The Fundamentals of Immigration Reform

In The American Prospect magazine¸Demetrios Papademetriou tackles some of the major challenges Congress must resolve if it is to create an immigration system in the national interest — now and for the future. The article, The Fundamentals of Immigration Reform, also provides an overview of the policies, politics and errors of omission and commission that have created the antiquated, inflexible immigration system that the United States has today. Among the failings: the “false promise” of family reunification for all but the closest relatives of U.S. citizens; five- to nine-year wait times for international students with advanced degrees to gain a green card; and the rise of illegal immigration, with the resulting flattening of wages for immigrant and native-born workers alike in low-wage sectors.

The article, which calls the current immigration reform frameworks advanced by a bipartisan group of senators and the White House “nothing short of audacious,” urges consideration of key fundamentals beyond those being publicly discussed, including:

Creating risk-management models to accompany the full implementation of an entry-exit system to detect visa overstays. Such models would, over time, supplement the visa judgments of U.S. consular officials and lead to better decisions about who should be admitted to the United States in an expedited way and which applications merit closer scrutiny.

Providing the integration services that assure the economic and social integration of newcomers and their children, perhaps funding these services in part through the fines that unauthorized immigrants eligible for legalization would have to pay or tapping the Earnings Suspense File in which Social Security withholdings that cannot be credited to valid Social Security numbers are kept. These could be used to create a fund that states would access to assist those awaiting legalization to meet the English proficiency and civics requirements contemplated under the legislative proposals.

Inclusion of flexible selection formulas to ensure that the various visa categories adjust to meet the nation’s strategic priorities.

Allowing the administration to propose changes to the immigration system regularly to address small problems before they become large ones. The changes would take effect unless Congress rejected such proposals.

KJ