[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10689]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          ELIMINATE PENALTY FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN--H.R. 1209

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                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 13, 2001

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
1209--The Child Protection Act of 2001. Too many injustices affect 
immigrants as a result of how the current Immigration and Nationality 
Act is written. H.R. 1209 is but one way to ensure that children of 
citizens are not penalized because it takes the INS an unacceptable 
length of time to process their adjustment of status petitions.
  Alien children of U.S. citizens are eligible for admission as an 
immediate relative. They are not subject to any numerical limitations 
on visas. The only wait time for these children is the actual time the 
INS takes to process their petitions.
  However, when these children turn 21 years of age, their status 
shifts from immediate relative status to the status of family-first 
preference. This category is subject to a limited number of visas per 
year.
  If these children turn 21 after their immediate relative petition is 
filed, they are moved to the bottom of the wait list for the family-
first preference category. Since this category is backlogged for many 
countries, the child's wait time for processing unfairly increases.
  H.R. 1209 would ensure that an alien child of a U.S. citizen shall 
remain eligible for immediate relative status as long as an immigrant 
visa petition was filed before the child turned 21. The date the 
petition was filed, and not the date the petition is processed, shall 
apply.
  I urge my colleagues to support this piece of legislation to correct 
this inequitable outcome.

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