Overview of US Immigration Policy

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Overview of US Immigration Policy
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US immigration law is complex, with many
different categories for different kinds of
people.
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How does a non-citizen legally enter the US?

• There are two distinct paths into the country
• Permanent (immigrant) As a lawful permanent
  resident (LPR), one receives a permanent resident
  card (a green card), is eligible to work, and
  may later apply for US citizenship.
• Temporary diplomats, tourists, temporary
  agricultural workers, students, intracompany
  business personnel. They are not eligible to get
  citizenship, may not work or work only for a
  particular place, and are required to leave the
  country when their visas expire.

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You are not allowed into the country if

• You are convicted of a felony.
• You have a history of drug abuse.
• You have a infectious disease (syphilis, HIV,
  tuberculosis).
• You may become a public charge.
• These characteristics are also grounds for
  deportation once you have come in.

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Some Statistics

• The US admits approximately 900,000 legal
  immigrants (permanent residents) every year
  (900,000 is .3 of the US population).
• The State Department issues 5 million visas
  authorizing temporary admission to the US.
• The criteria for admission for permanent
  residence is much more stringent than for
  temporary visitors.

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The goals of current immigration policy

• To reunite families by admitting immigrants who
  already have family members living in the US
• To admit workers in occupations with a strong
  demand for labor
• To provide a refuge for people who face the risk
  of political, racial, or religious persecution in
  their home countries
• To provide admission to people from a diverse set
  of countries

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Category 1 Immediate Relatives of US Citizens
(43 of total LPRs)

• Spouses and unmarried children (under 21 years)
  of US citizens
• Parents of US citizens aged 21 and older

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Category 2 Family-Sponsored Immigration (23)

• In order of preference
• 1) Unmarried sons and daughters (aged 21 and
  older) of US citizens
• 2) Spouses and unmarried children of lawful
  permanent residents
• 3) Married sons and daughters of US citizens
• 4) Brothers and sisters of US citizens aged 21
  and over

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Category 3 Employment-Based Immigrants (16)

• Up to 155,000 visas in 5 preference categories
• 1) Priority workers with extraordinary ability
  in the arts, athletics, business, education or
  science
• 2) Professionals with advanced degrees
• 3) Skilled and unskilled workers in occupations
  deemed to be experiencing shortages
• 4) Special immigrants such as ministers of
  religion
• 5) People willing to invest at least 1 million
  in a business that create at least 10 new jobs in
  the US.

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Category 4 Refugees and Asylum Seekers (8)

• Refugees and asylum seekers are persons who are
  outside the country and are unable or unwilling
  to return to that country because of a
  well-founded fear that they will be persecuted
  because of race, religion, nationality,
  membership in a particular social group, or
  political opinion. In 2007, President Bush
  authorized the admission of 70,000 refugees
  annually into the country (.02).

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Category 5 Diversity Immigrants (5)

• Up to 50,000 green cards are given away through a
  lottery system to promote immigration from those
  countries that are not currently the principal
  sources of immigration to the US. Applicants must
  have a high school diploma or equivalent or at
  least two years of training or experience in an
  occupation and are selected through a lottery.

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Top Sending Countries for LPRs

• Within all these categories, there are either
  regional (continental) or national caps on the
  numbers of LPRs.
• Top three source countries of LPRs are 1) Mexico,
  2) India 3) Philippines which together make up a
  third of all LPRs in the US.

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Some History of Immigration Law

• First law limiting immigration was in 1875 no
  criminals, prostitutes, or Chinese contract
  laborers
• After World War I, new restrictions
• Quota law in 1921 each nationality had a quota
  based on its representation in past US census
  figures, with immediate relatives of US citizens
  exempt from the quotas.

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Some History of Immigration Law

• The quota system was abolished in 1965 and
  replaced with categorical preferences for
  relatives of US citizens and LPRs and for
  immigrants with job skills deemed useful to the
  US. This system is largely still in place.
• Immigration Act of 1990 added a category of
  admission based on diversity (countries that were
  not historically sending countries to the US).

