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4S RANCH For the last six years, Sooraj Sasindran and his family of four have lived a life that is resolutely all-American. Sasindran a 36-year-old engineer from India bought a home in the 4S Ranch neighborhood, where he and his wife balance working remotely with parenting their two daughters.

In a pre-pandemic world, they hosted barbecues with friends on the weekends, spent days at the beach and mapped out their next trip across the United States. Its an idyllic life the Sasindrans have worked hard to build for their children a normalcy that could end if immigration reform isnt passed, he said.

Sasindran works in the United States on an H1-B guest worker visa, sponsored and employed by a local tech company. Spouses and children of these foreign workers are allowed to reside in the US on accompanying statuses, known as the H-4 visa.

Sasindrans eight-year-old daughter born in India has spent most of her life in San Diego on an H-4.

Shes completely American, Sasindran said, adding that they moved to California when she was still a baby.

The family has filed for green cards, but the wait for Indian nationals to receive them is exponential possibly crossing into five decades, according to data analysis from the CATO Institute. Employment-based green cards are capped at 7% for each country, leading to long lines for those born in India or China.

President Joseph R. Bidens proposed U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 could offer relief if passed. It would remove country caps the cause of green card backlogs and protect children from aging out of their status when they turn 21, as per current immigration law.

As long as immigration petition is filed before the age of 21, the dependents age is locked in, said Tifany Markee of the bills proposed reform. Markee, a partner at Milner & Markee in Rancho Bernado, added that children could also be eligible for work permits and social security numbers if the bill passed.

They can work at after-school jobs, do summer internships at college because theyre no longer just H-4 [visa holders] who only have the ability to go to school, Markee said. So I think its a huge improvement.

Sasindran is still cautious about optimism, however. Unclear if the backlog would ever resolve, he decided to apply for Canadian permanent residency a few years ago. The family was on the verge of moving north until the pandemic hit.

She wants to be an actor when she grows up, Sasindran said of his daughters early ambitions. But I can never encourage it because I know if shes still on H4, she cant do it.

Applications from 2010 are now being processed in Sasindrans specific green card category, according to the State Departments February visa bulletin. Because his application has gone forward, Sasindran and his daughter have officially stated an intention to immigrate. He fears this could later cause conflict in case his daughter doesnt receive her green card in time, forcing him to consider temporary options like a student visa.

Its difficult for a foreign national to have a pending intent to immigrate while also applying for non-immigrant status, Markee explained.

In those situations, youre likely going to have to argue flexibility to consulates, she said.

The bills success at passing as comprehensive reform has been debated ever since its introduction to Congress earlier this year. Among changes for H-4 dependents, it includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, farmworkers and increases provisions like diversity visas.

My personal opinion is that were going to see more of a piecemeal approach, said Markee. I dont believe were going to get bipartisan support for the entire bill because its incredibly all-encompassing. I think the reality is that its going to pass into smaller pieces relating to something particular.

Its a sentiment Dip Patel, 25, shares. A Canadian citizen also on a temporary work visa, Patel founded Improve The Dream, a movement advocating for documented dreamers.

For the last few years, his work has been expansive; he and other Improve The Dream community members have met with bi-partisan congressional members to ask that all foreign individuals brought to the US as children are protected by legislature, regardless of how they entered the US.

We ask that they include all children who grew up here, whether they are undocumented or documented, he said.

Patels initial hope was that documented dependents be included in Senator Dick Durbins DREAM Act, which only granted eligibility to those who had entered the US unlawfully or lost a valid status. House Democrats later voted against an amendment that would include documented dependents in the act.

Like Markee, Patel believes that more focused legislation is key to their success. Improve The Dreams efforts paid off when dependents on visa statuses such as the H-4 were included in the House Dream and Promise Act of 2021, passed in the House this week. More than 150,000 documented dreamers could receive permanent residency if the act is passed, estimates the Migration Policy Institute.

Its the first step forward, that were finally being heard, said Patel. As a whole, were excited that were included as Dreamers as well.

The House is set to vote on the bill this week, the first step in creating a path to citizenship for more than 200,000 children awaiting green cards.

Whatever happens going forward, I hope we get a solution for permanently aging out [of status], Patel said. No child who grows up here should have to face that.

The news is heartening to many in the Improve The Dream community, which consists of thousands of parents and children across Slack channels, Facebook groups and other messaging platforms. Over the last few years, theyve brainstormed ways to make their voices visible on social media and draw more congressional attention to their cause.

