With the debate over immigration reform continuing to rage, politicians on both sides of the argument are weighing in with their opinions. Most recently a set of recommendations has been released by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).
The caucus, which is led by Representative Judy Chu from California, has made suggestions that seem particularly pertinent given the 10.6 million Asian immigrants currently living in the United States. A memo released by CAPAC states that Asians have become the biggest demographic of new immigrants in the country. The immigration reform recommendations made by the caucus include making it a priority to keep families together, which is something it says can be achieved with an expansion of deferred action.
The deferred action program as it currently stands in the Obama administration enables undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as minors to carry on living and working in the country without the fear of being deported. CAPAC wants to see the current program expanded to include the parents, siblings and spouses of legal residents, recipients of deferred action and US citizens.
The expansion of the deferred action program would have a positive effect on millions of families living in the United States, with approximately 5.1 million children ‒ four million of whom are actually US citizens and residing in the country ‒ being members of families that have mixed legal statuses. CAPAC also recommends that the provisional unlawful presence waiver program is expanded.