Published April 2, 2013

PRESS EVENT: Family Immigration and Impact on Cleveland's Asian Community

Currently there are considerable discussions at the federal level about immigration reform. One of the key areas of debate is family immigration (sponsorship of relatives to immigrate to the United States) and on the specifics of who is and who is not included as part of the provisions that are being discussed.

IMPACT ON THE ASIAN COMMUNITY
Presently, there are 4.3 million people waiting to receive their visas in what is commonly known as the ‘backlog.’ Almost 2 million (nearly 50%) of those individuals are Asian.
Current immigration system:

– 2/3 of visas given to legal immigrants’ family
– 14 percent is given for employment
– Priority is given as follows:

  1. Spouse & Minor (under 21) Children
  2. Unmarried ‘Adult’ Children (over 21)
  3. Married Adult Children & Brothers/Sisters (‘Siblings’)

A Washington Post article from March 14th revealed that the Senate Gang of 8 plans to remove the second two priority categories from above, effectively eliminating legal immigration for the unmarried and married children over 21 of legal immigrants, as well as their brothers and sisters.
On behalf of the Asian leaders and community members, please join us for a timely and critical panel discussion to hear stories from the different communities (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and others) who are impacted.

DATE: Thursday, April 4, 2013
TIME: 1:00 – 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Philippine Cultural Center – 1975 W. Ridgewood Drive, Parma, OH 44134 (website)

REPRESENTING ORGANIZATIONS
Association of Philippine Physicians of Ohio
Korean American Association of Greater Cleveland
Federation of Indian Communities Association
Philippine American Society of Ohio
Philippine Nurses Association of Ohio
Organization of Chinese Americans of Greater Cleveland
Vietnamese Association of Greater Cleveland
Asian Services In Action

AGENDA
12:45 – 1:00 PM    Guest check-in, media credentials
1:00 – 1:15 PM     Welcome and introduction of panelists followed by overview on the impact on Cleveland’s Asian community provided by Jayashree Bidari, Immigration Attorney
1:15 – 1:45 PM     Stories from the community: Filipino (Speaker: TBD), Korean (Speaker: TBD), Chinese (Speaker: TBD) and others
1:45 – 2:00 PM     Questions and Answer

For more information: Michael Byun (mbyun@asiaohio.org, 330-535-3263, x233)