Ethnic groups call for legalize 11m immigrants

LOS ANGELES - Ethnic groups led by Latino organizations in Los Angeles on Thursday called for united actions to push forward a just immigration reform to legalize 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

The call was made in response to this week's announcements by US President Barack Obama and a bipartisan group of US senators known as the "Gang of 8" proclaiming that immigration reform is a national policy priority.

Group leaders announced the formation of a coalition to unite Asian and African communities, and called for immediate stop of family separation and status change from the beneficiaries of the Temporary Protected Status to Legal Permanent Residents.

Salvador Sanabria, executive director of El Rescate, told Xinhua that the immigration community supports Obama's proposal on immigration reform. "But the thing is, we need to go to action," he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) also urged to fix the broken US immigration system.

"We call on President Obama and Congress to exercise their leadership in passing immigration legislation that will honor the valuable contributions and sacrifices of immigrants throughout our nation," said Stewart Kwoh, president and executive director for APALC.

Nearly half of the 4.3 million family members waiting abroad in family backlogs are from Asian countries. The top five loaded countries include four Asian countries  -- the Philippines, India, Vietnam and China, according to APALC.

There are approximately 1.3 million undocumented Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, who often bear the burden and heartbreak of long years of family separation, according to APALC.

According to the National Asian American Survey, 58 percent of Asian Americans support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the United States, an increase from 32 percent in 2008.