Ravi Gosai, 35, a resident from Cypress, California, is one of them. An active Twitter user, hes been hoping to bring light to his two sons situation especially as his older son Daksh, 14, begins to consider college.

I have to take my ACTS, my SATs, Daksh said, who was also admitted into a college preparatory program at his high school. But Im worried itll all go down the drain if I dont get a green card. I wont be able to work on my current status to help out my family. If I shift over to a student visa, I wont be eligible for many scholarships or any in-state tuition.

Without significant change, their future in America is up for debate, Gosai said.

I am hopeful that the Dream and Promise Act passes, but am still skeptical about what the final bill will look like, he said. Sometimes I think, Am I playing with their future? I started feeling guilty about it because I may have chosen a country without thinking of the outcome of it.

Daksh and his young brother, Vansh, 12, were raised entirely in Orange County. They love basketball and call themselves avid Lakers fans.

America is all that makes sense to them, their father said. Its the only language they speak.

Excerpt from:
'America is all that makes sense to them': Exploring the urgency of immigration reform - Coast News

President Joe Bide; Photo credit: White House

Pushes for action on the Hill for faster processing of green cards; H-4, L-2 EADs.

Keen to fix Americas broken immigration system, President Joe Biden is pushing for action in the Congress to ensure faster processing of green cards and work permits for the spouses of foreign workers.

I think the President would reiterate that he believes that there should be faster processing, that our immigration system is broken at many levels, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday at a White House briefing.

He is eager for Congress to move forward with action there, she said in response to a question about a protest on Capitol Hill by a number of Indian American doctors fighting against Covid-19 pandemic demanding elimination of country quotas for green cards.

Asked about delays in issuing Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) to spouses of H-1B and L-1 workers on H-4, L-2 dependent visas, Psaki said that was part of the reason for Bidens push for action on his sweeping immigration overhaul bill.

I think part of the reason we want to push for action on immigration on the Hill is to move forward with expediting the processing and doing that on several levels, including a number of the visas that you just conveyed, she said.

So thats part of the reason why we think thats such an important piece to move forward on, Psaki said in response to a question about the cause of the spouses that was supported by Vice President Kamala Harris when she was a senator.

Last month, Democrats introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress proposing removal of seven percent country caps for green cards for all nations big or small.

This has created a huge backlog for applicants from countries like India, while some small nations do not use their full quota.

According to the State Department, Indians with advanced degrees whose immigration applications were approved in 2009 and skilled workers and professionals whose applications were okayed in 2010 are still waiting for their green cards.

The immigration reform bill faces an uphill battle in the Congress with an evenly divided Senate and Republicans demanding stringent restrictions on illegal immigration.

Earlier, legislative action to remove country caps died in the last Congress because the Senate and House of Representatives failed to reconcile their differences in time.

H-1B visas are for professionals and L-1 visas are for those transferred by their companies to the US.

Their spouses, mostly Indian women, had been allowed to work in the US by President Barack Obama, but his successor Donald Trump had tried to ban work authorization for them.

In his first week in office, Biden put to an end to Trumps efforts and allowed spouses to get work permits.

READ MORE:

How will Bidens proposed immigration reform affect Green Card and H-1B visas? (March 24, 2021)

Delay in processing of H-4 and L-2 spouses EADs challenged (March 24, 2021)

Rep. Coleman asks DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas about H-4 EAD delays (March 22, 2021)

Read the rest here:
Biden wants to fix broken immigration... - The American Bazaar

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) Several groups are calling on Joe Biden to invest more federal dollars to deal with the migrant surge on the southern border.

That money should be used to immediately hire more immigration judges and shore up border infrastructure. That includes expanding temporary holding facilities and child shelters, as well as modernizing border security through technology. That, in turn, will free border agents to deal with this or future challenges, participants in a Border Solutions Roundtable said this week.

The groups are also calling on Biden to involve the governments of Mexico and Northern Triangle countries of Central America in addressing internal crises that make so many people leave their homes and seek and end to persecution or a better way of life in the United States.

I really think solutions have to begin south of the border, said Danilo Zak, senior policy and advocacy associate at the National Immigration Forum. That [] really represents the only path toward an ideal scenario where children, families and other migrants are safe and secure in their own country (with) no need to flee or migrate irregularly in the first place.

Analysts and advocates say the U.S. should help Central American nations address the root causes of migration like insecurity and poverty and provide a reliable structure for people there to apply for asylum remotely, without putting their lives and those of their children in jeopardy by making a dangerous trip through Mexico.

