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Potential Changes to Family Immigration System Don't Add Up

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lindsey grahamAccording to a report by David Nakamura in the Washington Post, “key Senators are developing plans that would make it harder for U.S. citizens to get visas for their family members while easing the path for more high-skilled foreign workers, according to aides and advocates familiar with negotiations over an emerging immigration deal.”  Said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), “the goal for me is to replace a chained migration immigration system with an economic-based immigration system.”

The following is a statement by Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director at America’s Voice Education Fund:

Why would Sen. Graham want to bring in workers with no ties to this country over the close relatives of American citizens and others on the road to citizenship?  It doesn’t add up.  One thing we admire about immigrants is that they build strong families and help each other.  Our immigration policies should encourage that, not make it illegal.

Immigrants who enter the U.S. through the family immigration system are not only relatives of Americans and legal residents—they are workers and business owners too.  Their many ties to the United States should be embraced, not dismissed.