Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

IN HIS continuing advocacy to reunite our Fil-Am WWII veterans with their children in the Philippines, US Senator Daniel K. Akaka recently reintroduced the Filipino Veterans Family Reunifi cation Act of 2009.

The bill seeks to exempt sons and daughters of Filipino veterans from immigration numerical quotas that have delayed the processing of their US visas. Depending when the petitions were filed, the waiting time takes at least 18 years.

Currently, there are 7,000 Fil-Am WWII vets residing in the United States, many of whom have already fi led visa petitions for their children in the Philippines. But our manongs, already in their eighties and nineties, fear that they may never be able to see their children come to the US.

Our Fil-Am vets have been sitting in the waiting room for decades, overlooked and ignored by the same country who promised them seven decades ago that they will be rewarded for their courageous alliance with the US Army during WWII. Yet even after emerging victorious, our Fil-Am vets were not even allowed to bring their spouses and children to the US. This situation has never been rectifi ed, and attempts to do so have failed.

Our veterans deserve affirmative action. Akaka’s bill hopes to elevate their simple request -- a just and well-deserved reward for their courage and bravery as US servicemen. At the last chapter of their lives, reuniting with their children holds so much importance for our Fil-Am vets and it’s not too much to ask that they be granted this fi nal wish. (AJPress)

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Published on June 27, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A12 )