[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 17 (Monday, January 29, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1286-S1288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 418, A bill for the relief of Shigeru Yamada; to the Committee on 
the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I offer today private relief 
legislation to provide lawful permanent residence status to Shigeru 
Yamada, a 24-year-old Japanese national who lives in Chula Vista, CA.
  I have decided to re-introduce a private bill on his behalf because I 
believe that Mr. Yamada represents a model American citizen, for whom 
removal from this country would represent an unfair hardship. Without 
this legislation, Mr. Yamada will be forced to return to a country in 
which he lacks any linguistic, cultural or family ties.
  Mr. Yamada legally entered the United States with his mother and two 
sisters in 1992 at the young age of 10. The family was fleeing from Mr. 
Yamada's alcoholic father, who had been physically abusive to his 
mother, the children and even his own parents. Since then, he has had 
no contact with his father and is unsure if he is even alive. 
Tragically, Mr. Yamada experienced further hardship when his mother was 
killed in a car crash in 1995. Orphaned at the age of 13, Mr. Yamada 
spent time living with his aunt before moving to Chula Vista to live 
with a close friend of his late mother.
  The death of his mother marked more than a personal tragedy for Mr. 
Yamada; it also served to impede the process for him to legalize his 
status. At the time of her death, Mr. Yamada's family was living 
legally in the United States. His mother had acquired a student visa 
for herself and her children qualified as her dependants. Her death 
revoked his legal status in the United States. In addition, Mr. 
Yamada's

[[Page S1287]]

mother was engaged to an American citizen at the time of her death. Had 
she survived, her son would likely have become an American citizen 
through this marriage.
  Mr. Yamada has exhausted all administrative options under our current 
immigration system. Throughout high school, he contacted attorneys in 
the hopes of legalizing his status, but his attempts were unsuccessful. 
Unfortunately, time has run out and, for Mr. Yamada, the only option 
available to him today is private relief legislation.
  For several reasons, it would be tragic for Mr. Yamada to be deported 
from the United States and forced to return to Japan.
  First, since arriving in the United States, Mr. Yamada has lived as a 
model American. He graduated with honors from Eastlake High School in 
2000, where he excelled in both academics and athletics. Academically, 
he earned a number of awards including being named an Outstanding 
English Student his freshman year, an All-American Scholar, and earning 
the United States National Minority Leadership Award. His teacher and 
coach, Mr. John describes him as being responsible, hard working, 
organized, honest, caring and very dependable. His role as the Vice-
President of the Associated Student Body his senior year is an 
indication of Mr. Yamada's high level of leadership, as well as, his 
popularity and trustworthiness among his peers. As an athlete, Mr. 
Yamada was named the Most Inspirational Player of the Year in Junior 
Varsity baseball and football, as well as, Varsity football. His 
football coach, Mr. Jose Mendoza, expressed his admiration by saying 
that he has seen in Shigeru Yamada the responsibility, dedication and 
loyalty that the average American holds to be virtuous.
  Second, Mr. Yamada has distinguished himself as a local volunteer. As 
a member of the Eastlake High School Link Crew, he helped freshman find 
their way around campus, offered tutoring and mentoring services, and 
set an example of how to be a successful member of the student body. 
After graduating from high school, he volunteered his time for four 
years as the coach of the Eastlake High School Girl's softball team. 
The former head coach, who has since retired, Dr. Charles Sorge, 
describes him as an individual full of integrity who understands that 
as a coach it is important to work as a team player. His level of 
commitment to the team was further illustrated to Dr. Sorge when he 
discovered, halfway through the season, that Mr. Yamada's commute to 
and from practice was two hours long each way. It takes an individual 
with character to volunteer his time to coach and never bring up the 
issue of how long his commute takes him each day. Dr. Sorge hopes that, 
once Mr. Yamada legalizes his immigration status, he will be formally 
hired to continue coaching the team.
  Third, sending Mr. Yamada back to Japan would be an immense hardship 
for him and his family here. Mr. Yamada does not speak Japanese. He is 
unaware of the nation's current cultural trends. And, he has no 
immediate family members that he knows of in Japan. Currently, both of 
his sisters are in the process of legalizing their immigration status 
in the United States. His older sister is married to a United States 
citizen and his younger sister is being adopted by a maternal aunt, who 
is a United States citizen. Since as all of his family lives in 
California, sending Mr. Yamada back to Japan would serve to split his 
family apart and separate him from everyone and everything that he 
knows. His sister contends that her younger brother would be lost if he 
had to return to live in Japan on his own. It is unlikely that he would 
be able to find any gainful employment in Japan due to his inability to 
speak or read the language.

