BILL ANALYSIS
AJR 25
Page 1
Date of Hearing: February 16, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
AJR 25 (Furutani) - As Introduced: August 27, 2009
SUBJECT : FILIPINO VETERANS: FAMILY REUNIFICATION
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD THE LEGISLATURE REQUEST CONGRESS TO PASS, AND
THE PRESIDENT TO SIGN, THE FILIPINO VETERANS REUNIFICATION ACT,
TO EXEMPT THE CHILDREN OF CERTAIN FILIPINO WORLD WAR II VETERANS
FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS ON IMMIGRANT VISAS, IN ORDER TO HELP
FACILITATE REUNIFICATION OF THESE VETERANS' FAMILIES?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this measure is keyed
non-fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This resolution memorializes Congress and the President to pass
pending legislation that would exempt the children of certain
Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitations on
immigrant visas imposed by current U.S. immigration law. Over
four decades after the end of World War II, Congress passed the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990, which provided
approximately 24,000 Filipino World War II veterans, then in
their 70s and 80s, the opportunity to obtain United States
citizenship. As a result, between 1990 and 1995 many Filipino
World War II veterans left their families behind in the
Philippines to come to the United States to be naturalized and
establish residence in this country. According to the author,
many of these veterans have been waiting, in some cases 10 to 15
years, for the U.S. government to approve immigrant visa
petitions that would allow their children still living in the
Philippines to join them in this country-children whose care and
support many of these veterans now need in their old age. The
author attributes this immigration backlog to the strict
numerical limitations on immigrant visas that may be issued to
the children of Filipino veterans under existing immigration
law. Therefore, in order to further recognize the service of
these veterans and to promote reunification of their families,
this measure requests the U.S. Congress to pass, and the
President to sign, the Filipino Veterans Reunification Act (H.R.
2412 and S. 1337). This resolution has no known opposition.
AJR 25
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SUMMARY : Requests the U.S. Congress to pass, and the President
to sign, the Filipino Veterans Reunification Act (FVRA),
legislation that would exempt the children of certain Filipino
World War II veterans from numerical limitations on immigrant
visas. Specifically, this measure :
1)States that Filipinos honorably served in the U.S. Armed
Forces and aided the United States during World War II;
2)States that Congress passed legislation that discriminated
against Filipino WWII veterans by denying them veterans
benefits, making them the only group of veterans negatively
impacted by this legislation;
3)States that the Supplemental Surplus Appropriations Rescission
Act of 1946 denied the service of Filipino veterans in the
U.S. Armed Forces, and that it was not until the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that the service of
Filipino World War II veterans was officially recognized, for
the first time, as active military service in the U.S. Armed
Forces;
4)States that the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1990
offered Filipino World War II veterans who had not been
naturalized pursuant to the Nationality Act of 1940 the
opportunity to obtain U.S. citizenship, despite those veterans
remaining ineligible for most benefits provided by the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs;
5)Asserts that many Filipino World War II veterans, now age 80
or older, filed for visa petitions for their children in the
early 1990's, but continue to wait to be reunited with their
children, who languish on the visa waiting list because our
current immigration policies limit the chance for these
families to reunite;
6)Memorializes the Legislature to join the U.S. Congress in
acknowledging the service of Filipino World War II veterans by
recognizing that they should be reunited with their children
during their golden years;
7)Memorializes the Legislature to request the U.S. Congress to
pass, and the President to sign, S.1337 and H.R. 2412, which
would exempt the children of certain Filipino World War II
veterans from the numerical limitations on immigrant visas,
AJR 25
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thus allowing for family reunification.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Pursuant to Section 1002 of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5, a new note to 38
U.S.C. 107):
a) Makes Congressional findings about numerous units of
Filipinos soldiers who were called into the service of the
U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, by executive order
of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 26, 1941.
b) Officially recognizes the service of certain Filipino
WWII veterans as active military service in the U.S. Armed
Forces for the purpose of determining eligibility to
receive payment from a special compensation fund
established by this section. (123 STAT. 200.)
2)Pursuant to the United States Immigration and Nationality Act
(Title 8 of the United States Code):
a) Provides that any person who, while an alien or
noncitizen national of the United States, has served in
active-duty status in the armed forces of the United States
. . . during a period beginning September 1, 1939, and
ending December 31, 1946 . . . and who was separated under
honorable conditions, may be naturalized as a U.S. citizen,
as provided. (Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990, 8
U.S.C. 1440.)
b) Categorically limits the number of immigrant visas that
may be issued to aliens seeking to be lawfully admitted to
the United States as family-sponsored, employment-based, or
diversity immigrants, but also exempts certain categories
of aliens from these numerical limitations, including (1)
special immigrants, as defined; (2) refugees; (3) special
agricultural workers; (4) aliens whose removal is canceled;
and (5) aliens who have been provided permanent resident
status after having shown continuous residence in the U.S.
and good moral character since entering the country prior
to 1972. (8. U.S.C. 1151.)
c) Establishes various preference allocations of visas for
family-sponsored immigrants, including (1) unmarried sons
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and daughters of citizens; (2) spouses, unmarried sons and
unmarried daughters of permanent resident aliens; (3)
married sons and married daughters of citizens; (4)
brothers and sisters of citizens. (8 U.S.C. 1153.)
