WASHINGTON — Hawai'i's congressional delegation is concerned about proposed changes to the family reunification program in the Senate immigration bill now being debated in the chamber.

Debate on the massive immigration bill will resume June 4 when Congress returns from its Memorial Day break.

Both of the state's two Democratic senators, Daniel K. Inouye and Dan Akaka, said they are closely following the debate and have not yet reached a final decision on whether to support the bill.

Democratic Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono also take issue with the family reunification provisions.

Despite that, Hirono said immigration is an issue that needs to be faced because the nation already has more than 12 million illegal immigrants.

"I'm for a fair, comprehensive immigration reform bill that would make the reunification of families a priority," she said. "I also would like for it to be reasonable and fair and have the kind of provisions that would strike people as being appropriate."

Some provisions in the bill aim to reduce emphasis in U.S. immigration law on family reunification as a means for legal migration and citizenship and base it more on a merit system where points are awarded for English proficiency, job skills and education.

Inouye said he has "serious concerns" about the bill, which would limit visa preference for relatives of U.S. citizens to spouses and minor children.

Inouye said most immigrants in Hawai'i follow the legal procedure to get into the U.S. and want to be reunited with their spouses, parents, siblings and children, "no matter if their children are adults or minors."

"Should we ignore the people who willingly follow the law or should we tell them to sneak in?" Inouye said. "Of course, we want to make it possible for legal immigrants who are U.S. citizens to bring in their parents, spouses, siblings and children. The success of any community, and any nation, is in family unity."

Akaka said he believes the bill has positives, such as tougher border security, better employment supervision and refined visa systems.

"But I have serious concerns about some of the bill's language, particularly those provisions which would curtail family-based immigration," he said. "I want to make sure this legislation supports our strongly held belief in the value of 'ohana by ensuring that, whenever possible, families are not separated by borders."

Abercrombie said family reunification has been the fundamental operating principle for U.S. immigration policy, but the bill would change all that.

"It would destroy that and turn it toward an entirely new direction to what would be economically advantageous to corporate interests," he said. "I call it the 'let's make Bill Gates richer' approach as opposed to 'let's try to reunify families as much as possible' approach."

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.