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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. —The Senate voted on Thursday, June 28, to effectively block efforts to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, meaning that the issue is most likely dead until after the 2008 elections.
Needing 60 votes to bring debate on the contentious bill to an end — a step called cloture — and move it toward passage, proponents of the bill could only muster 46 votes in favor, with 53 opposed.
At the Senate before the vote, Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said, “If we do not invoke cloture, the bill is dead.”
This development drew immediate reaction from the Filipino American community.
The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) characterized the failure of the Senate to advance the immigration reform bill as a “failure of leadership.”
“The reality of a broken immigration system is staring at us in the face everyday,’ said Robert Roy, NAFCON executive director. “And yet our legislators choose to do nothing. That is a failure of leadership.”
The Filipino community must continue to push for genuine immigration reform, Roy said. “If Congress turns its back on this issue, it is our duty to keep up the dialogue and debate on immigration reform.”
Cristina Godinez, a New York attorney and lawyers’ representative to NAFCON, said political expediency won the day at the Senate voting.
“Obviously, what happened in the Senate today was spurred by political expediency, not by the commitment to address the immigration issue,” said Godinez.
“As far as conservative Republicans are concerned, it makes good political sense to distance themselves from a weak president by misrepresenting the bill as amnesty. In the meantime, what do they propose to do about the 12 million undocumented persons in the country today?” she added.
The Filipino community has a lot at stake in the immigration reform debate, Godinez said. She pointed out that with the worst family immigration backlog, Filipino American families are torn apart by as much as 20 years.
“Thousands of skilled workers and professionals from the Philippines are also hoping for a realistic increase in visa quotas so that we will not have to go through retrogression. More importantly, a lot of our kababayans are ready to legalize their status,” Godinez added.
Thursday’s vote reverses the Senate’s action on Tuesday, when, with a lot of encouragement from President Bush, the Senate voted, 64-35, to keep working on the bill, which would establish a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the country.
The debate just before the vote was intense, even personal.
“We know what they’re against — we don’t know what they’re for,” Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said of the bill’s opponents. Perhaps, Kennedy suggested, the bill’s opponents envision some kind of “gestapo” to round up illegal immigrants. “That’s their alternative?” Kennedy shouted. “That’s their alternative?”
Another supporter of the legislation, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, pleaded with her colleagues not to let the bill lapse. “If we miss this opportunity, there is not likely to be another in the next few years,” she said.
But Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama and an opponent of the bill, said the legislation’s supporters — “the masters of the universe,” he called them scathingly — had tried to push the measure through by unfairly limiting debate.
On Wednesday, the Senate killed proposed amendments to the bill from the left and the right. Democrats failed in efforts to promote family unification by providing more visas to parents of United States citizens. Republicans lost in their bid to toughen the bill’s requirements for illegal immigrants who want to become permanent residents and ultimately citizens. Those results reflected the fragile bipartisan compromise embodied in the bill, President Bush’s top domestic priority, which would make the biggest changes in immigration law in more than 20 years.
The debate became unusually testy, and senators tied themselves in procedural knots as they tried to work through a slate of 27 proposed amendments. Some senators obstructed normally routine requests by their colleagues — raising objections, for example, when senators asked to dispense with further proceedings under a quorum call, or to explain their reasons for opposing requests for unanimous consent.
“We are in trench warfare,” said Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, a strong supporter of the bill.
A leading opponent of the measure, Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, said, “I am being railroaded.”The bill would have provided $4.4 billion for border security, increased the penalties for hiring illegal immigrants, created a new guest worker program and offered legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.
By a vote of 53 to 45, the Senate killed a Republican proposal that would have required most adult illegal immigrants to return to their home countries to apply for legal status, in the form of special “Z visas,” which would allow them to work in this country.
The vote does not mean that the “touchback requirement” is dead. The overall bill includes such a requirement for people who want permanent residence visas, known as green cards. And the Senate is scheduled to consider another version of the touchback requirement supported by many Republicans. The proposals respond to criticism from conservatives who denounce the bill as a form of amnesty for people who have broken the law.
The bill would have established a point system to evaluate would-be immigrants, giving more weight to job skills and education and less to family ties.
