Judy Chu: “Twenty-four years, a quarter century. Imagine not being able to see your brother or sister for 24 years. That's how long…”

“Twenty-four years, a quarter century. Imagine not being able to see your brother or sister for 24 years. That's how long our sibling visa backlogs can be right now in our broken immigration system. The Senate immigration bill does many good things to fix this broken system and reduces the backlog of family visas. This means that all those families who have been waiting for so many years can finally be reunited. But for the future it gets rid of the sibling category entirely. What this means is that if someone immigrates here and becomes a citizen, she can petition for her parents to come in short order; but because this bill gets rid of the sibling category, the 22-year-old brother with Down syndrome would have to be left behind to be all by himself. That's not right. Fixing our broken immigration system is so important. But let's make sure that immediate family members can be reunited. ____________________”