Grim future awaits EB immigrants. Will the community wake up before it's too late?
While the employment based (EB) legal immigrant community has been waiting for a repeat of July 2007 Visa bulletin and some forward movement seen in certain categories last year, recent changes in USCIS procedures at pre-adjudication (to avoid a repeat of the July 2007 debacle) and other factors have made the outlook gloomy for the EB community, especially for the members from oversubscribed countries such as India and China.
Recent insights shared by Charles Oppenheim of the Department of State (DOS) makes it clear that without any legislative relief, most immigrants have a decade long (and even further) wait ahead of them. While, in general, as a group we have been more or less aware of the impending gloom, the reaction has ranged from complacency to bickering within sections of the community that has actually been counter-productive. We understand and share the frustrations, but we must all collectively realize that nothing positive will come out of an extremely complacent attitude or a cannibalizing approach.
The tide of anti-immigration or anti-legal immigration measures is upon us - protectionist TARP H-1B regulation, bill to ban H-1Bs from working as consultants, increased rejection of H-1B petitions/visas on flimsy grounds, inordinate delays in PERM Labor Certifications, increase in RFEs/rejection of AC21 cases when employer withdraws I-140 as a punitive action and so on and so forth. Now we are the victims of these circumstances, as the oasis of 'overflow visas' has dried up. We cannot simply stay back and bask in the false mirage of EADs – EAD is not a green card, EAD does not mean you are safe or can stay forever if USCIS issues an RFE on your pending I-485. We need to organize if we are to float above this unfair and unjust tide.
Whether we accept these stark realities or not, our choices are clear. We can choose to wait for decades to get green cards and some more for our citizenship; keep dog-fighting with each other till our hair turn grey, or we can unite together under one umbrella to pursue solutions to our common problems. Most of us already know that if we retire waiting for the approval of green card petition in 20-30 years, the green card petition will be considered null and void because of our retirement. It may sound funny and even ironic, but given the size of current backlogs, that’s how it could play out for a lot many of us. So the time for your action is now because only your active participation can change your destiny.
Immigration Voice needs your support -scratch that- OUR support - contributions for the advocacy efforts, increased activity in the State Chapters, more visits by members like you to your Senators and Congressmen/Congresswomen, more active participation in IVs action items, letters/emails to media to feature IV (and in turn our community) in their immigration news coverage, letters to lawmakers/media to highlight our issues with references to IV.... There are a thousand ways you can help us achieve our goals. We hope that you rise and live up to this challenge and stand tall, together with each other, doing our fair share towards total eradication of the systematic destruction of our talent, our professional careers and the future of our families.
Last week, President Obama announced the start of comprehensive immigration bill discussion. This has presented each one of us with an opportunity to participate in fixing our issues. As a solution to the current backlogs, Immigration Voice advocates a solution which will provide much needed relief for over one million highly skilled legal immigrants and their families.
8226; Eliminate per country quotas
8226; Increase over-all annual visa numbers to 450,000
8226; Allow the recapture of 215,000 unused Employment Based (EB) visas numbers from previous years lost due to bureaucratic delays
8226; Exempt Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates of accredited U.S. colleges and universities from the visa cap
8226; Exempt family members of EB immigrants from the visa cap
8226; Exempt (current and future) homeowners from visa cap which also remedies the root cause of current economic woes by addressing the foreclosures and excess supply of homes on the market.
These fixes will enable us to become the true shareholders in this economy to live our American dream by buying houses, starting companies and creating more jobs right here in America. These solutions will end the long and excruciating wait that these law abiding, taxpaying and highly productive members of our society face. It will unleash the talent, innovation and entrepreneurship on a scale that will bring us out of this current economic recession.
In days ahead, we make a promise to send you material and resources that will enable you to reach out to the local media in your area. Because it’s ultimately your voice that counts, we will also send you material and resources to also reach out to your Senators and Congressmen / Congresswomen. You will also be able to send your direct personalized communication to President Obama. Please be ready to call and write to the decision makers sharing your personal story and how we continue to contribute in the America. We are the future Americans and our collective voice is what we need to relay to the decision makers. We must all understand that stakes are too high for us to ignore this debate or be complacent about otherwise grim reality that we will face.