By a vote of 56 to 41, the Senate killed an amendment by Senator Christopher S. Bond, Republican of Missouri, that would have prohibited illegal immigrants from obtaining green cards. In general, under existing law, permanent residents can apply for citizenship after living in the United States for five years.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States Senate veterans committee on Thursday, June 28, approved a bill that would provide a special set of benefits for Filipino World War II veterans as well as others who had fought under the US flag.
Philippine Ambassador to Washington Willy Gaa said in a statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs that Senate Bill No. 1315, or the Omnibus Benefits Bill, was approved in a special hearing conducted by the committee at the Dirksen Building on Capitol Hill.
“Today marks a special and historic occasion in our longstanding quest for justice and equity for our brave and courageous Filipino World War II veterans,” Gaa said.
“More significantly, and for the first time in history, the important contributions of Filipino veterans of the last World War are now being officially recognized by a US legislative enactment,” he added.
This was the farthest the equity bill has come since the US Congress first tried to repeal the 1946 Rescission Law in 1993. That budget bill deprived thousands of Filipino veterans the benefits due them as former members of the US Armed Forces.
Gaa said the bill’s passage into law would benefit thousands of surviving Filipino veterans in the Philippines.
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SANTA ANA, California - Filipinos were among 175 people arrested for deportation in sweeps through Southern California this week, federal authorities said Friday, June 22.
The sweep was part of an operation aimed at capturing immigration fugitives nationwide. Teams operating in Southern California have made more than 1,600 arrests in the past nine months, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Last week, agents concentrated their efforts in Orange County. Those arrested included 27 people who have criminal records and are in the country illegally and 26 fugitives who ignored deportation orders by judges, ICE said.
“Foreign nationals who violate our laws and commit crime against our citizens should be on notice that there are serious consequences for their actions,” said Jim Hayes, field office director for ICE detention and removal operations in Los Angeles.
Some of those arrested could be charged with illegally re-entering the United States. They could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the felony.
Most of those arrested this week were Mexican nationals but some came from other countries, including India, Kenya and the Philippines, authorities said. They were subject to immediate deportation, and more than half of those arrested have already been sent out of the country, ICE said.
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JERSEY CITY -- Against the backdrop of boats sailing along the Hudson River, Filipino Americans converged in this city’s Exchange Place to celebrate Philippine American Friendship Day.
The annual observance of Philippine American Friendship Day is sponsored by the Philippine American Friendship Day (PAFCOM).
Officials from New Jersey walked side by side with Filipinos in the parade led by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Councilwoman Barbara Espinello, Freeholder Bill O’Dea, Councilmen Steve Lipski, Peter Brennan and County Sheriff Juan Perez.
Philippine undersecretary for education Nestor Sunga flew from Manila to grace the occasion. “What is important is the Filipino community in Jersey City is able to put up this festival every year. This is great. Our community is respected by everybody and by New Jersey officials,” said Consul General Cecilia Rebong.
Filipino actress Marianne de la Riva was one of the judges for best participants in the parade. Singer Rachel Ann Wolfe entertained the crowd with ballads and disco songs.
Exchange Place, a district in Jersey City’s downtown area by the Hudson River, was transformed into a virtual Filipino market where native gowns, dresses, crafts and toys were sold.
The scent of authentic Filipino cuisine, such as barbecue, wafted in the air.
Filipino American organizations, mostly engaged in community services, joined the festive parade in a joyful showcase of culture and pride.
Officers of Pan American Concerned Citizens Group, engaged in helping to ease the problems of immigrants and seniors, re-enacted a historical scene where American General MacArthur returned to Leyte, Philippines in 1946 to liberate Filipinos from Japanese forces amid the applause of Filipino American World War ll Veterans.
“We are proud to join the festival as we fought side by side with Americans during World War ll,” said Alfredo Diaz, an officer of Philippine American Veterans’ Organization of New Jersey.
He said other veterans would go to Washington, DC this week to lobby on Capitol Hill to pass the Equity Bill that would grant benefits to thousands of Filipino American veterans.
“I feel grateful. Our celebration is successful. We are able to promote unity among Filipinos in New Jersey,” said Philippine American Friendship Day Committee over-all chairperson Francis Sison.
This year’s Grand Marshal is Dr. Alice Francisco.
“This is an excellent time for Filipinos to get together to congratulate the Filipinos in time of their celebrations. I’m impressed by your young singers,” said Councilwoman Viola Richardson.
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