Serrano Questions Homeland Security Chief About Humanitarian Visas

Washington, DC, March 2, 2005--This Wednesday, under questioning from Congressman Serrano, new Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that he wants “to emphasize” the streamlining of the humanitarian visa granting process.  The questions came during a hearing of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Serrano is a member.

The Homeland Security Department currently offers “Humanitarian Parole” to individuals with extraordinary humanitarian reasons for entering the United States, and who have exhausted regular avenues for acquiring a US visa.  In asking his question, Congressman Serrano alluded to two such cases when the Department of Homeland Security had offered humanitarian visas to constituents of his at his prodding: the case of the Ecuadorian mother of Byron Mantuano, Jr., a young boy hit by a car and currently in a coma, and whose mother had been refused a visa to come to States to be with him, and the case of José Orellana, dying of kidney-related complications, and whose sister Enma Patricia Orellana Flores had been denied a visa when she applied to travel to the United States from El Salvador to donate her kidney to him (she was a compatible donor).  While Serrano was successful in helping obtain humanitarian visas in these two cases, he said that the process was too restrictive.

“We've been very successful in my office in dealing with homeland security on the issue of humanitarian visas, people who come in for anything from a sister who wanted to help her brother with a kidney transplant to a mother to visit her son who was in a coma hit by a car in the Bronx,” said Serrano during the hearing.  “But the time in getting it done is somewhat disturbing. And I understand the need to secure the homeland. I'm just wondering, as I asked at another hearing prior, if there are mechanisms either in place or beginning to be put in place to make sure that we draw a distinct line between that person we want to keep out of the country and that person that we know needs to come here temporarily for a visit.”

In response, Chertoff said that he knew that while the United States needs to keep “bad people out,” it also needs to “bring good people in.”  The very act of letting such “good” people in, he suggested, “has a positive security implication,” in that it creates “goodwill ambassadors who go back and help us.  So we do have… an effort as part of our general program to streamline the process for people who want to be good visitors or do something humanitarian.  And I think I want to emphasize that as well as our security concerns.”

Serrano, clearly heartened by Chertoff’s response, said later that he hopes that this streamlining will make it easier for people in desperate need to enter the country if necessary.  “These visas are given to people whose families are really suffering, and it is important that in our effort to protect the homeland we not go overboard in preventing legitimate humanitarian visa requests from going through,” said Serrano.  “I hope the Secretary moves forward on his promise to emphasize the humanitarian as well as the security element in our visa processes.  It’s the right thing to do.”