We are always told, “Break the law, and you will be in trouble”. But, the recent “Immigration Reform Grand bargain” proposes to send a message that is precisely the opposite.
We are being told that no undocumented immigrant will get ahead of those in backlog. While the backlog of Family-based petitions has been highly publicized, the petitions of individuals (engineers, scientists, doctors and other professionals)
In the old system, employment-based petitions were limited to 140,000 per year, but the proposed system, ‘in order to reduce backlog’, reduces them to 90,000 per year only! On the contrary, Family-based cases used to be limited to similar numbers, but now have been increased to 567,000 per year! In addition, close to100,000 of these applicants with pending petitions are being asked to start from scratch in the new system. In effect, it is similar to changing the ‘rules’ or rather, the ‘Laws’ after the fact! Innocent high-skilled prospective immigrants are being penalized due to bureaucratic delay in the DOL.
Highly skilled doctors, scientists, engineers, and computer professionals have been stuck in backlogs since the last 3-4 years. They had hoped to get relief from the “Immigration Reform”, but have been let down badly. They are being forced to renew their H-1Bs yearly now, while the old system allowed 3-yr incremental renewals while their Green Card petition was pending. Seems like a fitting reward for following the Laws, isn’t it?
A Merit-based system which has been proposed by the US Senate has been widely criticized for allegedly favoring skilled individuals. A review actually reveals it being skewed the other way! As an example, an agriculture worker can earn 25 points for working 100 days a year for 5 years, while a skilled individual will get 10 points for working the same number of years! Economic contribution by the undocumented is recognized by awarding points for property ownership but not for people working legally!
Individuals who have played by the rules, need to be treated fairly even though their actual numbers are much less when compared to the undocumented. There needs to be a timely process to resolve all pending employment-based petitions within a reasonable time frame. Immigration Reform is sorely needed. But, the present compromise is very unwieldy, and unworkable for high-skilled individuals.
Give high-skilled legal immigrants a fair deal! That is all we are asking for!
Immigration Voice (www.immigrationvoice.org)
Contact:
Immigration Voice
850-294-3556
email info@immigrationvoice.org
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Immigration Voice
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