To a large extent, the backlog in visa numbers for Spouses and children under 21 of Green Card holders has been eliminated. Currently, the wait time is less than one year for Indian nationals. Permanent Residents interested in sponsoring spouses for a Green Card are advised to do so as soon as possible.
Senators Schumer and Graham have prepared an outline for immigration reform that offers a fair, bi-partisan approach to fixing our immigration policy. It focuses on cracking down on illegal immigration while providing more opportunities for highly trained professionals and hard-working immigrants to come to America and contribute to our society and our economy. I believe we can get this one through Congress, unlike previous failed attempts to pass reform bills. An article from today’s Washington Post is attached.
The right way to mend immigration
The Washington Post
By Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey O. Graham
Friday, March 19, 2010
Our immigration system is badly broken. Although our borders have become far more secure in recent years, too many people seeking illegal entry get through. We have no way to track whether the millions who enter the United States on valid visas each year leave when they are supposed to. And employers are burdened by a complicated system for verifying workers’ immigration status.
Last week we met with President Obama to discuss our draft framework for action on immigration. We expressed our belief that America’s security and economic well-being depend on enacting sensible immigration policies.
The answer is simple: Americans overwhelmingly oppose illegal immigration and support legal immigration. Throughout our history, immigrants have contributed to making this country more vibrant and economically dynamic. Once it is clear that in 20 years our nation will not again confront the specter of another 11 million people coming here illegally, Americans will embrace more welcoming immigration policies.
Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here.
Besides border security, ending illegal immigration will also require an effective employment verification system that holds employers accountable for hiring illegal workers. A tamper-proof ID system would dramatically decrease illegal immigration, experts have said, and would reduce the government revenue lost when employers and workers here illegally fail to pay taxes.
We would require all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs to obtain a high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card. Each card’s unique biometric identifier would be stored only on the card; no government database would house everyone’s information. The cards would not contain any private information, medical information, nor tracking devices. The card will be a high-tech version of the Social Security card that citizens already have.
Prospective employers would be responsible for swiping the cards through a machine to confirm a person’s identity and immigration status. Employers who refused to swipe the card or who otherwise knowingly hired unauthorized workers would face stiff fines and, for repeat offenses, prison sentences.
We propose a zero-tolerance policy for gang members, smugglers, terrorists and those who commit other felonies after coming here illegally. We would bolster recent efforts to secure our borders by increasing the Border Patrol’s staffing and funding for infrastructure and technology. More personnel would be deployed to the border immediately to fill gaps in apprehension capabilities.
Other steps include expanding domestic enforcement to better apprehend and deport those who commit crimes and completing an entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases.
Ending illegal immigration, however, cannot be the sole objective of reform. Developing a rational legal immigration system is essential to ensuring America’s future economic prosperity.
Ensuring economic prosperity requires attracting the world’s best and brightest. Our legislation would award green cards to immigrants who receive a PhD or master’s degree in science, technology, engineering or math from a U.S. university. It makes no sense to educate the world’s future inventors and entrepreneurs and then force them to leave when they are able to contribute to our economy.
Our blueprint also creates a rational system for admitting lower-skilled workers. Our current system prohibits lower-skilled immigrants from coming here to earn money and then returning home. Our framework would facilitate this desired circular migration by allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can show they were unsuccessful in recruiting an American to fill an open position; allowing more lower-skilled immigrants to come here when our economy is creating jobs and fewer in a recession; and permitting workers who have succeeded in the workplace, and contributed to their communities over many years, the chance to earn a green card.
For the 11 million immigrants already in this country illegally, we would provide a tough but fair path forward. They would be required to admit they broke the law and to pay their debt to society by performing community service and paying fines and back taxes. These people would be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English before going to the back of the line of prospective immigrants to earn the opportunity to work toward lawful permanent residence.
The American people deserve more than empty rhetoric and impractical calls for mass deportation. We urge the public and our colleagues to join our bipartisan efforts in enacting these reforms.
Charles E. Schumer is a Democratic senator from New York. Lindsey O. Graham is a Republican senator from South Carolina.
By Kamana Mathur, Esq.
MathurLaw LLC
Given the current recession, immigration reform has taken a back seat to bailout plans, energy independence, the war in the Middle East, and practically everything else. With the increasing number of jobless Americans, how can we as a nation justify immigrant-friendly policies? Immigration has always been a subject of heated debate. We have accused immigrants of taking away American jobs, increasing crime, and fundamentally changing our way of life. Economists have long argued the opposite – that immigrants by taking jobs U.S. workers are unwilling or unable to do, make us a more productive and competitive nation. Immigrants come here to make a life for themselves and their families. They work hard, pay taxes, and try to fit in.
The bottom line at a time of high-unemployment is this: does immigration help or hurt America and Americans? Some interesting studies, one most recently done by Kerr and Lincoln at the Harvard Business School, indicate a strong correlation between immigration and the number of patents filed in the U.S. The link could be attributed to the fact that individuals who are willing to take the risk of leaving their known surroundings to immigrate to the U.S. tend to be more innovative in thinking and more entrepreneurial in spirit. They are more likely to find innovative problems-solving solutions and take the risk of starting a new enterprise in an effort to attain the “American dream.” A spinoff effect is that those who work, play, or study with them tend to become more innovative in thinking as well.
Pittsburgh has a long history of immigration. During the early 1900’s, a large number of German, Polish, and other workers were brought here to work in the coal mines. With the decline of the steel industry, workers lost their jobs but stayed here in Pittsburgh.
Currently, with the “reinvention” of Pittsburgh as a high-tech haven and medical super-center, it is attracting another type of immigrant – a highly educated, professional worker in the engineering, high-tech, or medical field. Although Hispanics constitute the largest immigrant group in the U.S., Pittsburgh is home to more Indian immigrants that any other nationality. But with job losses across the board, it is not surprising that employment-based immigration to the U.S. has started to decline, and this trend is likely to continue.
Congress is burdening taxpayers with the costs of bailing out industries in order to stave off even more job losses. But why not use immigrants to bail out the economy? We already provide E2 visas to those individuals from select countries who are willing to start or invest in a business in the U.S. Why not expand the program to individuals from more countries? A little-known visa category, the EB-5, qualifies foreign investors for a Green Card if they are willing to invest at least $500,000 in a “targeted employment area” and create at least 10 jobs. Pittsburgh is one such area. We would do well to seek out such investors, individuals who could not only create jobs and invest in our growth, but who would make Pittsburgh a more attractive place for the young and talented.
America is undoubtedly one of the most desirable places to live in the world. Here, we can still reap the benefits of hard work and enterprise, express our opinions freely, and live wherever we choose. We should consider taking steps to attract the many well-qualified, hardworking, and talented people from all over the world who would like to live, work, and invest in our country. It is time the Obama Administration take a close look at our immigration policies and make it easier for foreign investors to come to the U.S., start businesses, create jobs, and help rebuild our nation
This blog provides news and views on U.S. Immigration Law and Policy. It discusses recent developments in Immigration Law and invites user comments and questions. The Blog will be updated and Attorney Kamana Mathur will respond to questions on a weekly basis.
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