By ERICA WERNER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- If America is a nation of immigrants, it's also a nation of
immigrants' husbands, wives, parents and children - and their brothers,
sisters, nieces and nephews too.
That could
begin to change under legislation being written in the Senate, where the
nation's longstanding emphasis on family-based immigration is coming
under scrutiny.
Unlike most other
industrialized nations, the U.S. awards a much larger proportion of
green cards to family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents
than to foreigners with job prospects here. About two-thirds of
permanent legal immigration to the U.S. is family-based, compared with
about 15 percent that is employment-based, according to the Migration
Policy Institute. The remainder is largely humanitarian.
It's
a lopsided ratio that may change under a bill being crafted by a Senate
bipartisan negotiating group that is aiming to release legislation next
month.
Several senators involved in the talks
said employment-based immigration must increase to help American
competitiveness and the U.S. economy. High-tech companies have been
pleading for more workers, and some Republicans, in particular, believe
the educational backgrounds and employment potential of prospective
immigrants should be a bigger part of the calculus in awarding green
cards, the permanent resident visas that are the key step toward
citizenship.
"In the 21st century, more of our
immigration needs to be based on merit and skill," said Sen. Marco
Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the "Gang of Eight" senators negotiating an
immigration bill.
The senators' proposals are
still evolving and details remain unclear. For advocates of family-based
immigration, the key question has become whether the increased focus on
employment-based immigration will come in addition to the family-based
system - or to its detriment.
"Family unity
has been the cornerstone of our immigration system for decades and
should remain so," said Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy at
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "We're concerned that the
family-based system is vulnerable and that visas could be taken away or
categories could be eliminated, and we would strongly oppose that."
Under
current law, U.S. citizens can petition to bring their spouses, parents
and minor unmarried children into the country without any limit on the
number coming in. There are caps on all other categories, including
petitions for citizens' adult or married children, citizens' brothers
and sisters and their children and the immediate family members of legal
permanent residents. The law also caps the percentage of immigrants
that can come from any one country in a year.
These
limitations have led to a backlog of more than 4 million family members
of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who must wait in their home
countries for years before coming to the U.S. Filipinos in the sibling
category can face waits of more than 20 years before they can join
family here, advocates said.
Maricris Arce,
43, a native of the Philippines who now lives in Anaheim, Calif., said
she was separated from her husband for five years after coming legally
to the U.S., and he wasn't present for the birth of their first child.
"I think they need to change that law," Arce said. "Let them come faster and easier so the family will be united."
President
Barack Obama and the Senate negotiators have committed to reducing the
existing backlog of people waiting for family visas, and this would
probably happen by adding visas to speed the process. The bill would
also probably raise the country cap that limits any one country to 7
percent of total immigrants per year, probably to 15 percent.
Those
changes are good news for advocates of family immigration, who are also
encouraged by Obama's longstanding commitment to family unification and
pledges by Democrats in the negotiating group, including Sen. Robert
Menendez, D-N.J., to safeguard the family system. Obama, who's said
citizens shouldn't have to wait years to be reunited with family, is
preparing his own immigration bill to unveil if the Senate process
stalls.
The more contentious decisions will
surround whether any of the current family categories - such as sibling -
is reduced or eliminated. Lawmakers have made such attempts in the
past, arguing that a focus on immediate family members is more
appropriate. Such changes could mean that people who once would have
eventually been eligible for U.S. citizenship wouldn't have that
opportunity.
It also remains to be seen
whether lawmakers choose to make more green cards available overall, as
advocates want, or shift visas from the family category to boost
employment categories. Another question is how quickly illegal
immigrants who would be put on a path to citizenship by the new bill
could petition to reunite with family members.
Advocates
say senators could end up crafting a hybrid system that weights family
ties in addition to work skills, something Rubio suggested could happen.
"We're
still going to have a family-based part of it. I believe that having
family in the U.S. is one of the indicators of success," said Rubio,
who's talked about his own family members from Cuba coming to the U.S.
through the family immigration system. "It's just some of the folks that
are coming on family-based will be able to come on the skill-based as
well. They're not mutually exclusive."
Depending
on how it's crafted, any new system could become an unexpected
flashpoint in the immigration debate. In the last round of immigration
negotiations in 2007, the Catholic Church ended up opposing action on
the bill in part because of discomfort with a proposal that replaced the
family-based system with one that awarded points based on job skills,
English ability, education and family ties in handing out visas. It's
possible that some aspects of that approach may be adopted this time as
well, according to a Senate aide.
Senators say
they'll attempt to strike a balance, but some fear that in the end,
more job-based immigration could come at the expense of family members
overseas.
"We're going to expedite some of the
family stuff initially, but over time it's got to be more merit-based,"
said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., one of the Senate negotiators.
© 2013 The Associated Press modified.
