[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 166 (Wednesday, December 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8363-H8365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FOR THE RELIEF OF SHIGERU YAMADA
Ms. CHU. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(S. 4010) for the relief of Shigeru Yamada.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 4010
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
[[Page H8364]]
SECTION 1. PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR SHIGERU YAMADA.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of
section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1151), Shigeru Yamada shall be eligible for issuance of an
immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to that of an
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence upon filing
an application for issuance of an immigrant visa under
section 204 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) or for adjustment of
status to lawful permanent resident.
(b) Adjustment of Status.--If Shigeru Yamada enters the
United States before the filing deadline specified in
subsection (c), Shigeru Yamada shall be considered to have
entered and remained lawfully and shall be eligible for
adjustment of status under section 245 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) as of the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) Application and Payment of Fees.--Subsections (a) and
(b) shall apply only if the application for issuance of an
immigrant visa or the application for adjustment of status is
filed with appropriate fees not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Reduction of Immigrant Visa Numbers.--Upon the granting
of an immigrant visa or permanent residence to Shigeru
Yamada, the Secretary of State shall instruct the proper
officer to reduce by 1, 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 Shigeru
Yamada 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 Shigeru Yamada under
section 202(e) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(e)).
(e) PAYGO.--The budgetary effects of this Act, for the
purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of
2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest
statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation''
for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional
Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee,
provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the
vote on passage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Chu) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. CHU. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative
days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material
on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. CHU. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
S. 4010 is an immigration relief bill for Shigeru Yamada. The House
passed a substantially identical version of this bill by voice vote in
the 110th Congress, but the Senate was unable to take up the measure. I
am pleased to see that the House will have an opportunity to vote on
final passage today.
Shigeru was brought to the United States from Japan when he was 10
years old. Together with his mother and his two sisters, Shigeru
entered the country on a non-immigrant visa and remained in the United
States for over 3 years on his mother's student visa. During this
period, Shigeru's mother became engaged to a U.S. citizen. Had she
married her fiance, she and her children would have been able to obtain
lawful permanent residence in the country. However, in September 1995,
when Shigeru was only 13 years old, his mother was killed in a car
accident.
After his mother's death, Shigeru and his sisters were raised by
their maternal aunt and uncle in Chula Vista, California. Shigeru's
natural father was an alcoholic who was physically abusive to Shigeru,
his sisters, and their mother. There was no other viable caretaker in
Japan.
Shigeru's aunt attempted to formally adopt him, but was unable to
complete the adoption before his 16th birthday. Under current
immigration law, virtually all adoptions of foreign children by U.S.
citizens must be completed before the child's 16th birthday in order
for the child to qualify for legal status in the United States.
Although Shigeru's sisters obtained legal status through adoption and
marriage, Shigeru continued to reside here without such status.
In the meantime, Shigeru became a model student, graduating from
Eastlake High School with honors in 2010. At Eastlake, he served on
student government, participated in numerous community service
activities, and excelled at football and wrestling. He was an All-
American Scholar and was named Outstanding English Student his freshman
year. He was also voted the Most Inspirational Player of the Year in
various sports, both at the junior varsity and varsity level. He served
as vice president of the associated student body his senior year.
Shigeru also volunteered to coach the Eastlake High School softball
team and obtained an associate's degree from Southwestern Community
College.
{time} 1110
It is through no fault of his own that Shigeru was raised in the
United States without legal immigration status. Shigeru's mother died
before she could regularize his status, and adoption proceedings by his
aunt were completed too late to affect his immigration status. S. 4010
presents the only option for Shigeru to remain in the United States.
I commend Representative Bob Filner and Senator Dianne Feinstein, who
each introduced their first private immigration bill on Shigeru's
behalf back in the 108th Congress. I would also like to recognize
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Immigration Subcommittee
Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar
Smith for their help in moving this bill to the floor today.
I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and
Customs Enforcement,
Washington, DC, Aug. 27, 2009.
Hon. Zoe Lofgren,
Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship,
Refugees, Border Security, & International Law, Committee
on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington,
DC.
Dear Madam Chairwoman: In response to your request for a
report relative to H.R. 698, private legislation for the
relief of Shigeru Yamada, enclosed is a memorandum of
information concerning the beneficiary.
