US lawmaker urges Bush to amend immigration law to help Filipino war veterans

HONOLULU (AP) — US Congressman Ed Case has asked President George W. Bush and congressional leaders to amend immigration legislation with a measure to help unite families of Filipino veterans.

Case, a Democrat from Hawaii, said Filipinos who fought alongside US troops during World War II and later decided to become American citizens have been separated from their children in the Philippines.

The bill would grant children of Filipino veterans an immigration waiver similar to the one they received in 1990.

"We need to fulfill completely our commitment to these veterans, many of whom are in their 80s and 90s, by allowing their sons and daughters to go through the process we established in 1990 to have priority in their respective immigration categories," Case said Thursday.

In a letter, Case urged Bush and lawmakers to include his bill "in any comprehensive immigration reform measure" or to give his bill "expedited consideration."

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates that 3,200 Filipino veterans have become American citizens since 1990.

Hawaii has an estimated American-Filipino population of more than 275,000, second only to California, where more than one million live. This year marks 100 years since a group of 15 farm workers, also known as "sakada," left the Philippines in 1906 and came to the Big Island to work in sugarcane fields.