Chinese American Citizens Alliance

National Board

President's Executive Order on Immigration Relief Sparks Mixed Reaction

Mostly Positive, but Alliance Urges Solutions-Driven Dialogue between the President and Congress

The Chinese American Citizens Alliance, buoyed each year with visits to the Capitol in its decades long advocacy for full and comprehensive immigration reform and historically opposing anti-immigrant movements, acknowledges with hope and optimism the actions announced by President Obama to enact reform in our nation’s fractured and inefficient immigration system. In alignment with many of the Alliance’s position points on its own comprehensive immigration reform strategies, the President’s initial orders highlight family reunification, enhanced border security to direct more human and monitoring resources in the interest of our national security and safety of our citizens and to improve the opportunities and pathways for highly-skilled immigrant workers and business entrepreneurs so they too might contribute to and support our American economy.

While much of the opposition to comprehensive immigration reform is directed at those from our southern borders, the Alliance notes that Homeland Security estimates about 1.3 million are from Asia and 40,000 of those are minors, many of whom were born here. While their stories of struggle, hiding in the shadows and discrimination resonate with us and within our communities, we are still a law-abiding citizenry who operate under a rule of law that applies to everyone who chooses to live in this greatest country in the world. The Order clearly addresses the need for those who are undocumented to understand and abide by our system of laws.

While the debate will rage on in the next few months on the process of this Executive Order, the Alliance will entrust the President, the rightfully elected 100 U.S Senators and 435 U.S. Representatives who represent us and likely, the Courts to discuss and resolve the constitutionality of this specific Order. The Alliance remains cautiously optimistic but genuinely hopeful that this is a first step toward a more simplified, more rational, more efficient and less bureaucratic system of our nation’s immigration policy. We urge Congress and the President to work for those policies that are for the good and dignity of the people, that strengthen our economy and that educate and provide opportunities to those who come to contribute their hard work and skills

November 24, 2014