The bill provides that the beneficiary shall be eligible
for issuance of an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status
to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence
upon filing an application for issuance of an immigrant visa
under section 204 of the Immigration and Nationality Act or
for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident.
We hope the information provided is useful. Please do not
hesitate to call me if you have additional questions.
Sincerely,
Elliot Williams,
Director.
department of homeland security immigration and customs enforcement
memorandum of information for H.R. 698 111th congress
Shigeru YAMADA (A 97 476 166) is the beneficiary of H.R.
698, private legislation introduced by Congressman Filner on
January 26, 2009. Sen. Diane Feinstein introduced a companion
bill in the Senate, S. 124, on January 6, 2009. Sen.
Feinstein previously introduced S. 418, in the 110th
Congress, S. 111 in the 109th Congress and S. 2548 in the
108th Congress, identical bills to benefit Mr. Yamada.
Congressman Filner introduced an identical bill, H.R. 2760 in
the 110th Congress, which was passed by the House of
Representatives, but not acted upon by the Senate.
On May 7, 2009, an ICE Special Agent interviewed YAMADA for
the purpose of updating information contained in previous
reports to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on
Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security. The beneficiary,
Shigeru YAMADA, a native and citizen of Japan, was born on
March 26, 1982, in Japan. On March 27, 1992, YAMADA entered
the United States as a non-immigrant visitor along with his
mother and two sisters. Shortly after their entry, YAMADA's
mother changed her non-immigrant status from a visitor to
that of a student. YAMADA resided with his mother and two
sisters until his mother passed away in an automobile
accident on September 15, 1995. YAMADA then went on to live
with his maternal aunt, Kumsook Jae in the San Diego area
until January, 2003.
YAMADA graduated form Eastlake High School in June, 2000,
and then went on to earn an Associates degree from
Southwestern College in June, 2005. YAMADA is currently
employed at the San Diego Lasik Institute as a Lasik
Coordinator and earns approximately $50,000.00 per year.
YAMADA has been employed at his current location since
January, 2008. Prior to this employment, YAMADA worked as a
sales associate at Nordstrom Department Store in San Diego,
CA from September, 2004, until October, 2007.
On May 8, 2009, the National Crime Identification Center
(NCIC) and Central Index Identifier were queried for criminal
histories on beneficiary Shigeru YAMADA. NCIC revealed YAMADA
had been issued
[[Page H8365]]
FBI#386666EC7 on May 10, 2004 after his arrest on April 26,
2004, by the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego, CA. YAMADA was
issued a Notice to Appear for Removal Proceedings by the U.S.
Border Patrol for having violated the terms of his entry into
the United States. These proceedings were terminated without
prejudice on June 15, 2004. Mr. YAMADA was granted deferred
action on July 8, 2004, as a matter of prosecutorial
discretion.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support this legislation. Shigeru
Yamada was born in Japan in 1992. When Shigeru was 10 years old, his
mother brought him to the United States as a dependent on her student
visa. In 1995 when Shigeru was 13 years old, his mother was killed in a
car accident.
At the time of her death, Shigeru's mother was engaged to be married
to an American citizen. If his mother had survived and in fact married
the U.S. citizen, Shigeru would have obtained legal permanent resident
status through her. Shigeru's natural father was an alcoholic and
physically abusive to Shigeru's mother and the siblings. After the
mother's death, Shigeru and the siblings were raised by an aunt in
Chula Vista, California.
Although Shigeru's aunt attempted to formally adopt Shigeru, the
adoption was not completed before the 18th birthday. Under current
immigration law, Shigeru would have had to have been adopted before the
age of 16 to obtain legal immigration status in the United States.
Shigeru's younger sibling was adopted by another family while another
sibling was married to an American citizen. Shigeru attended Eastlake
High School and graduated with honors in 2000.
This bill easily fits within the modern-era private immigration bill
precedent. Private immigration bills have been enacted where the
foreigners, the aliens, have been abandoned by their parents or the
parents had died. As this bill is consistent with private immigration
bill precedent, and the Department of Homeland Security report revealed
no adverse information about the beneficiary, I urge my colleagues to
support it.