COMMENTS : Over 60 years after the end of World War II, most
surviving Filipino veterans are now in their eighties and
nineties. According to the author, many of these veterans have
been waiting, in some cases over a decade, for the U.S.
government to approve immigrant visa petitions that would allow
their children still living in the Philippines to join them in
this country-children whose care and support many of these
veterans now need in their old age. The author attributes this
immigration backlog to the strict numerical limitations on
immigrant visas that may be issued to the children of Filipino
veterans under existing immigration law. Therefore, in order to
further recognize the service of these veterans and to promote
reunification of their families, this measure seeks to have the
Legislature request the U.S. Congress to pass, and the President
to sign, the Filipino Veterans Reunification Act (S. 1337 and
H.R. 2412), legislation introduced in Congress last year that
would exempt the children of certain Filipino World War II
veterans from these numerical limitations on immigrant visas.
History and Recognition of Filipino Military Service to the U.S.
Armed Forces . Because historical accounts differ, perhaps the
most authoritative background information about the service of
Filipinos to the U.S. military during World War II comes from
recent Congressional findings provided in Section 1002 of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law
111-5, new note to 38 U.S.C. 107): These findings stipulate
that:
(1) The Philippine islands became a United States
possession in 1898 when they were ceded from Spain
following the Spanish-American War.
(2) During World War II, Filipinos served in a
variety of units, some of which came under the
direct control of the United States Armed Forces.
(3) The regular Philippine Scouts, the new
Philippine Scouts, the Guerrilla Services, and more
than 100,000 members of the Philippine Commonwealth
Army were called into the service of the United
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States Armed Forces of the Far East on July 26,
1941, by an executive order of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
(4) Even after hostilities had ceased, wartime
service of the new Philippine Scouts continued as a
matter of law until the end of 1946, and the force
gradually disbanded and was disestablished in 1950.
Unfortunately, the valuable support provided by Filipino
soldiers in service to the U.S. military during World War II has
gone largely unrecognized by the American public in the decades
since the war. This may be in large part due to the U.S.
government's own failure to recognize the active military
service of these Filipino WWII veterans, as exemplified by
passage of the Rescission Acts of 1946, in which Congress
authorized an appropriation to the Commonwealth Army of the
Philippines on the condition that its members' service was not
deemed part of the active military service of the United States
Armed Forces. By making this designation, the Rescission Acts
had the effect of withdrawing the U.S. government's promise to
provide full veterans' benefits to Filipino soldiers who fought
on behalf of the U.S. during WWII. The rescission of that
promise has been described by Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) as
one of that body's "least decorous acts." ("Veterans and Their
Families Deserve Justice and Honesty," San Jose Mercury News,
November 10, 2006.)
In addition to the above Congressional findings, the 2009 Act
represents the first official recognition that the service of
Filipino WWII veterans shall constitute active military service
in the Armed Forces. Although this recognition is only limited
to the purpose of this section of the Act (namely, for
determining eligibility to receive belated lump sum veterans'
benefits from a special fund), the author believes that official
recognition of Filipino veterans' service in any context is an
important step towards the objective of this resolution-to
facilitate family reunification for these veterans who deserve
to be reunited with their children in the country that they
defended in WWII and of which they have been citizens for many
years.
Pending Federal Legislation Would Eliminate Barriers to Family
Reunification Created by Numerical Limits on Immigrant Visas.
Over four decades after the end of World War II, Congress passed
AJR 25
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the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990, which provided
approximately 24,000 Filipino World War II veterans, then in
their 70s and 80s, the opportunity to obtain United States
citizenship. According to the author, between 1990 and 1995,
many Filipino World War II veterans left their families behind
in the Philippines to come to the United States to be
naturalized and establish residence in this country. However,
naturalized Filipino veterans who filed visa petitions for their
children back home still await their arrival fifteen to twenty
years later, due to the immigration backlog created by numerical
limits capping the number of family-sponsored visas that can be
issued under Chapter 12 of Title 8 of the United States Code.
U.S. Lower House Resolution 2412, also known as the Filipino
Veterans Reunification Act, exempts the children of Filipino
veterans naturalized pursuant to the 1990 Act from the numerical
limitations on immigrant visas. Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
sponsored H.R. 2412 in Congress last May, with a companion bill,
S.1337 sponsored by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), now pending in
the U.S. Senate. Ten U.S. Representatives have signed on as
co-sponsors of H.R. 2412, including Representatives Sam Farr,
Bob Filner, Michael Honda, and Jackie Speier of California,
emphasizing the renewed interest in the welfare of aging
Filipino war veterans. ("U.S. lawmakers push bill to reunite
US-based RP vets with kids," GMA News, November 4, 2009, URL:
www.gmanews.tv/print/176252.) This resolution would request
Congress to pass, and the President to sign, the Filipino
Veterans Reunification Act to resolve this situation rooted in
almost seventy years of history.
Prior Related Legislation . This resolution appears to be the
first such measure in California supporting federal legislation
relating to family reunification of naturalized Filipino WWII
veterans. However, the Legislature in recent years has
overwhelmingly passed several resolutions requesting Congress to
grant full benefits to Filipino veterans of the U.S. Armed
Forces. Among these similar resolutions are: AJR 2 (Dymally),
Res. Chapter 122, Statutes of 2007; AJR 2 (Evans), Res. Chapter
117, Statutes of 2005; AJR 20 (La Suer), Res. Chapter 118,
Statutes of 2001; AJR 49 (Bock), Res. Chapter 151, Statutes of
2000; SJR 25 (Solis), Res. Chapter 116, Statutes of 2000; and
AJR 15 (Robert Pacheco), Res. Chapter 101, Statutes of 1999.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AJR 25
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Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334