can read about the growing Asian American community in Orange County and the opposition President Obama must overcome to win immigration reform in the Orange County Register.