[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 17 (Monday, January 29, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1290-S1291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 421. A bill for the relief of Robert Liang and Alice Liang; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I offer today private relief 
legislation to provide lawful permanent residence status to Robert Kuan 
Liang and his wife, Chun-Mei ``Alice'' Hsu-Liang, foreign nationals who 
live in San Bruno, CA.
  I have decided to offer private relief immigration bills on their 
behalf because I believe that, without it, this hardworking couple and 
their three United States citizen children would endure an immense and 
unfair hardship. Indeed, without this legislation, this family may not 
remain a family for much longer.
  The Liangs are foreign nationals facing deportation on account of 
their overstay of visitors visas and the failure of their previous 
attorney to timely file a suspension of deportation application before 
the immigration laws changed in 1996.
  Mr. Liang is a foreign national and refugee from Laos. His wife is a 
citizen of Taiwan. They entered the United States 24 years ago as 
tourists and established residency in the San Bruno, CA. Because they 
overstayed the terms of their temporary visas, they now face 
deportation from the United States.
  After living here for so many years, removal from the United States 
would not come easily or perhaps without tearing this family apart. The 
Liangs have three children born in this country: Wesley, 15 years old, 
Bruce, 12 years old, and Eva, 9 years old. Young Wesley suffers from 
asthma and has a history of social and emotional anxiety.
  The immigration judge who presided over the Liang's case in 1997 
concluded that there was no question that the Liang children would be 
adversely impacted if they were required to leave their relatives and 
friends behind in California to follow their parents to Taiwan, a 
country whose language and culture is unfamiliar to them.
  I can only imagine how much more they would be adversely impacted now 
given the passage of 9 more years.
  The Liangs have filed annual income tax returns; established a 
successful business, Fong Yong Restaurant, in the United States; are 
homeowners, and are financially successful. Since they arrived in the 
United States, they have pursued and, to a degree, achieved the 
American Dream.
  Mr. and Mrs. Liang's quest to legalize their immigration status began 
in 1993 when they filed for relief from deportation before an 
immigration judge.
  The Immigration and Naturalization Service, INS, however, did not act 
on their application until nearly 5 years later, in 1997, after which 
time the immigration laws had significantly changed.
  According to the immigration judge, had the INS acted on their 
application for relief from deportation in a timely manner, they would 
have qualified for suspension of deportation, given that they were 
long-term residents of this country with U.S. citizen children and 
other positive factors. By the time INS processed their application, 
however, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
Responsibility Act of 1996, which changed the requirements for relief 
from removal to the Liangs' disadvantage.
  I supported the changes of the 1996 law, but I believe sometimes 
there are exceptions which merit special consideration. The Liangs are 
such a couple and family. Perhaps what distinguishes this family from 
many others is that through hard work and perseverance, Mr. Liang has 
achieved a significant degree of success in the United States while 
battling a severe form of post traumatic stress disorder.
  According to his psychologist, this disorder stems from the 
persecution he, his family and community experienced in his native 
country of Laos during the Vietnam war.
  Throughout his childhood and adolescence, Mr. Liang was exposed to 
numerous traumatic experiences, including the murder of his mother by 
the North Vietnamese and frequent episodes of wartime violence. He also 
routinely witnessed the brutal persecution and deaths of others in his 
village. In 1975, he was granted refugee status in Taiwan.
  The emotional impact of Mr. Liang's experiences in his war-torn 
native country has been profound and continues to haunt him. His 
psychologist has also indicated that he suffers from severe clinical 
depression, which has been exacerbated by the prospect of being 
deported to Taiwan, where on account of his nationality, he believes he 
and his family would be treated as second-class citizens.
  Moreover, Mr. Liang believes that the pursuit of further mental 
health treatment in Taiwan would only exacerbate the stigma of being an 
outsider in a country whose language he does not speak. Given those 
prospects, he also fears the impact such a stigma would have on the 
well-being and future of his children.
  Given these extraordinary and unique facts, I ask my colleagues to 
support this private relief bill on behalf of the Liangs.
  I also ask unanimous consent that two letters of community support be 
printed in the Record.

[[Page S1291]]

  There being no objection, the letters were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  January 2, 2007.
       Dear Senator Feinstein: I am writing to ask you to once 
     again introduce a private bill to aid my friends Alice and 
     Robert Liang, who are seeking permanent lawful resident 
     status in the United States.
       Without your assistance, the Liangs face deportation for 
     overstaying their temporary visas by 24 years. Being forced 
     to leave the United States would devastate their family. 
     Their three minor children, Eva, Bruce and Wesley, are U.S. 
     citizens and know no other home. Robert, a refugee from Laos, 
     suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder that would be 
     exacerbated if he were forced to relocate to Taiwan after 
     building a life here.
       The Liangs own and run a successful vegetarian Chinese 
     restaurant, Garden Fresh, in Mountain View. They work hard, 
     pay taxes and own their own home in San Bruno. Though they 
     are by no means wealthy, they are generous donors to a 
     variety of charities and are quick to provide food or 
     assistance to anyone who needs help. They are also loving 
     parents and wonderful people who have nearly magically turned 
     hundreds of their customers into a community of friends 
     vitally concerned about their welfare. The fact that so many 
     of their customers are committed to ensuring their future in 
     the U.S. is a testament to the Liangs high character.
       Two years ago, you told Congress that the extraordinary and 
     unique facts surrounding the Liangs situation merited the 
     introduction of a private bill on their behalf. I hope that 
     you will be similarly supportive once again, and I urge you 
     to continue your efforts to aid this very worthy family.
       Thank you.
           Sincerely,
     June D. Bell.
                                  ____

                                                December 27, 2006.
     Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Feinstein: We are honored to write to you in 
     support of the Liang family of San Bruno, California. We have 
     known Robert and Alice for twelve years, and are repeatedly 
     awed by their support of their children and their 
     communities. They are the kind of people that we all wish 
     could surround us: honest, hard-working and extraordinarily 
     generous.
       Anyone who has enjoyed their restaurants has unknowingly 
     become a part of Alice's family, as a first-timer noted. But 
     it is their service to the community, schools, and anyone in 
     need, that is so extraordinary. For example, on two recent 
     occasions, after the Katrina and Rita hurricanes, and again 
     after the Asian tsunami, Robert and Alice gave every penny 
     received on a full day to the relief efforts. Then on several 
     occasions, they have taken food and solace to hospitalized 
     customers (including me), giving up their free day. And for 
     years, Robert and Alice have provided food for a local public 
     school, at cost.
       This kindness comes from a man who still suffers the 
     effects of his childhood during the war years in southeast 
     Asia, and a woman who grew up on a small farm in rural 
     Taiwan. They are therefore driven to provide a better life 
     for their American-born children.
       We ask that you submit and guide to passage a Private Bill 
     that would permit this wonderful family to stay together in 
     our country, thereby enhancing not just the five of them, but 
     all of us who are touched by them. All five members of the 
     Liang family should be allowed to stay together in this 
     country and call themselves American.
           Sincerely,
     W. Cameron Caswell, Jr.,
     Barbara Anne Maas.
                                 ______