US immigration mom sues US for family separation
August 26 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
Mom files US immigration lawsuit
A Philippine woman who moved to the US is suing the government for its restrictive immigration policies.
Evelyn Santos, 55, sought a US green card for more than two decades in the Philippines. She finally secured one in 2007 but was forced to leave behind her two adult sons, who no longer qualified as dependants.
Santos, who lives in Northern California with her husband and two younger children, is among a group of immigrants suing to bring their adult children to the US without the decades-long wait they endured.
US immigration attorney Robert Reeves says there are about 20,000 immigrants in the country facing a similar dilemma.
The US government has contested claims that a 2002 immigration law is meant to protect children from getting too old to qualify as dependants. It says the law intends to reunite existing immigrants with their families rather than allow new settlers to bring their kin.
The government maintains that children over 21 must file fresh applications.
Immigration attorneys are filing twelve lawsuits across the nation on behalf of new immigrant families separated by the caveat. The push is to permit adult children to file for US visas using the start date on their parents’ applications.
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