News JOINT STATEMENT - STOP THE ELIMINATION OF FAMILY-REUNION IMMIGRATION CATEGORIES 5/23/07 80-20 Initiative, Inc. The U.S. Senate is in the midst of an unprecedented attack on the basic rights of American citizens with close family members overseas. Since 1965, the law has recognized the importance and integrity of families and has given citizens the right to sponsor a limited number of family members' immigration, in most cases after a lengthy waiting period. But the Senate is now discussing whether to strip American citizens of their ability to sponsor any child who has reached age 21, and whether to bar citizens from ever sponsoring their siblings. This proposal, which originated in the White House in March and was fleshed out in secretive negotiations by a small group of Republican and Democratic senators, would sacrifice the rights of millions of American citizens in order to reach an unprincipled political compromise on a deeply flawed immigration bill. Not only does the proposal seek to eliminate most of the existing categories of family reunification, it would unfairly do so retroactively by canceling sponsorship applications that American citizens have already filed and paid for over the past two years, since May 1, 2005. It would also introduce a lengthy waiting period for citizens sponsoring their own parents. As Americans who remember and respect our immigrant roots, we strenuously protest this ill-conceived proposal that utterly disregards the contributions that immigrant families have made to this country throughout its history. It makes a mockery of the family values that we cherish and uphold. Under the Senate proposal, the family-based categories in place for the last 42 years would largely be replaced by a point system that would award points for English fluency, education, and advanced technical skills. Its authors insist that this will allow America to attract top talent from around the world. But instead of attracting talent, the new system will cause our country to lose its unique advantage in the global market for highly skilled workers. Many countries, such as Canada, already have a point system. If we abandon America's enduring focus on family, fewer talented and educated people will want to come to or stay in a country that forces them to be separated from their family permanently. The point system has other major flaws: its focus on English fluency disproportionately rewards citizens of former British colonies, while penalizing those born in countries that avoided colonization. It represents a return to the racist national-origin quota system established in the 1920s, which sought to restrict immigration to citizens of a few select countries in Western Europe. The point system's intense focus on highly trained workers is also strongly reminiscent of the Chinese Exclusion Act's 1882 ban on immigration by anyone born in China other than ¡°merchants,¡± a barrier that lasted almost six decades and wasn't fully dismantled until the civil rights era. Now the modern immigration system established in 1965, which finally put immigrants from all countries on an equal footing, is under attack. It is the modern immigration system of the last four decades that has built the foundation of our Asian American community, a community that pays billions of dollars in taxes every year, founds and operates hundreds of thousands of businesses large and small, and employs millions of people across the country. Many of these businesses were started by pooling family financial resources and labor, and would not have been possible without the joint effort of several family members working together. Opponents of family sponsorship disingenuously argue that these immigrants are a drain on government resources. In fact, for over a decade the law has required that American citizens sponsoring a family member's immigration must sign a binding legal agreement to provide long-term financial support to their relative, and must prove that they have enough income and assets to uphold this obligation. Current law thus already carefully regulates and limits family immigration and ensures that there is adequate support available before a person can immigrate. American citizens deserve better than backroom deals that betray decades of pro-family policy. Asian Americans and other proud naturalized citizens have worked hard to make America a better place. We strongly urge legislators to abandon this effort to eliminate family immigration categories, and we will not forget those in Congress of either party who vote to deny Americans our cherished right to reunite with our families. We urge all Americans to voice your strong objections to this inhumane, unjust, and anti-family proposal and its devastating consequences, and to act for the betterment of American families and our country itself by immediately contacting the Senators.
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