Tuesday, April 17, 2012
[IWS] CRS: U.S. IMMIGRATION POLCIY ON PERMANENT ADMISSIONS [13 March 2012]
IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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Congressional Research Service (CRS)
U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions
Ruth Ellen Wasem, Specialist in Immigration Policy
March 13, 2012
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL32235.pdf
[full-text, 41 pages]
Summary
Four major principles underlie current U.S. policy on permanent immigration: the reunification of
families, the admission of immigrants with needed skills, the protection of refugees, and the
diversity of admissions by country of origin. These principles are embodied in the Immigration
and Nationality Act (INA). The INA specifies a complex set of numerical limits and preference
categories that give priorities for permanent immigration reflecting these principles. Legal
permanent residents (LPRs) refer to foreign nationals who live permanently in the United States.
During FY2010, a total of 1.0 million aliens became LPRs in the United States. Of this total,
66.3% entered on the basis of family ties. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens made up the single
largest group of immigrants—476,414—in FY2010. Other major categories in FY2010 were
employment-based LPRs (including spouses and children) and refugees/asylees adjusting to LPR
status—14.2% and 13.1%, respectively. About 13.3% all LPRs come from Mexico, which sent
139,120 LPRs in FY2010.
Substantial efforts to reform legal immigration have failed in the recent past, prompting some to
characterize the issue as a “zero-sum game” or a “third rail.” The challenge inherent in reforming
legal immigration is balancing employers’ hopes to increase the supply of legally present foreign
workers, families’ longing to re-unite and live together, and a widely shared wish among the
various stakeholders to improve the policies governing legal immigration into the country.
Whether the Congress will act to alter immigration policies—either in the form of comprehensive
immigration reform or in the form of incremental revisions aimed at strategic changes—is at the
crux of the debate. Addressing these contentious policy reforms against the backdrop of high
unemployment sharpens the social and business cleavages and may narrow the range of options.
Even as U.S. unemployment levels remain high, employers assert that they continue to need the
“best and the brightest” workers, regardless of their country of birth, to remain competitive in a
worldwide market and to keep their firms in the United States. While support for the option of
increasing employment-based immigration may be dampened by the level of unemployment,
proponents argue it is an essential ingredient for economic growth. Other possible options are to
admit LPRs on the basis of a point system comprised of education and needed skills or to
establish a independent agency or commission that would set the levels and types of employmentbased
immigrants.
Proponents of family-based migration alternatively point to the significant backlogs in family
based immigration due to the sheer volume of aliens eligible to immigrate to the United States
and maintain that any proposal to increase immigration levels should also include the option of
family-based backlog reduction. Citizens and LPRs often wait years for their relatives’ petitions
to be processed and visa numbers to become available. Possible options include treating the
immediate relatives of LPRs as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are treated under the INA,
(i.e., not held to numerical limits or per-country ceilings).
Against these competing priorities for increased immigration are those who offer options to scale
back immigration levels, with options ranging from limiting family-based LPRs to the immediate
relatives of U.S. citizens to confining employment-based LPRs exceptional, extraordinary, or
outstanding individuals.
Contents
Overview.......................................................................................................................................... 1
Current Law and Policy ................................................................................................................... 2
Worldwide Immigration Levels................................................................................................. 2
Per-Country Ceilings ................................................................................................................. 5
Other Permanent Immigration Categories................................................................................. 5
Admissions Trends........................................................................................................................... 6
Immigration Patterns, 1900-2010.............................................................................................. 6
FY2010 Admissions .................................................................................................................. 9
Backlogs and Waiting Times ......................................................................................................... 11
Visa Processing Dates.............................................................................................................. 11
Family-Based Visa Priority Dates ..................................................................................... 12
Employment-Based Visa Retrogression............................................................................ 12
Petition Processing Backlogs .................................................................................................. 13
Issues and Options in the 112th Congress....................................................................................... 14
Family-Based Preferences ....................................................................................................... 15
Effects of Current Economic Conditions on Legal Immigration............................................. 15
Lifting Per-Country Ceilings ................................................................................................... 16
Permanent Partners.................................................................................................................. 17
Point System............................................................................................................................ 18
Immigration Commission........................................................................................................ 18
Interaction with Legalization Options ..................................................................................... 19
Figures
Figure 1. Statutory Numerical Ceilings on Legal Permanent Residents.......................................... 3
Figure 2. Annual LPR Admissions and Status Adjustments, 1900-2010......................................... 7
Figure 3. Legal Permanent Residents, New Arrivals and Adjustments of Status, FY1994-FY2010............................... 8
Figure 4. Top Sending Countries (Comprising At least Half of All LPRs): Selected Periods ........................................... 9
Figure 5. Legal Permanent Residents by Major Category, FY2010 .............................................. 10
Figure 6. Top Ten LPR-Sending Countries, FY2010 .................................................................... 11
Figure D-1. Projected Flow of LPRs under S. 2611, FY2007-FY2009......................................... 30
Tables
Table 1. Legal Immigration Preference System............................................................................... 4
Table 2. Other Major Legal Immigration Categories....................................................................... 6
Table 3. FY2010 Immigrants, by Category ................................................................................... 10
Table 4. Priority Dates for Family Preference Visas...................................................................... 11
Table 5. Priority Dates for Employment Preference Visas ............................................................ 13
Appendixes
Appendix A. Top 50 Sending Countries in FY2010, by Category of LPR.................................... 20
Appendix B. Processing Dates for Immigrant Petitions ................................................................ 22
Appendix C. FY2001-FY2010 Immigrants, by Preference Category ........................................... 23
Appendix D. Recent Legislative History....................................................................................... 26
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