[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S94-S95]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 122. 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, California.
  I have decided to reintroduce private relief immigration bills on 
their behalf because I believe that, without them, 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 over 25 years ago as 
tourists and established residency in San Bruno, California. 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, 17 years old, 
Bruce, 13 years old, and Eva, 11 years old. Young Wesley suffers from 
asthma and has a history of social and emotional anxiety.
  The immigration judge who presided over the Liangs' 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 
home owners, and

[[Page S95]]

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, 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. Mr. 
President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 122

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law 
     or any order, for the purposes of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), Robert Liang and 
     Alice Liang shall be deemed to have been lawfully admitted 
     to, and remained in, the United States, and shall be eligible 
     for issuance of an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status 
     under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1255).
       (b) Application and Payment of Fees.--Subsection (a) shall 
     apply only if the applications for issuance of immigrant 
     visas or the applications for adjustment of status are filed 
     with appropriate fees not later than 2 years after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act.
       (c) Reduction of Immigrant Visa Numbers.--Upon the granting 
     of immigrant visas to Robert Liang and Alice Liang, the 
     Secretary of State shall instruct the proper officer to 
     reduce by 2, during the current or subsequent fiscal year, 
     the total number of immigrant visas that are made available 
     to natives of the country of birth of Robert Liang and Alice 
     Liang under section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(a)), or, if applicable, the total number 
     of immigrant visas that are made available to natives of the 
     country of birth of Robert Liang and Alice Liang under 
     section 202(e) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(e)).
                                 ______