Ellison Introduces Bill to Grant Legal Residents Access to Family Member Care

Press Release

Today Congressman Keith Ellison (DFL-Minneapolis) introduced a bill to allow citizens and legal residents to receive care from relatives who are not residents, when they are sick. Non-citizen family members are typically denied visas to provide such care. Ellison's bill is an integral piece of the discussions in Congress surrounding comprehensive immigration reform.

Congressman Ellison and his staff identified a significant gap in current immigration law relating to visa applications for 5th District constituents who were attempting to secure family support during times of serious illness. Currently, the government assumes that people applying for a visa for entry into the U.S. are going to overstay and violate the terms of their visa. Ellison's bill allows for an exemption in this standard for those coming to the U.S. temporarily to take care of sick family members, who are legal residents, while they recuperate.

"People who are sick should not have to fight the Federal government to allow their family members to visit and take care of them," Ellison said. "This gap in the law is just one symptom of our broken immigration system. This bill is a compassionate response to that problem and one that starts with caring for families."

One of the core functions of a Congressional office is to assist constituents with federal agencies. Helping veterans access federal benefits, expediting passport issuance problems, and visa requests are among the services generally referred to as casework.

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