Sheila Jackson Lee’s Bill on Family Immigration Reform

Mrinalini Reddy reports:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/authorprofile.aspx?id=298

WASHINGTON – A broad reform bill that would double the annual number of family-based immigrant visas would actually help reduce the number of undocumented workers, supporters told a House committee Thursday. But foes quickly responded that it is another attempt to provide amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Introduced in January by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, the Save American Comprehensive Immigration Act covers a broad range of issues, including adding border patrol agents in areas of crisis, creating a detention program to protect children of detainees and other vulnerable populations and increased vigilance of American sex offenders who sponsor a spouse or child for a family-based visa.

But one provision that drew particular attention was a proposal to set clearer, less stringent guidelines for waivers that allow family members who had been in the U.S. illegally to avoid long waits to get green cards.

Charles Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, supported the bill, saying the current waiver program actually serves to increase the number of undocumented workers.

Current law requires immigrants applying for permanent residency to complete the application process at a consular office outside the U.S. If it is determined that the applicant had been in the U.S. illegally, a wait time is imposed. People who have been unlawfully present in the country for more than 180 days are barred from re-entry for three years, while those in the U.S. illegally for more than a year must wait 10 years in their home countries, Kuck explained.

“This law has created the perfect catch-22 for immigrants for unlawful presence,” said Kuck. “The three- and 10-year bans encourage people to remain in the U.S. unlawfully notwithstanding that immigrant visas have been approved for them and visa numbers are available.”

Waivers that would ignore the wait times are available, but decisions on waiver applications are made arbitrarily, he said. Jackson Lee’s bill would expand and clarify the considerations to grant waivers to assure family unity, he added.

The bill also aims to ensure that detention facilities are adequately maintained by requiring the Office of Civil Rights and Liberties to monitor all facilities used to hold undocumented detainees for more than 72 hours. This is a much-needed change, said Christopher Nugent, an immigration attorney at the Washington law firm Holland and Knight, following recent findings that attested to poor conditions for immigration detainees.

Nugent also argued in favor of another provision that would create a detention program in conjunction with reputable nonprofit groups to prioritize the release of the most vulnerable populations in custody such as undocumented parents with children who are willing to comply with removal orders.

But Julie Kirchner, executive director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said that the bill’s provisions essentially amount to amnesty, making it easy to legalize millions of undocumented workers.

FAIR supports the reunification of nuclear families through family-based visas that allow U.S. citizens to sponsor only immediate family members, but not extended family members, Kirchner said.

She urged committee members to reject the bill, saying it would send a message that the U.S. does not care about its enforcement of immigration laws. It also would increase “chain migration” where extended family members enter the country and then petition for the entry of their extended family members, she said.

“As our population grows, our ability to accommodate it becomes increasingly stretched,” Kirchner said. “Rapid increases in population make it hard for urban centers to keep up with growth by adding infrastructure. One of the largest contributors to urban growth is immigration.”

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