JUSTICE FOR FILIPINO AMERICAN VETERANS (JFAV)

6th Annual Veterans Day Parade

Historic Filipintown

Los Angeles, California

November 11, 2006

JFAV STANDS FOR FAMILY REUNIFICATION AND SUPPORTS FULL IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS NOW!

The Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV), an alliance of 26 veterans, youth, student and community organizations in Southern California, wholeheartedly supports and salutes the all veterans and their families on the solemn occasion of Veterans Day, November 11, 2006

Today, November, we again march in Historic Filipinotown and unveil the memorial to our veterans who until now after 60 years are still unrecognized. We call for family reunification and justice for veterans. With the strong rebuke of the people on the electoral exercise last November 7 that repudiated the anti-immigrant Republican majority and the coming of the new democratic majority in the U.S Congress, we hope for the passage of the veterans equity bill and the legalization of all immigrants.

The 11,000 remaining Filipino World War II veterans in the United States together with the 54,000 living Filipinos in the Philippines, acknowledged the role being played by the youth and students. The vibrant and militant Filipino American community, students and youth, who have supported the veterans’ struggle for recognition, justice and equity since 1993 have kept the fires of veterans struggle burning.

JFAV stands for earned or genuine legalization as a path for citizenship. We oppose the Republican formula or the Bush Guest Workers Program which is nothing but a modified Bracero Program (the earliest guest workers program during World War II) that would certainly exploit workers, keep them in long wait for citizenship or else deny them earned legalization.

More than 30,000 immigrant Filipino veterans came to the United States in 1991 to become American citizens just to be treated like second-class citizens later. We learned from this sad experience that is why we struggle. Now, there are less than 11,000 of us who are still fighting for our rights. This is the reason why we support the immigrants’ struggle for full immigrant rights.

We support the call for amnesty and full rights for all immigrants that will pave the way for earned legalization of the more than 12 million undocumented immigrants. Although there are still infirmities in the bill because we are sure it is prone to so many compromises, the bill is still the most progressive among the so many being peddled by reactionaries that are just focused on punitive enforcement.

FULL RIGHTS FOR ALL IMMIGRANTS NOW!

NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!