Visa processing delays are fueling ‘unconscionable’ family separations. A new bill in Congress aims to clear the logjam.

Tessa Xuan and her family benefited from family-based immigration and being able to grow up in a multi-generational family. (Photo courtesy of Tessa Xuan)

By Andrew Peng

Tessa Xuan knows first-hand the power of family immigration. After all, her uniquely American story — and her very existence — would not be have been possible without it.

Both of Tessa’s parents were born and raised in mainland China during the country’s tumultuous Cultural Revolution, but the vast separation between their hometowns meant they would have never crossed paths.

Instead, it was their journeys to America that allowed for them to finally connect. Like many other young Chinese students who arrived more than 30 years ago, they came in pursuit of better lives for themselves and their future children — often landing in the U.S. with just a few dollars in their pockets.

They struggled at first, but years of hard work allowed them to become naturalized citizens and live the American dream. Tessa’s father earned his PhD in engineering, landing jobs at several multinational corporations. Tessa’s mother, who had once served as a medical doctor in mainland China, chose to dedicate her livelihood to ensuring the safety of American consumers as a toxicologist.

But being in a new country meant sacrificing precious moments with family back in China, and they longed for a day when everyone could be reunited.

“When my mom and dad got married, their parents couldn’t come to the wedding,” Tessa recalled. “They couldn’t visit to witness the births of their grandchildren.”

As a solution, Tessa’s father eventually sponsored her grandparents to immigrate to the U.S., though it took years for their visas to be approved. It was a proud accomplishment for the youngest son in the family, and Tessa described the grandparent’s resulting presence in their Ohio home as “profound.”

“My mom was working in a different city and dad’s job involved going on international trips, so my grandparents were often the ones who watched us and made sure we were clothed and fed,” she said. “My grandpa kept a vegetable garden in our backyard and he took my sister to preschool every day on his bicycle.”

In addition to day-to-day living, being together meant the opportunity to strengthen generational bonds. Shortly after Tessa’s family laid her grandmother’s body to rest, her grandfather fell sick. Hospitalized and in pain, he soon lost the will to keep going. But after watching Tessa’s baby brother play in the hospital room, he changed his mind.

“He told my dad, ‘I want to live,’” Tessa said.

Stories like Tessa’s are only possible in America, a country that has long-valued family unity as the foundation of its immigration system. But for other Asian Americans and their families, years of backlogs and ever-increasing wait times — coupled with the Trump administration’s threats to scrap family-based immigration entirely — are indications that the current system is at a crossroads.

More than 1.5 million aspiring immigrants from Asia were waiting in line for family-based preference visas in fiscal year 2019, according to a report released by Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and Advancing Justice-LA in June. Family visa backlogs have built up to the point where U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency charged with managing legal immigration, is still processing visa applications filed as long as 23 years ago.

The problem, immigration advocates say, is that the backlogs often create unconscionable situations where family members must live apart for years or even decades — fueling deep social and emotional burdens. Furthermore, the separations force immigrants to put off life-changing decisions such as marriage and new home purchases — injecting uncertainty into one of the most reliable drivers of U.S. economic growth.

Earlier this month, Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) reintroduced legislation to finally clear the logjam. The Reuniting Families Act would raise the nation’s per-country immigration limits from 7 percent to 20 percent for family-based categories, and applicants would no longer be subject to per-country or categorical visa caps after ten years. Spouses and children of green card holders would also be reclassified as “immediate relatives” — a category not subject to annual numerical limits — and the bill would “recapture” hundreds of thousands of unused family-sponsored visas lost in bureaucratic delays.

In other words, the Reuniting Families Act would allow for millions to care for their loved ones and experience the same benefits of reunification that Tessa’s family enjoyed: physical and mental well-being, security, and shared prosperity.

Members of the Value Our Families coalition are now mobilizing to ensure that the bill does not meet the same fate as it did in the 115th Congress, when it failed to advance in the then-Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee. Tessa was among the dozens of impacted community members and faith leaders who gathered in Washington, D.C. earlier this month to urge Congress to act on the legislation.

“My dad told me that the waiting times for family sponsorship from China were shorter back then than they are now,” Tessa noted. “I was born in America, but many of the Americans I love were born somewhere else. My story wouldn’t be possible without immigration.”

You can get involved by signing our petition here, and by telling your member of Congress to vote YES on the Reuniting Families Act.

Author Andrew Peng is a communications intern with Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, a co-convener of Value Our Families.