Bill to unite legal immigrants with kin

Removing the current restrictions on V-visa will help end years of family separation, writes CR Jayachandran.

An organised group of legal residents in the United States has urged the Congress to support a new bill which will help unite spouses and minor children of legal immigrants, even as the Bush administration is reportedly on the brink of passing an anti-immigration law that will empower the authorities to take draconian steps against anyone they think is an illegal alien.

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Unitefamilies.org want congressional representatives to support the bill HR 1823, proposed by two Democrats -- Sheila Jackson-Lee and Robert Andrews. The bill will amend provisions of the V-visa - a temporary, non-immigrant visa type - and will remove the current restrictions on that visa.

According to members of the Unitefamilies.org, "It is unfair and cruel to break up nuclear families. The bill will allow legal residents to unite with their immediate families and thereby end years of family separation."

		Proposed Non-Immigrant Visa Legislation Protect American Workers and American Jobs: Moved on July 28, 2003 by Senator Chris Dodd, it is aimed to amend H-1B and L-1 visa programs to prevent unintended US job losses   United States Workers Protection Act of 2004: Moved on Feb 24, 2004 by Rep. Rosa DeLauro to protect US workers from competition of foreign workforces   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent an employer from placing a non-immigrant who is an intra company transferee with another employer (H.R. 2154)   Save American Jobs Through L Visa Reform Act of 2004: Brought in May 20, 2004, to amend L-1 visas to eliminate the specialised knowledge basis (L-1B), it also wants to impose an annual cap of 35,000, and add a prevailing wage minimum (L-1A).   American Workforce Improvement and Jobs Protection Act: The most recent of the bills moved on April 2, 2004 by Rep. Lamar Smith has drawn large industry support. It aims to add 20,000 H-1B exemptions for graduate degree holders.

Many legal permanent residents (green card holders) are currently living in the United States, separated from their spouses and infant children. They are waiting for their I-130 petitions (petition for relative) to be approved. Statutory numerical limitations on available visas, coupled with immigration backlogs, causes waiting times of five years or more.

During this long wait, the foreign resident spouse and young children are not allowed to enter the United States, even for a brief visit.

The permanent residents, on the other hand, must reside predominantly in the United States and thus the web of US immigration laws ruthlessly separates married couples from each other and from young children.

The amendments will help in allowing foreign resident spouses and minor children of legal immigrants to enter the US temporarily while their I-130 petitions are pending with the Immigration department.

Acting on this bill will fulfil President Bush's promise that he made during his 2000 campaign: "If we are a nation that believes in family values, we need to help husbands and wives and children of permanent residents be allowed to visit while the INS is handling their paperwork."

Group members point out the contradiction that is in the current political atmosphere: the claims to promote family and moral values, yet having polices that break up families -- immediate families of law abiding, taxpaying legal immigrants.

"Our Immigration laws and procedures are very complicated and they even appear tough. However, divided families and forcefully separated couples talk of the ugly and inhumane side of our Immigration Laws," the members say.

"We seldom hear or think of the legal immigrants --those who became immigrants through legal procedures, those who never broke any law. Recent debates on the hill are intended to help illegal immigrants only. Congress ignores the suffering of taxpaying, law-abiding legal immigrants," they complain.

All types of temporary guest workers and even students are allowed to bring their spouses, children and even parents to the US without any delay. However, the same immigration law forces a taxpaying, legal immigrant to wait for a minimum of five years to be united with his/her foreign resident spouse and infant child.

"It is appalling that such contradictions within the law have so far escaped notice. It is time Washington lawmakers took a good look at the heartbreaking stories coming out from legal immigrants of this country," the members say.

Draconian Immigration Law

Meanwhile, Real ID act, a new law that will give the police power to arbitrarily stop anyone they consider to be suspicious and hold them indefinitely or even deport them, has already sailed through the House of Representatives, and according to reports it will soon get the clearance from the Senate.

According to reports, the act, if enacted, would give the Secretary of Homeland Security unlimited powers. "Immigrants will no longer be able to obtain driver's licenses or car insurance. Police can randomly stop an immigrant and ask him to prove his status and can arbitrarily detain him," media reports said.

The act will also tighten the bail process, making it exceedingly difficult for immigrants awaiting hearings on their court cases to be released on bail.