From @UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU:owner-china-nt@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU Sun Jan 30 16:28:57 1994 Date: Sun, 30 Jan 1994 16:26:57 -0500 Reply-To: YANG Chang-Qing Sender: China-Net From: YANG Chang-Qing Subject: CCB 940130 Comments: To: china-nt@uga.cc.uga.edu To: Multiple recipients of list CHINA-NT ===+==+==+==+==+==+== Chinese Community Bulletin ==+==+==+==+==+==+=== (CCB 940130) +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Chinese Community Bulletin (CCB) is one of the supplementary issues of Chinese Community Forum (CCF). It collects contributions on various topics which are not published in CCF regular issues or other supplementary issues. The opinions expressed in CCB do not necessarily represent the editors'. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Table of Contents: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 14:44:19 -0500 From: Jack Gong ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack Gong: **************************************************************************** Help needed for pushing the legislations S.618 and H.R.3182 through the U.S. Congress. From: FEI@BNLDAG.AGS.BNL.GOV **************************************************************************** Original date: 12/22/93 (with minor changes) My article about a family unity bill S.618 pending in the U.S. Senate was published in the Dec.12/93 issue of China News Digest -U.S. Regional (CND-US). The Dec.18/93 issue disclosed the text of the legislation which would make it easier for spouses and children of permanent residents to enter the United States on visitor or student visas while they await their permanent residency. A somewhat similar legislation is also proposed in the House (H.R. 3182). The bill S.618 is in the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate. A staff member of Senator Kennedy felt that the bill would not have a chance if they could not get public support. After some discussions with concerned people, it is clear that we have to form our network to support congress passing the bill. The bill H.R. 3182 is in the Judiciary Committee of the House. I will take the responsibility of organizing the activity. Some people have expressed their willingness to work on this issue. We need to have coordinators in every state to help the lobby effort. If you want to work on this, please send me an e-mail message. Clearly we need much more people to get involved, especially those who are in the states with senators and representatives in the immigration (sub)committees and judiciary committees. We should let people know the situation and ask all the interested people to lobby senators and representatives and get a new law like S. 618 and HR.3182. I drafted some short letters for your convenience. Please make a few changes before sending out. Also please let me know any errors in name, address and telephone numbers. *****: To those senators who introduced the bill S.618, we say thanks and give them our support: RIEGLE, KENNEDY, SIMON, DECONCINI, HATFIELD, GLENN, ROBB, and LEVIN. Sample letter 1. The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy U.S. Senator SR-315 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Mr. Kennedy: Thank you very much for introducing the bill S. 618 (with Mr. Riegle, Mr. Simon, Mr. DeConcini, Mr.Hatfield, Mr. Glenn, Mr. Robb, and Mr. Levin in the Senate) to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit the admission to the United States of nonimmigrant students and visitors who are the spouses and children of United States permanent resident aliens, and for other purposes. According to the Visa Bulletin of the U.S. State Department, spouses and children of permanent residents have to wait for more than 2.5 years to obtain immigration visas. We should note that the actual waiting time is much longer despite the plan of increasing visa numbers in the future. At the same time, they could not get nonimmigration visas to visit this country because the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad will deny them visas on the ground of the "immigration intent". A separation of family members for a such long period creates hardships...... For the sake of millions of family members (and future U.S. citizens) involved, it is of great importance to pass this bill with your help. Thank you again for your consideration of this issue. Your effort will be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Signature *****: Letters write to members of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate (other than the above mentioned senators): ask for their support. Address: Senator ***** Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Washington, DC 20510-6275 Full list of the members: Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Chairman Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Howard M. Metzenbaum, Ohio Strom Thurmond, South Carolina Dennis DeConcini, Arizona Alan. K. Simpson, Wyoming Patrick K. Leahy, Vermont Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Howell Heflin, Alabama Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Paul Simon, Illinois Hank Brown, Colorado Herbert Kohl, Wisconsin William S. Cohen, Maine Deanne Feinstein, California Larry Pressler, South Dakota Carol Moseley-Braun, Illinois Sample letter 2. The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. U.S. Senator Committee on the Judiciary United State Senate Washington, DC 20510-6275 Dear Mr. Biden: I am writing in regard to the family unity issue for some permanent residents in this country. According to the Visa Bulletin of the U.S. State Department, spouses and children of permanent residents have to wait for more than 2.5 years to obtain immigration visas. We should note that the actual waiting time is much longer since the quota date moves only two weeks for every month. As a result, the 2.5 years waiting period at the present time could mean 5 years or more despite the plan of increasing visa numbers in the future. At the same time, they could not get nonimmigration visas to visit this country because the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad will deny them visas on the ground of the "immigration intent". A separation of family members for a such long period creates hardships. It is of great importance to have a new rule to speed up family unity with your help. You are not only helping the family members of the permanent residents, but also future U.S. citizens. In the Senate of the United States, Mr. RIEGLE (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SIMON, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. HATFIELD, Mr. GLENN, Mr. ROBB, and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the