These people were exploited which is terrible. That the nation that exploited them was still more desirable to them than their former home is also terrible. That all they got in return for being exploited was what they were initially promised but decades later is terrible
Everything presented here is terrible
That it happened is terrible. Ignoring the good that was done so that we can wallow in the bad is also terrible.
More than one thing can be true.
"Their promised benefits were not even brought to a vote until 2008, when most of the happy men I saw that day were dead."
55 years after the "promise."
The title of the article has the same tension with its content as
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_in_the_U.S.A._(song)#Them...
There's also a certain similarity to the reflex reactions to the title overwhelming the perception of the subject of the work.
It's easy to just roll over and say everything is terrible. That's what happened to the people in this story; nobody was willing to try and do the right thing. Then, someone did. It's important to acknowledge the evil, but it's also important to hold up the good and say "Do this. You can make a difference."
Don't roll over and accept the evil as inevitable. It's not.
Hawaii Senators Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka, along with Ted Kennedy were the driving forces for many of the provisions from 1990 to 2010 that sought justice for Filipino veterans. Rob Simmons (R-CT) pushed for the 2003 extension of VA benefits to Filipino vets. Jackie Speier (D-Bay Area) continues to introduce the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act which would extend that to more veterans every session but never advances. The Filipino Veterans Family Reunification bill once had a chance but now also stalls every session. Obama created a program in '16 to allow the family members to stay here while awaiting green card status but Trump ended the program last year.