Foreigners are expressing concerns about a bill pending in the Diet that includes a provision allowing for their permanent resident status to be revoked if they fail to pay taxes or social welfare premiums.
The proposal popped up in a highly publicized bill to revise the immigration law focused on the system to replace the heavily criticized technical intern training program.
The bill passed the Lower House plenary session on May 21 and now goes to the Upper House, where it is expected to pass and become law.
The proposed change would allow the government to rescind permanent resident status for foreigners who deliberately fail to pay their personal or social welfare taxes or commit serious crimes, such as breaking and entering or assault.
At a meeting held in the Diet in late April, a Filipina who has lived in Japan for about 30 years voiced her concerns about having her permanent resident status revoked.
She obtained the status after marrying a Japanese, but the couple later divorced. She raised her children working as a maid at hotels, but her health deteriorated from a few years ago and she can no longer work.
She is currently exempted from paying taxes, but said at the meeting, “There are many people I know who are concerned.”
Supporters of the woman said there were many Filipino women in Japan who were facing financial difficulties after leaving Japanese husbands who physically abused them or were trying to escape from poverty.
Elin McCready, a linguistics professor at Tokyo’s Aoyama Gakuin University, is another permanent resident concerned about her future.
Born in the United States, McCready came to Japan in 1994 as a student and has spent most of her time since in Japan. She obtained permanent resident status about 10 years ago.
In the past, she enthusiastically told researchers she met abroad about the high level of the research environment in Japan and the ease of living here.
But she can no longer make such recommendations due mainly to her experience during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
She traveled to Europe to give lectures, but when the central government enforced entry restrictions, she found herself unable to return to Japan even though she had permanent resident status. As a result, she missed the start of the school year in April.
McCready feels the latest proposed change is a sign that the government only cares about those holding a Japanese passport.
“While the government says it wants to become a nation that is chosen by foreign workers, (the proposal) will have the opposite effect,” she said. “It will do away with the efforts being made in recent years to open the nation to the outside world. There may come a time in the not-too-distant future when the Japanese people will ask, ‘What has the government done?’”
PETITION PROTESTING CHANGE
On May 15, members of the Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (Ijuren) met with officials of the Immigration Services Agency and handed a petition signed by 40,947 individuals opposed to the provision.
Ippei Torii, the Ijuren head, said the move to rescind permanent resident status is in no way connected to the effort to expand acceptance of foreign workers.
During Diet deliberations, government officials have said the new provision will not apply to those with illnesses or face a loss of income. Those whose permanent resident status is revoked will be given long-term resident status instead.
Yuki Maruyama, a lawyer who belongs to Ijuren, said permanent resident status has a much higher social trust than long-term resident status and foreigners who have their permanent resident status revoked might find it more difficult to obtain housing or other loans.
Those with long-term resident status must also apply for extension of the visa, unlike permanent resident status, and there is always the possibility of an extension not being granted, she said.
PROPOSAL FLEW UNDER RADAR
Diet deliberations also focused on how the provision to revoke permanent resident status made it into the legislation in the first place.
A panel of experts met on 16 occasions over a one-year period to hammer out the wording for the new visa status to replace the technical intern training program.
During those discussions, no mention was made of revoking permanent resident status for foreigners who failed to pay their taxes or broke certain laws.
During Diet deliberations, government officials said a number of local governments submitted reports about foreigners with permanent resident status who were not paying taxes.
Those officials said local government officials called for an assessment of tax payment even after a foreigner was granted permanent resident status.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi said in the Diet if nothing was done about those with permanent resident status who were delinquent in paying taxes, that might lead to feelings of unfairness or trigger inappropriate prejudice toward all permanent residents.
But when asked about any study of the extent to which permanent residents were not paying taxes or social welfare premiums, Koizumi said it was difficult to conduct such an examination of all permanent residents.
The only evidence offered covered applications by children of permanent residents who were seeking permanent resident status for themselves.
Between January and June 2023, applications were assessed for 1,825 individuals and the parents of 235 applicants were found to have been delinquent in their tax or premium payments.
Opposition lawmakers from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Japanese Communist Party suggested that the government take similar measures to those against Japanese delinquent taxpayers, such as seizing assets, rather than revoking permanent resident status.
Maruyama pointed out that revoking the status was a much harsher penalty against permanent residents than those facing Japanese who fail to pay taxes.
“Such measures could end up increasing prejudice and discrimination against foreigners,” she said.
by Wild_Ebb5097