  As a member of the Chula Vista community, Mr. Yamada has 
distinguished himself as an honorable individual. His teacher, Mr. 
Robert Hughes, describes him as being an upstanding All-American young 
man. Until being picked up during a routine check of riders' 
immigration status on a city bus, he had never been arrested or 
convicted of any crime. Mr. Yamada is not, and has never been, a burden 
on the State. He has never received any Federal or State assistance.
  Currently, Mr. Yamada holds sophomore status at Southwestern 
Community College. However, he is taking this semester off in order to 
alleviate his financial burdens by working full time. He had hoped to 
pursue a career in law enforcement, but his plans have recently changed 
due to his current immigration status dilemma. Until he obtains 
citizenship, Mr. Yamada will be prohibited from pursuing a career in 
law enforcement. Due to the circumstances, Mr. Yamada has changed his 
career goal to that of becoming a high school teacher. Mr. Yamada's 
commitment to his education is admirable. He could have easily taken a 
different path but, through his own individual fortitude, he has 
dedicated himself to his studies so that he can live a better life.
  With his hard work and giving attitude, Shigeru Yamada represents the 
ideal American citizen. Although born in Japan, he is truly American in 
every other sense. I ask you to help right a wrong and grant Mr. Yamada 
lawful permanent resident status so that he can continue towards his 
bright future.
  Given these extraordinary and unique facts, I ask my colleagues to 
support this private relief bill on behalf of Mr. Yamada.
  I also ask unanimous consent that the three letters of community 
support be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letters were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                         Eastlake High School,

                         Chula Vista, California, January 9, 2007.
     Senator Dianne Feinstein,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Feinstein: I am more than happy to write this 
     letter on behalf of Shigeru Yamada as he pursues his efforts 
     to stay in the United States. I was Shigeru's counselor while 
     he attended Eastlake High School. During that time he always 
     displayed exemplary behavior, academic focus, and personal 
     determination.
       Academically Shigeru was a model student. He earned a 3.84 
     grade point average; he made the National Honor Roll and was 
     nominated to Who's Who Among High School Students for three 
     straight years. Shigeru plans to attend a university to study 
     sports medicine and physical therapy so he has set high goals 
     for himself. He has the ability to not only handle college-
     level work, but to thrive on the challenge the university 
     will bring. His quiet determination has been an example to 
     his peers and was a joy to his instructors.
       Shigeru Yamada not only took the most from his high school 
     experience, but he has consistently ``given back'' his 
     talents, time, and effort to serve the school community. He 
     was elected ASB vice-president during his senior year. He 
     demonstrated leadership skills as president of the Inter-Club 
     Council on campus; he mentored incoming ninth-grade students 
     and worked on numerous service projects. In addition to his 
     involvement in student government, Shigeru participated in 
     football, baseball, and wrestling. He was named '''Most 
     Inspirational Player of the Year'' for both his junior 
     varsity baseball and football teams. He was also awarded the 
     J.T. Franks Memorial Award (most inspirational) from the 
     varsity football team. (This award carries a great deal of 
     respect amongst the players as it is named after a teammate 
     who died of cancer.) Shigeru was a role model for our 
     students when he attended our school: He earned good grades; 
     he was an athlete; and he was involved in a variety of 
     additional activities. He is the kind of student that 
     Eastlake High School has been proud to have.
       A further testimony to Shigeru's character is what he has 
     been doing since graduating. This young man has come back to 
     serve as an assistant football and wrestling coach for our 
     students. He has given his time and energy to working with 
     individual students during the week and on weekends; he has 
     not only advised them on how to improve their athletic 
     skills, but he has also been a wonderful role model and 
     mentor. He is someone to whom the young men can relate, a 
     person whose opinions are valued. I have personally seen 
     Shigeru interact with these boys; the respect he gives them 
     and the respect they give Shigeru is an absolute indication 
     of the positive influence he has in their lives.
       * * *
                                  ____



