Speech #1100043857

community is often misperceived as monolithic. Our community is extremely diverse in our languages. ethnicities. culture. and challenges. Aggregating such a large and diverse group makes it difficult to understand the unique problems faced by the individual ethnicities and subgroups. such as the Southeast Asian Americans. who are refugees that fled their home countries during the late 1970s and the early 1980s. As a country. we need to better address the needs of the AAPI community when we discuss comprehensive immigration reform. education. health issues. and veterans affairs. Comprehensive immigration reform: Mr. Speaker. our Nation was founded by immigrants who valued freedom and liberty. who sought to be free from persecution and from tyranny. Families fled their home countries to seek refuge in this great Nation because they too believed in "liberty. justice. and freedom for all." It is in this spirit that CAPAC supports immigration legislation that shifts the debate from an exclusionary. antiimmigrant. enforcementonly approach to one that confronts the social and economic realities behind immigration. honors the dignity of all families and communities. and recognizes the economic. social. and cultural contributions of immigrants to our great country. Today. AAPIs constitute a growing and vibrant piece of the American fabric. In 2005 close to 9 million of this Nations foreign born were born in Asia. constituting approximately one quarter of the foreignborn population and over one half of the total AAPI population. Even with a relatively high naturalization rate. there are approximately 1.5 million Asian undocumented immigrants living. working. or studying in the U.S.. representing 14 percent of the undocumented immigrants in the United States. These Include victims of immigration fraud. who have become undocumented due to no fault of their own. Many work and study hard. pay taxes. and yet live in fear with no hope of gaining a path to legal permanent resident status. Lets give these workers and these students an opportunity. In addition to an earned pathway to citizenship. family reunification is a high priority in the AAPI community. Immigration reform must espouse the family values that are so fundamental to our national ideals. Family members provide care for the sick. for their children. and for their elderly. Family members are crucial for small businesses and educational opportunities. Close to 2 million AAPIs wait years. sometimes even decades. in order to reunite with their families in the United States. AAPI families who seek to be reunited with their family members overseas have not seen their dreams come true because of our dysfunctional immigration system. We need comprehensive immigration reform to address these backlogs. And education: In addition to immigration reform. expanding educational access for all Americans is also a high priority for CAPAC. Mr. Speaker. as Americans. we need to ensure that our children receive a quality education by providing adequate teacher training. funds for afterschool and extracurricular activities. and ensuring that college is affordable for every student who desires to receive a higher education.