A review of proposed amendments to the Immigration Law turned into a gripe session on the treatment of immigrants yesterday.
The draft amendments to the existing Immigration Law (入出國及移民法) underwent preliminary review by the Home and Nations Committee of the Legislative Yuan yesterday, with some articles still yet to be discussed.
Ministry of the Interior officials said that the amendments included regulations for the media regarding immigration-related advertisements or commercials such as marriage agency advertisements.
However, legislators and civic groups, led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄), said that advertisements and commercials for marriage agencies should be banned altogether.
Shyu said that marriage should not be commercialized or else it would turn into human trafficking.
The inequality in the treatment of foreign spouses and laborers was also a focus of the review session. Currently, the Cross Strait Relations Act (兩岸關係條例) stipulates that the fingerprints of Chinese brides must be taken by customs.
People's First Party (PFP) Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) said that in order to be fair, all foreign brides or immigrants entering the country must undergo the same procedures.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-Ching (葉宜津) added that according to the existing immigration law, it takes longer for Chinese spouses to obtain citizenship.
"It takes eight years for Chinese spouses while other foreign spouses can obtain citizenship in four years," Yeh said. "Foreign spouses of all nationalities should receive the same standards of treatment."
The questions in the ministry's new naturalization exam, scheduled to start on Jan. 1, were also criticized for their level of difficulty.
The online sample exam questions included asking foreigners what the legal age for owning a pet in Taiwan was and whose speech was rewritten into the lyrics of the national anthem.
None of the officials present could answer the latter question.
A person must be 15 to own a pet in Taiwan. The lyrics to the national anthem -- originally the KMT party song -- come from a speech given by Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) at the opening of the Whampoa Military Academy in China in 1924.
Shyu also called for the incorporation of the domestic-violence prevention article in the amendments.
Many foreign spouses are victims of domestic violence and after divorcing their husbands, they are forced to return to their respective countries, Shyu said.
Shyu said that he hoped these victims would be allowed to remain and receive protection from the law.
The current amendments also stipulate that foreign spouses can enter and reside in the country only if they have sufficient economic ability.
Shyu said that economic status should not be a concern and that foreign spouses should be treated like any other immigrants.
The date for the second preliminary review session is still unknown, according to committee officials.
In a separate press conference held by Shyu, a civic group representative, law professor Bruce Liao (廖元豪), said that the government version of the immigration law only focuses on improving enforcement mechanisms, which implies that foreign spouses and laborers are "troublemakers."
"They [the new immigrants] are just like us. Their human rights should be respected, just like ours," Liao said.
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