                                                 Word & Brown,

                                  San Diego, CA, January 17, 2007.
     To Whom It May Concern:
       For over 11 years now Shigeru Yamada has been my best 
     friend. His presence in my life has been a blessing. From the 
     very first moment I met him I knew that he was a special 
     person destined to impact positively everyone's lives around 
     him. His ability to see the silver lining even around the 
     darkest rain cloud is amazing to me. As a student Shigeru was 
     amongst the best and brightest. He was a California 
     Scholarship Federation Scholar every semester, he was Spanish 
     student of the year two years in a row, and he served as 
     Associated Student Body Vice-President his senior year. As an 
     athlete, Shigeru was a varsity letterman in Football, 
     Wrestling,

[[Page S1288]]

     and Track and Field. He also served as a team captain on the 
     Football team. As a member of the community, Shigeru has 
     donated of his time freely coaching the Eastlake High 
     Softball team and Eastlake High football team. His ability to 
     give so much and ask for so little in return is an 
     inspiration to all around him. For the last few years Shigeru 
     has been able to legally work in this country. In those few 
     years Shigeru has risen to the top sales levels at 
     Nordstrom's department store and was even promoted to 
     assistant manager. In every aspect and in every arena in 
     which Shigeru has been in he has always excelled. He 
     exemplifies that which makes this country great; bravery, 
     honesty, hard work. In this time of change and uncertainty 
     people like Shigeru Yamada remind me what it is that makes 
     this country of ours work. His pursuit of life, liberty, and 
     happiness has been a difficult one but he has never stopped 
     believing and working towards that goal. I respectfully 
     request that you once again push for Shigeru Yamada to be 
     granted full legal status in this great country of ours.
     Pedro Miguel Reyes.
                                  ____

                                                 January 11, 2007.
       Dear Senator Feinstein: I am writing to you from San Diego, 
     CA on behalf of my friend Shigera Yamada's life-long quest 
     for American citizenship.
       I have known Shiggy as a fellow associate, as his manager, 
     as a confidante, and most importantly as a friend. Shiggy is 
     kind, honest, funny, giving, and intelligent. He is the type 
     of person who will pick you up no matter how out of his way 
     it is, bring you breakfast when you are sick, or just listen 
     to you when you need to talk.
       One of the qualities I admire most about Shiggy is his 
     never-ending positive attitude. For the past two years that I 
     have known him, I have never heard him complain about his 
     situation. While going to school, working overtime, and 
     standing in as a father figure for his baby sister, he was 
     always there for me whenever I needed him. He has overcome so 
     many obstacles in his life that have only made him stronger.
       Shiggy is a model citizen who has worked extremely hard to 
     get to where he is today. I am grateful for the chance to 
     have befriended Shiggy. He is one of the most respectful and 
     professional people I have ever met and had the chance to 
     work with. I know that he does not take a single thing in his 
     life for granted, and will continue to realize his goals 
     through hard work.
       Our country would be lucky to acquire his high caliber of 
     determination, positive attitude, and perseverance as a 
     citizen. I admire his ability to use the curveballs life 
     throws his way as nothing less than learning experiences, and 
     highly recommend him for United States citizenship.
       Thank You,
                                            Sara Chaffee-Standish.
                                 ______