Some of these veterans receive U.S. benefits. some do not. By 2010. it is estimated that there will be just 20.000 survivors. With the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990. the courage of the many Filipino soldiers who fought alongside our troops during World War II was finally recognized by our government. and Filipino veterans were offered the opportunity to obtain U.S. citizenship. According to the former Immigration and Naturalization Service. about 15.000 Filipino veterans live in the U.S. and became citizens between 1941 and 1995 under the authority of the Immigration Act of 1990. Between that time about 11.000 veterans who live in the Philippines were successfully naturalized. These thousands of Filipino veterans clearly wished to spend their golden years in the United States. and I am pleased that the 1990 Immigration reform efforts provided them the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately. the offer did not extend to the adult sons and daughters of these veterans. As a result. the Filipino veterans who fought on behalf of America. and who now live in American and continue to contribute to America. must do so alone. Due to a backlog in the issuing of visas. many of the children of these veterans have waited more than twenty years before being able to obtain an immigrant visa. My bill. by exempting children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitation on immigrant visas. will ensure that our Filipino World War II veterans can enjoy and be supported by their family members in their twilight years. I believe it is a simple yet profound way that this country may honor the sacrifices made more than six decades ago by these war heroes. I urge my colleagues to honor the valiant contributions of Filipino World War II veterans to our Nation by supporting my bill.
Keywords matched
immigrant naturalized Immigration Naturalization visa visas