We should do more to combat cartels and smugglers. Part of that is engaging in a more effective messaging campaign to dispel some of the fiction sold by these cartels to desperate migrants, Zak said. And thats not just dont come, but to inform them about asylum laws and the immigration system to dispel misinformation by the smugglers.

But while that happens, the Biden administration must make immediate changes to the way it deals with the thousands of family units and single adults that are showing up at the border, they say.

The problem with the border right now is not that so many people want to come here, but solely that people are coming illegally and when they do come Border Patrol treats them inhumanely by caging them or dumping them in destitute and dangerous cities in Mexico, said David J. Bier, senior policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy research organization.

Bier suggests the federal government apply the same standard to would-be refugees today as it did to Cuban emigres who showed up to ports of entry prior to 2017.

The government should grant asylum immediately at the border to as many applicants as possible. It should grant the rest parole status and admit them to pursue their applications, Bier said. This would end the illegality and inhumane treatment. Perhaps more people would come but if they crossed legally this wouldnt be a problem any more than the millions of legal crossers that we (process) each week.

Bier says refugee admission policies are behind the steep rise in unaccompanied minors coming across the border.

We will accept 100 percent of them but only if they cross illegally. If they seek asylum at ports of entry, nearly all will be refused entry. This approach means that nearly all kids are being forced into the hands of smugglers, he says. If they are with their parents, in many cases theyre expelled to Mexico. So, many parents are sending their kids alone and trying to sneak in behind them, leading to repeated attempts over and over by parents to reunite with their kids.

The migrants wouldnt have to resort to smugglers if, for instance, theyre given Temporary Protected Status on account of hurricanes that struck the Northern Triangle late last year and devastated communities and farms.

And Biden should boost the H2-B visa cap for temporary workers, he said, because despite the pandemic millions of job openings exist in certain industries.

Monica Weisberg-Stewart, chair of the Texas Border Coalition, said border security issues must also be addressed or else the Mexican drug cartels will continue to exploit women and children, smuggle drugs and inflict pain on our American way of life.

She said immigration reform, better equipped and staffed ports of entry and new asylum laws are a must.

Asylum laws need to be updated. The children traveling alone needs to be addressed. We believe keeping Title 42 on the border is essential given what is happening at the border currently, she said. Title 42 is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order allowing federal officials to immediately expel unauthorized migrants to prevent cross-border spread of COVID-19.

More immigration judges are needed to deal with the surge and Biden should engage border leaders and residents before making decisions that affect them, she said.

We are right here on the border. Our mayors are dealing with these issues every day, Weisberg-Stewart said.

She added border agents need to be allowed to do their jobs because theres a lot of mixed messages.

Visit theBorderReport.com homepagefor the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.

Excerpt from:
Groups urge Biden to hire more immigration judges and fight drug cartels - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

The surge of asylum-seekers at the nations southern border grimly illustrates the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

But despite Americas flawed system, lawmakers continue to allow petty, divisive politics to stand in the way of the needed overhaul to our immigration system.

The most formidable obstacle to a comprehensive immigration bill is allowing a path to citizenship to the estimated 11.5 million people including at least 1.6 million in Texas who are in the country without authorization. Republican lawmakers and many GOP base voters are against any plan that would give amnesty to those residents, even though mass deportations are impractical and unlikely.

Ronald Reagan was the last president to push through an immigration plan with a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants.

The inability to pass a comprehensive plan should not discourage President Joe Biden and lawmakers from addressing important immigration-related issues in pieces. As most homeowners know, fixing things a little bit at a time is an improvement over doing nothing.

Here are some immigration issues our leaders should find a way to solve.

The southern border is again flooded with refugees from Central America seeking asylum and escape from awful situations in their home countries.

Many immigration lawyers say laws related to asylum need updating, while the border needs an influx of judges and related staff to process cases faster.

Policy guidelines should take a stand against family separation or any abuse of those seeking asylum.

And officials also should stay diligent in protecting against smugglers and human traffickers.

Its a tough order, but necessary to stop the chronic surges of refugees at the border.

Former U.S Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, suggests that Biden should create a high-level official with power and resources to deal with the countries that are creating the refugee problem.

The U.S. needs a mix of diplomacy and ideas to solve the problems in Central America like gang violence, corruption, trafficking, smuggling and the drug trade.

Dealing with the problem at its source is the best way to stop the flow of asylum-seekers.

Immigrant labor is an essential part of the nations economy, particularly in Texas.

There are people in Mexico and other places who want to work in America, but go back to their home countries.

Guest worker proposals have died with the debate over a path to citizenship and other immigration issues.

