All In The Family
One of the subjects of the upcoming Homeland documentary series is Justin Semahoro Kimenyerwa, a Congolese refugee now living in St. Louis. Justin was able to escape a dangerous situation in his home country, but he still has family in Africa. A major part of Justin’s story is his struggle to find a legal path for them to join him here in the U.S.
A quick look at the statistics shows that family reunification is a major part of many immigration stories in America. According to the Migration Policy Institute, roughly two-thirds of all lawful permanent immigration in recent years can be attributed to family reunification. Current laws allow for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, including spouses, minor children and parents, to apply for a green card, with another category available for adult sons and daughters and siblings.
While the U.S. immigration system places great importance on bringing families back together, there are some groups that say basing immigration on family ties actually hurts the U.S. economically. In an interview for the Homeland documentary series, Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), says the U.S. is using a “nepotistic system of chain migration” that favors family ties over skills. Stein’s group, among others, say the country would be better served if the economic contribution of potential immigrants was considered over their family relations.
From the perspective of a highly-skilled applicant without family in the U.S., the system could also seem unfair. He or she could have applied through the standard legal procedure, hoping to bring their skills to the U.S., but are disadvantaged in the application process because they don’t happen to have family already here.
This debate between skills and family came to the forefront several years ago when a points system, which would favor high educational attainment and language skills, was proposed in Congress. You can read a debate aired on NPR from 2007 about this very subject.
But, as a blog post from The Economist points out, this is not an entirely either/or issue. Highly-skilled immigrants may want to bring their families too, and the U.S. could theoretically increase skill-based immigration without reducing family reunifications.
What’s your take on the issue? Does the U.S. place too much emphasis on family reunification and, if you think changes are needed, how would you alter the system?
Category: Immigration 101