bill S. 618 to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit the admission to the United States of nonimmigrant students and visitors who are the spouses and children of United States permanent resident aliens, and for other purposes. This bill addresses the concern many people raised. We ask your support for the bill....... Thank you for your consideration of this issue. Sincerely, Signature *****: Write to members of the House in the immigration subcommittee: Should ask :Please support legislation H.R. 3182. Sample letter 3. The Honorable Romano L. Mazzoli Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Mazzoli: I am writing in regard to the family unity issue for some permanent residents in this country. According to the Visa Bulletin of the U.S. State Department, spouses and children of permanent residents have to wait for more than 2.5 years to obtain immigration visas. We should note that the actual waiting time is much longer since the quota date moves only two weeks for every month. As a result, the 2.5 years waiting period at the present time could mean 5 years or more despite the plan of increasing visa numbers in the future. At the same time, they could not get nonimmigration visas to visit this country because the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad will deny them visas on the ground of the "immigration intent". A separation of family members for a such long period creates hardships. It is of great importance to have a new rule to speed up family unity with your help. You are not only helping the family members of the permanent residents, but also future U.S. citizens. H.R. 3182 seeks to address this problem by designating a special "nonimmigrant" status for the spouse and minor children of U.S. citizens and legal residents. The spouse would not be automatically granted permanent resident status, but the family would be able to enter the United States. In the interest of protecting American jobs, the bill prohibits the spouse from working in the U.S. and states that if the marriage ends, so does the special status. This bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it has been the subject of hearings in the Subcommittee on International Law, Immigration, and Refugees. I would like to suggest that spouses of U.S. residents should be allowed to go to schools in the U.S. so that they can contribute greatly to the society in the future. In the Senate of the United States, Mr. RIEGLE (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SIMON, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. HATFIELD, Mr. GLENN, Mr. ROBB, and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the bill S. 618 to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit the admission to the United States of nonimmigrant students and visitors who are the spouses and children of United States permanent resident aliens, and for other purposes. Please support the family unity legislations... Thank you for your consideration of this issue. Sincerely, Signature House subcommittee on international law, immigration and refugees Washington, DC 20515 Romano L. Mazzoli, D-KY, Chair (202) 225-5401 2246 Rayburn House Office Building Charles E. Schumer, D-NY (202) 225-6616 2412 Rayburn House Office Building John Bryant, D-TX (202) 225-2231 205 Cannon House Office Building George E. Sangemeister, D-IL (202) 225-3635 1032 Longworth House Office Building Jerrold Nadler, D-NY (202) 225-5635 424 Cannon House Office Building Xavier Becerra, D-CA (202) 225-6235 1710 Longworth House Office Building Bill McCollum, R-FL (202) 225-2176 2266 Rayburn House Office Building Lamar Smith, R-TX (202) 225-4236 2443 Rayburn House Office Building Elton Gallegly, R-CA (202) 225-5811 2443 Rayburn House Office Building Charles T. Canady, R-FL (202) 225-1252 1107 Longworth House Office Building *****Write to U.S. Senators and Representatives in your state. Names, addresses and phone numbers are available in your local telephone book under the section Government & Municipal Guide. One week after you send out letters, please call them in your state and ask their reactions, and also urge them for help again. I would like to collect information in the next 2 weeks and prepare for further action when Congress is in session. We will also need U.S. citizens' support (we need to collect their signatures), which shall be dealt with soon. *********************************************************************** A BRIEF MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO ARE SUPPORTING AND WORKING ON THE BILLS Dear friends, (Jan. 26, 1994) Thank you very much for your support. We have legislations from both the Senate (legislation S. 618, see CND-US issues on Dec.12, 1993 and Dec.18, 1993) and the House of Representatives (legislation H.R. 3182). They are in the Judiciary Committees. Only after committees vote for it, other congress people have a chance to vote. Letters/phones to those committee members are the most important thing to do at the moment. Names and addresses are listed in the following paragraphs. CND did not distribute the above long message last December. I think that is because of it length. I am very greatful to CND editors for allowing me to distribute those 3 short messages in CND-US. I will still try to persuade CND-US to distribute the long message. I made some modifications now. Please make changes before sending your letters out. One thing I didn't mention in my sample letters is that the law should stop illegal immigrants and help legal resident-family. Remember we also pay lots of taxes. Of course, the simplest letter would be just state "please support legislations S.618 and H.R. 3182", but it would be more effective to tell them more information so that it's more likely you can get reply. All the information I released are the results of my 30 letters and 10 phone calls. Every single person can make a difference. We have people from nearly 20 states pledged their support by the 5pm Jan.26. Please let me know if I got your state wrong. I will try to reply some messages individually. I will keep you informed of any news regarding the family reunion legislations. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ + Executive Moderator: Changqing YANG + +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + Subscription: mail "Sub China-NT Your-First-Name Your-Last-Name" + + to Listserv@uga.cc.uga.edu or Listserv@uga.bitnet + + Back issues: anonymous ftp to cnd.org[132.249.229.100]:pub/community/CCF + + Contribution and inquiry: mail to CCF-Editor@ifcss.org + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+