In late January, Legislative Yuan member Apollo Chen held a press conference to plead the case for giving permanent residency rights to Doris Brougham and other foreigners who long ago put down roots in Taiwan. Both ruling and opposition parties agreed that the issue was worthy of prompt attention, and later President Chen Shui-bian and interior minister Yu Cheng-hsien also publicly expressed their support.
一月下旬，立法委員陳學聖舉行一場名為「我深愛台灣」的記者會，為彭蒙惠等早已在台落地生根的外僑請命，爭取永久居留權，獲得朝野政黨高度重視，爾後陳水扁總統與內政部長余政憲也公開表示支持。