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Madam Speaker, Shigeru Yamada was
brought to the United States from Japan when he was 10 years old. He
entered the country on a non-immigrant visa with his mother and his two
sisters, and remained here on his mother's student visa for over 3
years. Although his mother became engaged to a U.S. citizen, which
would have resulted in lawful permanent resident status for Shigeru and
his sisters, tragedy prevented this from coming to pass. When Shigeru
was 13 years old, his mother was killed in a car accident, and he and
his siblings were taken to live with their maternal aunt and uncle in
Chula Vista, California.
When Shigeru's aunt attempted to formally adopt him, she was unable
to complete the process before he turned 16 years old. Under current
immigration law, virtually all adoptions of foreign children by U.S.
citizens must be completed before the child's 16th birthday in order
for the child to qualify for legal status in the United States.
Although Shigeru's sisters obtained legal status through adoption and
marriage, Shigeru continued to reside here without such status.
Despite these difficulties, Shigeru shined. He graduated with honors
in 2000 from Eastlake High School, where he served on student
government, participated in numerous community service activities, and
excelled at football and wrestling. He was an All-American Scholar and
was named ``Outstanding English Student'' his freshman year. He was
also voted the ``Most Inspirational Player of the Year'' in various
sports, both at the junior-varsity and varsity level. He served as vice
president of the associated student body his senior year. Shigeru later
obtained an associate's degree from Southwestern Community College.
Shigeru's story highlights so many things that are wrong with our
current immigration system. First, Shigeru is just the type of young
person who would benefit from the DREAM Act, which passed the House
with bipartisan support 1 week ago today. More importantly, America is
just the country that would benefit from providing Shigeru a path to
lawful status, so that he could continue to excel and serve as a model
to all those around him.
Second, Shigeru's story highlights the nonsensical inflexibility of
our international adoption rules. Earlier this summer, the House passed
H.R. 5532, the International Adoption Harmonization Act of 2010. H.R.
5532 would harmonize our international adoption rules by setting the
uniform deadline by which all adoptions must be finalized at a child's
18th birthday. One purpose of H.R. 5532 is to ensure that when a child
is legally adopted by U.S. citizen parents between the child's 16th and
18th birthdays, the child is permitted to remain with his or her
parents in the United States. The need for this commonsense piece of
legislation was demonstrated by the many private immigration laws
enacted by previous Congresses to provide exactly this form of relief
to just those individual children who came to our attention--bills just
like the one before us today. H.R. 5532 remains stalled in the Senate,
which represents a real failure to protect American families and
adopted children.
I remain hopeful that our Senate colleagues on both sides of the
aisle will recognize that passage of the DREAM Act and H.R. 5532 are
both in America's best interest. But under current law, S. 4010
represents the only option for Shigeru Yamada to remain in the United
States, the country that he rightly calls home.
Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I'd like to thank Senator Feinstein, the
Senate and House Judiciary Committees, Chairman Conyers, and Chairwoman
Lofgren for their leadership in the passage of S. 4010, a bill for the
relief of Shigeru Yamada, an extraordinary young man who is in danger
of being deported back to Japan, despite living here for most of his
life. Shigeru came to the U.S. legally in 1992 at the age of 10 with
his mother and two younger sisters. In 1995, when Yamada was 13 years
old, his mother was tragically killed in a car accident. Yamada and his
sisters were suddenly orphaned, and due to a change in immigration
laws, were stripped of their legal status. Notwithstanding personal
adversities, Yamada excelled in high school where he was active in
sports, student government, and the community, while maintaining almost
a 4.00 GPA. Yamada has attended Southwestern College and is a model
member of the Chula Vista, California community. His two younger
sisters were able to become citizens. One married a U.S. citizen and
the other one was adopted by family members. The family tried to adopt
Shigeru, but they were not successful. Yamada does not have any family
or home in Japan. His mother's side of the family is Korean which makes
it extremely difficult for him to integrate into Japanese society. He
would be virtually unemployable in Japan because he does not speak,
read, or write Japanese. His situation shows that he would suffer
extreme hardship if forced to return to Japan. The passage of this bill
brings justice one step closer to Yamada. We want and need more people
like Shigeru in our country and he deserves the opportunity to become a
permanent U.S. citizen. Once again, I'd like to thank the leadership
for passage of this critical bill.
Mr. POE of Texas. I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. CHU. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, S. 4010.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________