THE HILL: N. RAPPAPORT ON WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO CLOSE THE DEAL ON DREAMERS

http://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/352155-if-democrats-insist-on-chain-migration-theyll-kill-the-dream-act

Nolan writes:

“According to Migration Policy Institute estimates, potentially 3,338,000 aliens would be able to qualify for conditional lawful status under H.R.3440, which leads to permanent resident status, and chain migration would make the number much larger.

Moreover, chain migration would make it possible for the DREAMers to pass on legal status and a path to citizenship to the parents who brought them to the United States in violation of our laws, which is sure to be unacceptable to many Republicans.

The chain migration issue does not just apply to a DREAM Act. If it is allowed to block passage of a DREAM Act, it is likely to become an obstacle to every legalization program from now on, and for most undocumented immigrants, there is not going to be another way to obtain lawful permanent resident status.”

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Read Nolan’s complete analysis over at The Hill at the link.

I’m far removed from the days when I had a sense of what’s happening on the Hill. So, if Nolan says that the Dems will have to give on family migration for  Dreamers to cut a deal to save them in a GOP-controlled Congress in a Trump presidency, maybe that’s true. Gotta do what you have to do to save lives and preserve America’s future.

But, I do know something about the bogus term “chain migration” It’s a pejorative term coined by restrictionists to further their racial and ethnic agenda.

Chain migration is simply legal family migration, a process that has been ongoing for at least half a century and has done nothing but good things for America. Of course, it makes sense to give preferred treatment to those with family already in the U.S. Of course, having family here helps folks adjust, prosper, and contribute. It’s a win-win. Studies by groups not associated with a restrictionist agenda confirm that.

Moreover, unlike the folks pushing the restrictionist agenda, I actually have seen first-hand the highly positive results of family-based legal immigration for years in Immigration Court. It brings really great folks into our society and allows them to contribute fully to the success of America, and particularly our local communities.

If we want more skills-based immigration, that’s also a good idea. But, that doesn’t require a corresponding cut in family immigration. Immigration is good for America. It’s not a “zero-sum game,” although restrictionists would like us to think so.

The GOP position on parents of Dreamers is absurd. Those folks are already here and contributing to our society and our communities. Many have been here for decades. They are not going anywhere notwithstanding the rhetoric of the restrictionists and the Trump Administration. Other than picking on Dreamers once they become citizens, what could we as a country possibly gain by such an absurd and punitive measure directed against productive long term residents?

I think it is worth considering what pushing for unnecessary and harmful restrictions on family migration says about the real motivations of today’s GOP and its apologists.

PWS

09-24-17

 

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Nolan Rappaport
Nolan Rappaport
6 years ago

Paul didn’t include enough of my article to know what it is about. I encourage you to read it but will provide some highlights here.

Pelosi and Trump reached a tentative agreement to work on a DREAM Act to save the DACA participants. Then a few days later they both added an additional condition. Pelosi demands a DREAM Act that has been estimated to provide lawful status to more than three million undocumented aliens, and Trump demanded an end to chain migration. And Ryan said that he won’t let a DREAM Act go to the floor in the House unless Trump supports it.

Ergo, there isn’t going to be a DREAM Act.

Also, I disagree with Paul’s condemnation of efforts to end chain migration. Chaim migration is the cruelest, most thoughtless practice I have encountered in my 30 plus years as an immigration lawyer.

What idiot decided that it would be a good idea to exponentially expand family-based immigration despite the fact that the number of available visas was not going to be increased to accommodate that expansion?

As of the end of last year, there was a backlog of more than four million immigration with visa approval waiting for a visa. Some of them are expected to have to wait more than 20 years. And that waiting line will get much large if the DREAM Act Pelosi is demanding is enacted and the new LPRs file visa petitions for their families, who will then be able to file for their families, and so on.

And why is it that I hear so much talk about help for undocumented aliens who are here in violation of our laws, but I don’t hear any demands to help the four million plus immigrants who are waiting patiently for up to twenty years to come here lawfully? Or the American LPRs and citizens who petitioned for them.

Nolan Rappaport
Nolan Rappaport
6 years ago

What good is chain migration when it promises visas that aren’t available?

Nolan Rappaport
Nolan Rappaport
6 years ago

Paul says, “I disassociate myself from Nolan’s xenophobic and ignorant comments on “chain migration.” Nearly all reliable studies show that legal family migration is good for America. In fact, it has made us great. 

Unlike Nolan, I dealt face to face with these folks. I’m tired of restrictionists demonizing American immigrants and the many decent so-called undocumented immigrants who are a foundation for today’s economy and prosperity.”

This is really offensive. I said nothing that warrants calling me “xenophobic and ignorant” or a “restrictionist[s] demonizing American immigrants.”

I explained why I think Pelosi and Trump killed their tentative agreement to work on a DREAM Act and say that I think chain migration is a cruel and thoughtless practice because it promises visas that are not available…. producing a waiting list of more than four million people who will have to wait up to 20 years to get a visa. And I ask why I hear complaining about not getting legal status for aliens who are here in violation of our law but not about the four million plus immigrants on the visa waiting list.

Paul says, “Nolan and I couldn’t lead our lives of privilege but for the hard-working undocumented workers propping up our economy and society. The way to eliminate the fake “cruelty” is to provide for more legal migration of all types, family and employment based. Let the “waiting lists” come sooner, rather than later. It’s self-created “cruelty.”

There are reasons why this hasn’t happened since IRCA, which was more than 30 years ago, and one of them is that liberals like Paul use offensive labels to describe people who disagree with their immigration views…. though I have to admit that Paul has not done it with me before this.

I can imagine how Trump must feel. He gets this response all the time and the things they say about him are much worse than the comments Paul has made about me. It’s a miracle that he wants to work with the Democrats on a DREAM Act.

Paul says, “The current system is broken. Further restricting legal immigration is morally wrong and economically stupid. We might well do what Nolan and his restrictionist buddies advocate. But, the consequences will be endless waves of so-called undocumented migration. Migration is a human phenomenon that can’t be cynically manipulated the way the restrictionists propose. We can’t solve the problem without reasonable reform. Reform that advances a White Nationalist xenophobic agenda and that is tone deaf to market conditions in the U.S. and abroad will not work.”

This has nothing to do with anything I said, and, by the way, who are my restrictionist buddies?