[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 105 (Tuesday, July 14, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H8032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         WOMEN IMMIGRANTS--THE NEW FACE OF MIGRATION IN AMERICA

  (Ms. HIRONO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, today I hosted a panel discussion on the 
results of a historic poll on women immigrants to America. Today, women 
comprise half or more of the immigrants entering this country. Women 
are the new face of migration in America.
  Among the findings of this historic poll, many women immigrants 
acknowledge speaking little or no English, while confronting anti-
immigrant discrimination, lack of health care, and low-paying 
employment, well below the status of the professional work most did in 
their home countries.
  Thirty-eight percent of the women came to join family members; 22 
percent to make a better life for their children. Their top two biggest 
challenges were helping their children achieve success and being able 
to hold their families together.
  The poll data paralleled my mother's own experience in bringing me 
and my brothers to the United States from Japan in the mid-1950s: her 
desire to build better futures for us; her early, low-paying, no-
benefits jobs; her determination to keep the family together as head of 
household.
  The importance of family to women immigrants is something we can all 
relate to and support as we discuss and debate immigration reform.

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