The veterans have in some cases had to wait two decades to bring their children to join them from the Philippines. Annual limits on the number who can immigrate from the country has created a long backlog.

Exacerbating the frustration for the veterans is that the children of veterans from other countries who fought alongside U.S. troops are given a waiver from the limits and can immigrate more immediately.

An amendment by Sen. Mazie Hirono, added as the committee continued to make its way through an all-day hearing that was expected into the night, provides the waiver for the children of Filipino veterans.

“Many of the veterans have had to live their golden years apart from their children,” Hirono said at the hearing.

In a statement after the vote, Hirono said, “Our nation can never fully repay the debt we owe the Filipino World War II veterans who bravely served and sacrificed alongside Americans in the critical South West Pacific Theatre.

“The brave servicemen who are still with us, now in their 80s and 90s, should not have to wait any longer in order to be reunited with their children,” she said.

— Kery Murakami