There is hope for movement. Last week, the House approved a bill, with 30 GOP votes, to expand a visa program for temporary agriculture workers. It would provide a pathway to permanent legal residency for about 1 million farm workers, with the possibility of eventual citizenship.

Coming out of the pandemic, American companies are going to need immigrant labor, so some kind of guest worker program makes sense.

Millions of people were brought to the country by their families as children and now face life in America as residents without citizenship or authorization to be here. They go to school, work and contribute to society, but worry about deportation or other problems that their residency status creates.

Last week, the House approved a bill that would allow citizenship to 2.5 million unauthorized immigrants, including those commonly referred to as Dreamers.

The proposal includes people already in the U.S. who were 18 or younger when they entered the country. It would cover those who currently have temporary protections under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which is known as DACA.

Though only nine Republicans backed this bill, there should be space for lawmakers to ultimately compromise on this issue and provide the stout legislation needed to solve the problem.

Most experts agreed that former President Donald Trumps push for a wall along the southern border as initially proposed was unnecessary. He did get 452 miles of barrier built.

Any good immigration policy should include protections against criminals entering the country. And border security should include the constant fight against drug and human trafficking, as well as the protection of residents living in the area.

Metrics should be developed to determine whether border security goals are being met, as this will prevent lawmakers who oppose the above proposals from using the refrain that nothing should happen with immigration until the border is secure.

Read the rest here:
With petty politics blocking broad immigration reform, lawmakers should tackle the issue in pieces - The Dallas Morning News

The House passed two bills on Thursday that would advance part of President Joe Bidens immigration agenda, offering a path to citizenship to undocumented DREAMers who came to the US as children, farmworkers, and immigrants with temporary humanitarian protection.

Nine Republicans joined Democrats to pass the Dream and Promise Act by a vote of 228-197. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act also passed 247-174, backed by 30 Republicans. Both bills had previously passed the House in 2019 with fewer Republican votes, but were never taken up in the then Republican-led Senate.

The bills narrowly address immigrant populations perceived as sympathetic by at least some members of both parties. They represent Democrats best chance of passing immigration reform at this point; a comprehensive immigration reform bill backed by Biden is unlikely to attract the Republican votes necessary to proceed in the Senate for now. But even so, its not clear that there is an appetite for smaller immigration bills in the Senate, where at least 10 Republicans would need to get onboard.

I have spoken to quite a few Senators, including Republican Senators, who are interested in making progress It gives me hope that we might be able to move this forward, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democratic co-sponsor of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, told reporters on Thursday. We wouldnt put in all this work just to have a House victory.

The Dream and Promise Act is a more expansive version of the mainstay Democratic immigration bill, the DREAM Act. While that bill covered mostly DREAMers, it did not address immigrants covered by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) types of humanitarian protection that allow citizens of countries suffering from natural disaster, armed conflict, or other extraordinary circumstances to live and work in the US free of fear of deportation.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which was the product of months of bipartisan negotiations, could legalize up to about 325,000 immigrants currently working in agriculture who do not have legal status. Republicans are usually reluctant to back any kind of legalization of undocumented immigrants immigration restrictionist groups have lambasted the bill as a means of securing cheap foreign labor at the expense of American workers but the lawmakers who supported the bill represent districts where agriculture is a major industry.

We cant keep waiting. I urge Congress to come together to find long term solutions to our entire immigration system so we can create a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system, tackle the root causes of migration and legalize the undocumented population in the United States, Biden tweeted Thursday, urging lawmakers to pass both bills.

The Dream and Promise Act offers a pathway to citizenship for about 2.5 million DREAMers and other immigrants with temporary humanitarian protection. The original DREAM Act was narrower, covering about 1.5 million people. Many of them have lived in the US for years, if not decades, but former President Donald Trump sought to dismantle the programs that offered them protection from deportation.

The paths vary for different groups. DREAMers undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children would face a longer path to eventual citizenship. More than 825,000 DREAMers have already been allowed to live and work in the US under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump unsuccessfully sought to undo. But a coalition of red states, led by Texas, is still challenging the legality of the program in federal court; the judge in that case is expected to rule any day now, leaving recipients in a precarious position.

Humanitarian protectees would face a shorter route. Among them are Liberians who sought refuge in the US from civil war in their home country from about 1989 to 2003 under deferred enforced departure. About 400,000 citizens of El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti have also been able to live and work in the US with TPS, but Trump tried to terminate their status, among nationals of other countries, starting in November 2017 against the advice of senior State Department officials. He argued that conditions in those countries have improved enough that their citizens can now safely return. But many of them have resided in the US for decades and have laid down roots, making it difficult for them to return to countries they no longer call home.

