Special report: US immigration reform 

    LOS ANGELES, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Asian-American and Pacific Islander groups have joined calls for immigration reforms as undocumented Asian immigrants also face the possibility of deportation.

    Leaders representing 39 Asian-American and Pacific Islander groups in Southern California have presented a list of principles to achieve humane immigration reform, the groups said in a statement available to Xinhua on Saturday.

    The group said current debate on immigration has focused on Southern border issues, but stories of immigrants and refugees facing deportation also raise the need for a comprehensive reform.

    The groups, which include the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the Pilipino Workers' Center, called on Washington to provide means for undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship, eliminate the backlogs in the family-based immigration system and end unjust detention and deportation of immigrants and refugees.

    "We want to see a pathway to citizenship," said Stewart Kwoh, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. "Webelieve immigrants should not be criminalized and we reject the House approach."

    The groups described the border security bill HR 4437, passed by the House of Representatives in December, as "draconian". The Senate is now working on a broader bill following President George W. Bush's call Monday for National Guard troops to patrol the U.S.border with Mexico.

    Advocates said Friday that comprehensive reform needs to do away with laws that detain and deport refugees and immigrants for committing crimes that range from gambling to shoplifting.

    Those who come from Southeast Asian countries are more likely to be deported. For example, in 2002, the Cambodian government agreed to accept Cambodians who have committed crimes in the United States, immigration officials said.

    Often, refugees are among those facing deportation, and most have few ties to their native country.

    Of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, 1.5 million are Asians from India, the Philippines,Vietnam, South Korea and China.

    Michael Eng, an immigration lawyer said about 10 percent to 15 percent of undocumented workers in the United States are considered "transitory immigrants."

    "They are persons who are married to green-card holders. These spouses could take seven to 10 years to become a citizen. That's absolutely unacceptable," said Eng.

    The majority of Asian immigrants come to the United States on family visas. According to the Asian American Justice Center, 63 percent of Asian immigrants in 2004 came via a family-based system.

    Current debates in Washington have focused on erecting a borderfence and implementing a guest-worker program, but Asian-American and Pacific Islander leaders say reform also is needed to eliminate the backlogs that have hindered family reunification.

    Although the House bill does not include more family visas to ease the long wait, a proposal passed in March by the Senate Judiciary Committee calls for 250,000 more visas.

    Family members from China, India and the Philippines face the longest waiting periods. According to the U.S. State Department, aperson in the Philippines who is being sponsored by an American sibling would have to wait 23 years for a visa.

    The Asian American Justice Center estimates more than 1.5 million Asians are in these decades-long backlogs. Enditem