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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Case says he'll need help to loosen visa controls

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i congressman Ed Case said yesterday that he will need allies in the House to counter official homeland security opposition to a proposed loosening of immigration restrictions in certain humanitarian cases.

Case
Case last week reintroduced a measure known as the Compassionate Visitor Visa Act, which proposes easier visa issuance in "urgent and compelling circumstances" such as organ donations, terminal illness and death.

Case, who had introduced a similar measure in 2003, cited a Feb. 13 Advertiser story that highlighted the case of Philippines citizen Glenn Guerrero, who has been denied a temporary visa. He was turned down despite being a near-perfect match as a kidney donor for his father, Francisco Guerrero, a Honolulu resident who has been a dialysis patient for six years.

It was only the latest example of the petitions his office has received from U.S. citizens whose family members were denied nonimmigrant visas to donate an organ to a family member, attend a funeral or visit a terminally ill relative, Case said.

Consulate officials say Glenn Guerrero has not demonstrated intent to return to his country after helping his father. Case, a Democrat, said yesterday the Department of Homeland Security has "raised the bar" for proving that intent, adding that the Philippines ranked among the countries with higher rates of "default" — nonimmigrants who remain in the country beyond the terms of their visas.

"The Department of Homeland Security is justifiably concerned about pure homeland security," he said. "They believe there is no exception in the law."

To get the bill passed, he said, officials will need to be convinced that it benefits U.S. citizens in dire need, and that the benefit justifies taking a risk on a nonimmigrant visa.

"I think it's going to be a 'wear them down' effort. ... You need to take a bigger chance when it's the life of a U.S. citizen that's involved," Case said. "I'm willing to accept that we will have a default rate, in those circumstances."

The bill would apply only to an applicant whose close family member has a serious illness, has died, or "faces some other family emergency that can be verified to the satisfaction of overseas consular officers," Case said.

Tony Sagayadoro, is a former dialysis patient and organ recipient who now coordinates a patient education program at St. Francis Medical Center's organ transplant center. Making transplants possible in these cases clearly will save lives, Sagayadoro said, but many fail to understand that it also will save taxpayer money. Dialysis patients have their treatments covered by Medicaid for indefinite periods, while federal coverage of transplant procedures and medication is more limited, he said.

"This is a win-win situation for us Americans," he said. "The more people we transplant, people will get off dialysis, then after three years they're on their own for coverage."

He acknowledged the uphill battle Case faces in getting the bill passed but added that he remains hopeful.

"I think it could be a long haul, but the main thing is something is being done," Sagayadoro said.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.