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Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), 1986

• Enhanced enforcement through sanctions on
  employers who knowingly hired or recruited
  unauthorized non-citizens.
• Two amnesty programs for unauthorized
  non-citizens to legalize their status Seasonal
  Agricultural Workers (who had worked for 90 days)
  and Legally Authorized Workers (who lived in the
  US since 1982).

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Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act, 1996

• Doubled the number of border patrols and approved
  a fence along the most used areas of the
  US-Mexico border
• Reduced government benefits available to
  immigrants. Legal immigrants lost benefits to
  food stamps and SSI illegal immigrants became
  ineligible for all government benefits except
  emergency medical care, immunization, and
  disaster relief
• Instituted program so that employers could verify
  electronically or by telephone a potential
  workers eligibility to work

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Becoming a US citizen Naturalization

• Any lawful permanent resident who has maintained
  a period of continuous residence and presence in
  the US for 3-5 years can apply for citizenship.
• He or she must have good moral character,
  knowledge of US history and government and the
  English language, and a willingness to support
  and defend the US and the Constitution.
• About 500,000 LPRs became citizens in 2004.

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Illegal Immigration

• An estimated 300,000 people come to the US
  illegally every year.
• Why are they here?
• How did they get here?

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Two Main Ways Into the Country for Illegal
Immigrants

• Entering the country without going through a
  checkpoint (at airport, port, or border crossing)
• Overstaying a temporary visa

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Why is there Illegal Immigration?

• What is Rob Parals answer to this question?

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Why is there Illegal Immigration?

• Pathways of legal immigration are slow and
  costly significant backlogs at USCIS. See
  handout, p. 3
• Non-citizens with LPR petitions are denied
  temporary admission to the US.
• Under the category of unskilled workers in
  shortage areas, there is a cap of only 10,000
  green cards annually.

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Illegal and Legal Immigrants are not so different
as they seem

• Illegal immigrants pursue legality through papers
  (drivers licenses, SS cards).
• Many of those who are illegal have children or
  spouses who are legal residents or citizens.
• Many illegal immigrants fall through the legal
  cracks in terms of paperwork.

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Everyone Agrees the System is Broken As is. But
What to Do to Fix It?

• Congress is currently debating more than a dozen
  proposals to alter or overhaul US immigration
  policy

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Current Proposed Legislation

• Enforcement
• Increased surveillance at the US-Mexico border
  through the National Guard and Border Patrol
• Construction of 700 miles of fence at the border
  (2100 miles long).

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The Proposed US-Mexico Border Fence
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US-Mexico Border at Nogales (Arizona and Sonora)
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The Unintended Consequences of this Approach

• It has not resulted in less movement across the
  border.
• Rather, movement happens in more deserted areas
  the crossing routes are more dangerous (more
  isolated) and more expensive in terms of
  smuggling fees.
• See handout, p. 4

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Current Proposed Legislation

• Employer and Employee Sanctions
• Raids on illegal workers, as in Fall 2006, who
  are then detained and deported.
• Sanctions (fines) or criminalization of employers
  or other people who give employment or other
  assistance to illegal workers.

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What does Peter Kwong consider to be the
unintended consequences of this approach?
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Current Proposed Legislation

• Legalization
• More legal routes of entry, whether a guestworker
  program or more green cards
• Amnesty programs allowing illegal immigrants a
  pathway to legalization, provided they pay a fine

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What does Peter Kwong consider to be some of the
unintended consequences of this approach?
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What does Kwong propose as a solution?

• What do you think of it? What are its pros and
  cons?

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Local Ordinances

• Because of the failure at the federal level to
  fix the problem, attempts have been made at the
  local and state level.
• Local ordinances to penalize employers and
  landlords who hire or rent to illegal immigrants
  Hazleton, PA and Riverside, NJ
• English-only provisions in 23 states.

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