OCA Calls on House to pass H.R.3799, Reuniting Families Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

23 July 2019

Contact: Thu Nguyen | Communications Manager 202.223.5500 | [email protected]

Washington, DC – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates calls on the U.S. House to pass H.R.3799, also known as the “Reuniting Families Act”, introduced in the House with wide support.

The Reuniting Families Act (RFA) is a strongly-supported bill that works to eliminate the significant family immigration visa backlogs so that immigrants can apply for green cards on a first-come first-served basis. Because of current per-country caps, family members from populous countries can wait upwards of 24 years for their applications to be reviewed. By raising caps from 7% to 20%, this bill will help end the years-long visa backlog. The bill also establishes a ten-year maximum wait time and recaptures immigrant visas from past years that were unused due to bureaucratic delay. Finally, the RFA reclassifies spouses, permanent partners, and minor children as “immediate relatives” so that they are not subject to the per-country caps. Asian American and Pacific Islander families use 61% of all visas issued to adult married children and 67% of all visas issued to siblings, meaning that this bill will alleviate the immigration system’s disproportionate burden on immigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands.

“We are glad to see a common-sense legislative attempt to mend our country’s broken immigration system,” said Roland Hwang, OCA National Vice President of Public Affairs. “The Reuniting Families Act will improve wait times and give reassurance to applicants that they won’t be waiting their lifetimes to gain visas in order to reunite with their families.”

OCA calls on the House to pass this bill for its immediate implementation.

OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).

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