Immigration Reform
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THE ROAD AHEAD |
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posted 26 May 2007 |
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COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL |
The Grand
Faustian Bargain
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Rodel E. Rodis
It was hailed by its negotiators as the "Grand Bargain"
but it is a Faustian one at best. In exchange for
providing some temporary relief to the estimated 12
million illegal aliens in the US, the White House and
members of the US Senate agreed to an immigration reform
bill that would permanently eliminate family preference
visas and replace it with a “merit-based” point system
that may bar most temporary workers from adjusting their
status to permanent residence.
Their avowed goal was to fix the broken immigration
system by “balancing the needs of families, employers,
our economy, and our national security to make legality
the norm in our country.” Instead they produced what the
American Immigration Lawyers Association calls “a
cobbling of compromises" which may be cobbled by more
compromises in the Senate and later in the House.
FAMILY PREFERENCES ELIMINATED
Under the proposed bill, US citizens would no longer be
allowed to petition their adult unmarried children (1st
preference). They would also be barred from petitioning
their married children (3rd) and their siblings (4th),
and, for the first time, their petition for their
parents would be subject to numerical limitations
(40,000 a year). Immigrants would no longer be able to
petition their adult unmarried children (2nd preference)
and petitioning their spouses and minor children would
be subject to a worldwide total quota of 87,000 a year.
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This bill will directly impact the Filipino American
community at both ends of the bargain.
Under current immigration law, each country is allotted
a maximum of 20,000 immigrant visas a year, divided
equally among 5 family preference visas.
For the
Philippines, the 3rd preference (married children of US
citizens) has a current priority date of January 1,
1985.
As there are 4,000 visas for this category
annually, the 22 year wait means that there are 88,000
(22 X 4,000) already in line waiting for their priority
dates to be current for their visas to be issued.
As the
spouse and minor children of the petitioned married
son/daughter are derivative beneficiaries of this
petition, the 88,000 would actually mean an average of
200,000.
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Apparently, the objective of the proponents of
immigration reform is to obtain the broadest
support across political lines for the
legislation. |
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IMMIGRANTS IN WAITING
The 4th preference (siblings of US citizens) also has a
priority date of January 1, 1985. For similar reasons,
there are also 200,000 Filipinos in this category with
approved visas awaiting their priority dates. Together
with another 60,000 on the waiting list in the 1st
preference (unmarried adult children of US citizens),
another 20,000 in the 2nd preference A (spouses and
minor children of immigrants), and 44,000 in the 2nd
preference B (adult unmarried children of immigrants,
the total of Filipino immigrants-in-waiting in the
Philippines is over 500,000.
The proposed bill would not eliminate those already in
line except for those visa petitions filed after May 1,
2005, an arbitrary cut-off date. The good news for those
who filed their petitions before this date is that their
relatives would no longer have to wait for as long as 22
years as the bill will allot 440,000 visas a year to
clearing the backlog of the family-based categories, a
process that is estimated to take 8 years to complete.
On the other end of the bargain, it is estimated that
there are anywhere from 500,000 to one million Filipinos
in the US who are out of status (TNTs), living in the
shadows (tago ng tago) in marginalized existence, many
on subsistence wages, and always dreading with fear (takot
na takot) the day when Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) agents will come to incarcerate and
deport them.
Z NONIMMIGRANT VISAS
Title VI of this bill will create a new four year
renewable “Z” nonimmigrant visa for those living in the
US illegally who entered the country before January 1,
2007. To obtain the probationary Z visa, the aliens
would be required to remain employed, maintain a clean
criminal record, submit biometric fingerprints, and be
cleared by one-day background checks, and pay an initial
fee of $1000. Anyone who committed a crime would be
ineligible for this visa.
For the Z nonimmigrant to obtain an immigrant visa and a
path to citizenship, he or she will have to satisfy
certain merit requirements and file the application for
adjustment of status in the alien’s country of origin
and pay a penalty fee of $4,000. But he can only do so
after the backlog of family-based visas has been
completed for that alien’s home country.
For Z visa holders from the Philippines, where it will
take at least 8 years to clear the family backlog, the
earliest that a Z applicant can apply a for a visa is 8
years. The Z applicant must have an employer, a high
merit point, who will be willing to wait the year or two
that the applicant will have to wait in the Philippines
for the visa to be processed. Some employers may not be
able to wait that long to hold a vacant position.
TRIGGERS BEFORE Z VISAS
After obtaining an immigrant visa, the Z immigrant will
not be able to petition his or her parents, siblings or
adult children even after obtaining US citizenship five
years after acquiring the immigrant visa. But before the
Z visas can be issued, certain “triggers” have to first
occur which include hiring an additional 18,000 border
patrol agents, building 370 miles of fencing and
erecting 70 ground-based radar and camera towers along
the southern border, a process that could take years.
The bill will also stiffen laws and penalties relating
to employers who hire illegal aliens, requiring all
employers to electronically verify employees, including
new hires and current employees.
The proposed bill faces stiff opposition in the House
from Republicans opposed to any bill that would provide
“amnesty” to illegal aliens. To pass the House, certain
concessions may be made that could eviscerate the bill.
House Republicans need to be convinced, like Pres.
George W. Bush, that it would be impossible to deport 12
million illegals from the US and that keeping them in
the shadows is not in the interests of US national
security.
For the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who pray day
and night for a law that would allow them the
opportunity to work legally, to obtain a drivers
license, and potentially to obtain a green card, this
bill is the best opportunity in years to reach that
goal. If it doesn’t pass this year, it will take years
before a similar opportunity comes along again, if ever.
CALL 1-800-417-7666
Because the Filipino community in the US will be greatly
impacted by this bill, we have to make our voices heard
on this issue. Please call your senators today and tell
them how important family-based immigration is to you.
When you dial 1-800-417-7666, you will be automatically
connected to the senators representing the phone
number/area code you are using. Please let them know
that you and your family benefited from family
reunification and that you want them to embrace family
values and oppose the elimination of the family-based
preferences.
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RODEL E. RODIS
is an immigration attorney and an elected trustee of the San Francisco Community College Board. He can be contacted at the Rodel Rodis Law Offices at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call (415) 334-7800.
Send queries or comments to Rodel50 @ aol.com. |
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