Tag: RAISE Act

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Why the Immigration Innovation (I-Squared) Act Must Be Passed Into Law

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One of the controversial immigration proposals released last week by the Trump Administration is the reduction of the family based immigration and the proposal for a merit based system of immigration instead of the current employment based immigration preferences. Most of the proposals contained in the legal framework are contained in the RAISE Act and SECURE Act which are bills introduced by Republican lawmakers. But there is also a new bill, Immigration Innovation Act, that requires the support of majority of our legislators and that if passed into law will benefit the U.S. economy without having to reduce family immigration.

RAISE Act: Merit Based System

Trump proposes a broader shift away from current immigration system focusing mainly on issuance of immigrant visas only to foreign nationals on the basis of merits. If passed into law, the existing employment based categories based on U.S. employer needs will be changed to a rigid point system prioritizing foreign nationals in a series of categories including professionals, researchers, those holding advance degrees and those with extraordinary ability in a particular field.

The proposal for a merit based system does not only fail to take into account the needs of U.S. businesses. It also comes with a proposal that fails to recognize the importance of family unity by limiting family petitions to spouses and minor children eliminating parents, adult children and sibling categories. If passed into law, there will be a reduction of 500,000 or 44% of total immigrants each year.

I-Squared: Immigration Innovation Act

Interestingly, at about the same time the White House released its immigration proposals, a new bill was introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) on January 25, 2018. This is the Immigration Innovation Act or the “I-Squared” which also addresses the gaps on the H1B visa program at the same time amends the employment based system of immigration in a manner that directly improves on the current system.

On the H1B provisions, the I-Squared raises the current cap from 65,000 to 85,000. There is a method used to determine adjustment of the cap on a market escalator of up to 195,000 and de-escalator based on prior fiscal year. It also addresses the way of choosing H1B visa petitions when the cap is reached within 5 years of the filing period. There will be a priority to (1) Individuals who have earned a U.S. master’s or higher, who are subject to the numerical limitations; (2) Individuals who have earned a doctoral degree outside the U.S.; (3) Individuals who have earned a U.S. bachelors or higher in a STEM field; (4) Other petitions

On the employment based petitions, I-Squared has provisions that will (1) Eliminate per country limits for employment-based visas and increases per country limit for family-based visas to 15%; (2) Require recapture of unused visas from FY 1993 to FY 2013; (3) Exempt from numerical limitations: dependents of EB immigrants, individuals with a U.S. STEM master’s or higher degree, individuals with an approved EB-1 petition for extraordinary ability or outstanding professor/researcher.

Other than proposing to eliminate the per country limits, it also creates a new employment-based conditional immigrant visa (35,000 per year) for individuals who (1) have a university degree; (2) have received an offer of employment from a qualifying U.S. employer; and (3) will satisfy the requirements of 3 employment based preferences (EB1, EB2 & EB3).

Between the RAISE Act/Merit Based System and the I-Squared Act, the latter is a better bill that deals with a real reform of our immigration system without having to cut family legal immigration. Let us contact our representatives in Congress and urge them to support this Immigration Innovation (I-Squared) Act or S. 2344.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is a San Francisco based immigration lawyer and immigrant’s right advocate. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or 1 888 930 0808)

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Proposed Bills that Make Immigrant Families Vulnerable

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The year 2017 has been challenging for most immigrants. Many Filipino immigrants have been concerned with changes in federal policies and how it is affecting families and employment. The following developments have given reason for apprehensions about the future of U.S. immigration:

Attacking Family Immigration

A bill known as the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) ACT seeks to cut current legal immigration by at least 50%. The serious impact of this bill is in the big reduction of family member categories who can be petitioned, including the limitation of qualified family members only to minor children and spouse of the U.S. citizens. Under the RAISE proposal, parents, adult married or unmarried children and siblings of U.S. citizens petitions are no longer relatives who can be petitioned. In addition, the age of minor children will be reduced to those who are under the age of 18 (from the current 21). For millions of Filipinos who are beneficiaries of family petitions, this bill will be a disappointment for families who have been waiting decades for reunification with their family members. This is definitely a bill that will not bode well for family unification.

Merit-Based System

Without taking into account family unity and the needs of businesses, the RAISE Act proposes to eliminate the current employment system of immigration. It prioritizes skills over family unity by designating a point system for future immigration applicants.

Heightened Enforcement

In his first month in office, Trump released his Executive Order on Interior Enforcement where he ordered changes that now prioritizes enforcement. He ordered for a budget that hires more than 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents that may result in mass deportations. An enforcement only bill H.R. 2431 was introduced by a certain Rep. Labrado (R-ID) that dramatically expands immigration enforcement and criminalizes undocumented immigrants.

