Senate Immigration Reform Bill Survives Fierce Debate

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to cut off the debate on the Senate  immigration reform bill (S. 1348), so the full Senate can proceed to vote on the most sweeping change in years.

But Senate Republican leaders said that rushing the vote could doom the passage of the bill.

The Senate  proposal has so far survived fierce debates after Republicans attempted to whittle away provisions that would enable 12 million undocumented immigrants legalize their status. Last Tuesday the Senate defeated a proposal that would have made it difficult for  undocumented workers to ever obtain permanent residence.

The bill also barely dodged efforts from conservatives to eliminate the guest worker program by conceding a reduction of the annual number of guest worker (Y) visas from 400,000 to 200,000.

If passed into law, the overhaul of the broken immigration system comes at a great price. While the bill proposal seeks to remove the decades-long backlog, certain family immigration categories will be drastically reduced in favor of a system that allows entry on the basis of education and skill.

Legalization

The bill seeks to address what is perhaps the most contentious aspect of immigration reform”what to do with the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US today.

S. 1348 will allow persons who have been unlawfully present in the US on or before January 1, 2007 to apply for a Z visa after passing rigorous background checks and payment of fines and fees.

Under the Z visa program, the undocumented are initially granted probationary benefits after passing background checks. They may be allowed to apply for a Z visa after border security and workplace enforcement measures in the proposed law are already implemented. Legislators project that these security trigger events could take about 2 years.

The Z visa holder can eventually apply for a green card but must pay hefty fines and fees, amounting to $5,000.00 and the head of family would be required to return home at some point. Their green card applications will only be processed after the backlog has been cleared up. The bill’s proposed increase in the annual visa quota is expected to clear up the backlog after eight years yet.
Removal of family visa categories

The most drastic change found in the immigration reform proposal is the elimination of four of the current family preferences, such as brothers and sisters and adult and married children of US citizens.

Under the present system, there are two basic categories of family relationships that qualify for family-sponsored immigration, namely: (a) immediate relatives and (b) preference immigrants.

Immediate relatives include: (1)  spouses of US citizens; (2) unmarried children (below 21) of US citizens; (3) parents of US citizens (provided the petitioner is over 21); and (4) spouses of deceased US citizens who were married at least  2 years at the time of the US citizen spouse’s death, under certain conditions.

Preference immigrants include the following: (1) F-1 (or first preference) are unmarried adult children of US citizens; (2) F-2A  (second preference-A) are spouses or children of green card holders; (3) F-2B (second preference-B) are unmarried children of green card holders; (4) F-3 (third preference) are married children of US citizens; and (5) F-4 (fourth preference) are the siblings of US citizens provided the petitioner is at least 21 years old.

The proposed bill applies new limits to U.S. citizens seeking to bring foreign-born parents into the country. Visas for parents of U.S. citizens would be subject to the annual limit of 40,000 while those for spouses and children will have an annual cap of 87,000, according to reports from the Associated Press.

On the other hand, the reduction of family-sponsored immigration is replaced by greater emphasis on employment-based immigration. A merit system based on education and skills will be used to determine whether a foreign worker qualifies for employer sponsorship.

Filipinos must join with other groups in campaigning for the retention of all the family preferences. We should reform our broken system but not at the expense of our value of family unity.