These protectees would be allowed to apply for green cards immediately if they have resided in the US for at least three years and were eligible for TPS on September 17, 2017, or had deferred enforced departure status as of January 20, 2021. After five years of holding a green card, they would be able to apply for citizenship.

DREAMers, on the other hand, would have to apply for conditional permanent residency, which would only be granted under certain conditions:

This conditional status designation would last for 10 years before they could apply for citizenship, but they would be allowed to work in the meantime. There would be other ways for DREAMers to be able to apply for a green card at any time, including serving in the military for two years, working for three years, or getting a degree from a higher education institution (or be at least two years through a bachelors or technical program).

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act is the biggest legalization effort supported by Republicans in recent memory, passing the House 260-165 in 2019. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) had introduced another version of temporary agricultural worker visa reform back in 2018 but most Democrats viewed that bill as a nonstarter.

The bill would give farmworkers who have worked in agriculture for at least 180 days over the past two years the ability to apply for Certified Agricultural Worker status, which can be renewed in six-month or five-year increments if they continue to work in agriculture for at least 100 days a year. It also offers long-term farmworkers a path to a green card, which requires at least four more years of experience in the industry and a $1,000 fee.

The bill streamlines the application process for the H-2A temporary visa program for seasonal agricultural workers, which admitted over 196,000 people in 2018. It also allows for up to 40,000 green cards to be granted annually, either through the sponsorship of an employer or if workers maintain H-2A status for 10 years.

Additionally, the bill would create a new program capped at 20,000 visas for year-round agricultural industries, which were previously barred from participating in the H-2A program and faced labor shortages, including dairy farming and producers of other animal products.

The bill tightens up enforcement, requiring farm employers to participate in the federal E-Verify program, with no exemptions for small farmers. It would freeze the minimum wage set by the government for one year and cap increases at 3.25 percent for the next nine years.

The United Farmworkers of America, among more than 250 labor groups, have backed the bill.

The US agricultural industry has relied on immigrant labor for decades, dating back to the Bracero Program in the 1940s that allowed millions of Mexicans to come to the US as farmworkers. Another large influx of unauthorized workers came during the 1990s before a slowdown that started around 2008, leaving agricultural employers unable to replace an aging workforce.

Congress has been wrestling with how to respond to labor shortages in agriculture and reduce the industrys reliance on undocumented workers ever since. That mission took on new urgency under Trump, following his administrations immigration raids targeting the agricultural sector. At one raid in August 2019, 680 workers were arrested at two poultry plants in Mississippi.

The House has opted to immediately vote on these two piecemeal bills instead of the Biden-backed US Citizenship Act of 2021, a comprehensive immigration reform package whose centerpiece is an eight-year path to citizenship for the estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants living in the country. The bill also addresses the underlying causes of migration, expands the number of available visas and green cards, invests in technology and infrastructure at ports of entry along the border, removes obstacles to asylum, and shores up protections for immigrant workers.

Its unlikely that the legislation, which is a kind of mission statement for the Democratic Party on immigration, will attract the 10 Republican votes needed to proceed in the Senate unless Democrats eliminate or alter the filibuster in a way that would allow them to pass the bill without a Republican vote.

Some Republicans have already warned the bill would return to the radical left-wing policies that will incentivize illegal immigration and promote an unending flood of foreign nationals into the United States.

But Democrats have so far been reluctant to say they are willing to bargain with Republicans on beefing up border security beyond modernizing ports of entry or narrowing the bills legalization provisions. Nevertheless, they have suggested that, after consulting with key members, the bill could be debated and amended through the committee markup process in April.

Were not going to waste time, Lofgren said in a press call recently. We will start planning to move the Biden bill and a number of other bills through the Judiciary Committee in April, and then on to the floor. We know we cant wait.

But some Democrats say that the calculus around comprehensive reform has changed now that the Biden administration is facing challenges on the border. Immigration authorities are struggling to humanely accommodate high numbers of unaccompanied children arriving on the border, and Republicans have sought to frame it as a Biden border crisis.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who has long been at the forefront of immigration issues in Congress and introduced the original DREAM Act, recently told reporters that he did not see a way to pass the Biden bill and its promise of a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented.

I dont see a means of reaching it, he said. I think we are much more likely to deal with discrete elements [of immigration reform].

But Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who is a lead co-sponsor on the bill in the Senate, has said hes not willing to give up yet.

Im not going to wave the white flag before we start, he told reporters earlier this week.

Continued here:
The House just advanced immigration reform with the Dream and Promise Act - Vox.com