Fixing DACA

Young unauthorized immigrants are looking forward to legislation that will provide solution to their predicament given the termination of the DACA program in September of 2017. The DREAM Act was the bill that directly addressed this issue and provided for a permanent solution by granting conditional permanent status to DACA beneficiaries and allows them to become U.S. citizens in 5 years. Other bills like the SUCCEED Act also provided a permanent status but comes with restrictions. Under those bills, Dreamers will be prohibited from sponsoring their children and spouses in order to prevent chain migration. There were also provisions that compel Dreamers to sign away their rights to any immigration benefit or relief like immediate deportation without due process if they commit minor crimes such as driving without license or shoplifting.

All the above bills are contained in the White House Principles on immigration and obviously will have negative impact on many immigrants. The most disheartening proposals are the attacks on family….. the foundation of this nation and the policy behind our immigration law. Our community must continue to advocate for what is right and bring the message to our legislators in their home district this holiday season to support immigration bills that are humane and value family unity instead of forcing them apart.

I waited until December 22 to write about an immigration update hoping that I would bring the good news about a positive development on the DREAM Act. Those who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals will have to wait until January 2018 to find out whether or not Congress will pass the DREAM Act which is the permanent fix to the DACA program for young undocumented immigrants. This holiday season will still be spent with uncertainty hanging over the future of DACA recipients. While this is a disappointment to many, I am still positive that with hopeful bipartisan support in Congress, there will be an opportunity for passage of the DREAM Act early 2018.

This Christmas, my wish is for more (not less) family unification; and, for the leaders of this country to realize the value of families and its contribution to the strength of our nation.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

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Global Pinoy

Trump’s bid to restrict legal immigration will harm Filipino families

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There are almost 400,000 family petitions already filed by Filipino immigrants waiting for visa availability. These immigrants and their families play by the rules and are patiently waiting for their priority date to become current. With the proposed changes approved by President Donald Trump to eliminate these visa petitions, many will lose out on their opportunity to be with their families in the United States. While there is a grandfather provision that will create exceptions; this will not be enough as it will only cover a limited number of petitions.

If passed into law, the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act introduced by Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arizona) and David Perdue (R-Georgia) and endorsed by President Trump will substitute the current immigration policy based on family unity into a rigid merit-based system.

Proposed changes
The current immigration system is broken and outdated. Family immigration petitions for adult children and siblings take decades before visas become available. There are also increasing backlogs in employment petitions.

In response to the call for comprehensive immigration reform, Republican Senators Cotton and Perdue came up with a proposed legislation that does not resolve any of the outdated immigration provisions of the law; instead it worsens the current state of family-based immigration.

The RAISE Act proposes to cut immigration by at least half from current levels. It eliminates family-based immigration preference categories by restricting ability of U.S. citizens and permanent residents to petition for family members. Only spouses and minor children can be petitioned. Parents, siblings and adult children will be eliminated as beneficiaries of petitions.

Trump’s reason for supporting the RAISE Act was to demonstrate “compassion for struggling American families” who deserve “an immigration system that puts their needs first and puts America first.” This rationale is based on the premise, rightly or wrongly, that immigrants take jobs away from Americans.

Immigrants continue to build strong communities that foster business development or local businesses. In Silicon Valley, many innovators of big businesses were started by immigrants who came to the country through family-based immigration.

There is also a study published by the Immigration Policy Center showing that family-based immigrants contribute to the well-being of the current and future labor force. The value of extended families in US households, with members who take care of grandchildren or seniors needing care, is overlooked as adults work or are engaged in their businesses outside their homes. Filipino immigrant households find it common to have their lolos (grandfathers) or lolas (grandmothers) around to help take care of their children or do household chores. It is the family unit that inspires every worker or businessman to strive towards success and leads them to positively contribute to the growth of the US economy.

To deny the ability of a US citizen to petition for a parent is a direct attack on a right of a US citizen. Besides, if the goal is to attract the best and highly skilled workers, who would want to immigrate to a nation that does not welcome their family?

The RAISE Act was just introduced, and the debate on its merits just started. We still have time to send out the right messages to our legislators and emphasize the value of family. The merit-based system and the family-based petition system can go hand-in-hand as they can surely complement each other so long as the number of visa allocations are not reduced.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is a San Francisco based immigration lawyer and immigrant’s right advocate. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, facebook.com/tancincolaw, or 1 888 930 0808.)