FACTS AND FIGURES ON IMMIGRATION (courtesy of
www.justiceforimmigrants.org)
Who is an immigrant?
According to U.S. law, an immigrant is a
foreign-born individual who has been admitted to reside permanently in the United States as a Lawful Permanent
Resident (LPR).
How do immigrants get
admitted to permanently reside here?
Typically, a foreign-born individual seeking to become an LPR can
do so in one of three ways:
- Through family-sponsored immigration, a U.S. citizen can sponsor his or her
foreign-born spouse, parent (if the sponsor is over the age of 21), minor
and adult married and unmarried children, and brothers and sisters. A
Lawful Permanent Resident can sponsor his or her spouse, minor children,
and adult unmarried children. Our immigration system divides the family
members eligible for sponsorship into two tiers. Immediate relatives of
U.S. citizens—that is, spouses,
unmarried minor children and parents, but not brothers and sisters or
unmarried and married adult children—are admitted as their applications
are processed.
- Through employment-based immigration, a U.S. employer can sponsor an
individual for a specific position where there is a demonstrated absence
of U.S. workers.
- By winning one of a limited
number of immigrant visas available in the annual diversity visa lottery that is open to immigrants from
certain countries.
Who is a refugee?
A refugee is a person outside of the United States who seeks protection on
the grounds that he or she fears persecution in his or her homeland. To obtain
refugee status, a person must prove that he or she has a “well-founded fear of
persecution” on the basis of at least one of five specifically-enumerated and
internationally recognized grounds. Those grounds include the person’s race,
religion, membership in a social group, political opinion,
or national origin. A person who has already entered the United States, and who fears
persecution if sent back to his or her country, may apply for asylum here. Once
granted asylum, the person is called an “asylee.” Like a refugee, an asylum
applicant must also prove that he or she has a “well-founded fear of
persecution” based on the same enumerated grounds. Both refugees and asylees
may apply to become LPRs after one year.
Who is an undocumented
immigrant?
An undocumented immigrant is a person who is present in the United States without the permission
of the U.S. government.
Undocumented immigrants enter the U.S. either illegally, without
being inspected by an immigration officer, or by using false documents, or
legally, with a temporary visa, and then remain in the U.S. beyond the expiration
date of the visa.
Who is a non-immigrant?
A non-immigrant is an individual who is permitted to enter the U.S. for a period of limited
duration. Non-immigrants include: students, tourists, temporary workers,
business executives, diplomats, artists and entertainers, and reporters.
Depending on where they are from and the purpose of their visit, non-immigrants
may be required to apply for and obtain a visa from the U.S. government. The
application process entails an interview with a U.S. consular official in
the nearest U.S. consulate, who has the
sole authority to grant or deny a visa. Even if granted, the visa is merely a
travel document. All non-immigrants—regardless of whether they have a U.S. visa—must also pass
immigration inspection upon arrival in the U.S.
Who is a naturalized
citizen?
Lawful Permanent Residents are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship through a
process called naturalization. To qualify for naturalization,
applicants generally must reside in the U.S. for five years (three if they are
married to a US. citizen) without having committed any serious crimes, show
that they have paid their taxes and are of “good moral character,” and
demonstrate a knowledge of U.S. history and government as well as an ability to
understand, speak, and write ordinary English.
What’s the difference
between a refugee and an asylee?
Refugees and asylees are people seeking protection in the U.S. on the grounds that
they fear persecution in their homeland. A refugee applies for protection while
outside the United States. An asylee differs from
a refugee because the person first comes to the United States and, once here, applies
for protection. Refugees generally apply in refugee camps or at designated processing
sites outside their home countries. In some instances, refugees may apply for
protection within their home countries, such as in the Former Soviet Union,
Cuba, and Vietnam. If accepted as a
refugee, the person is sent to the U.S. and receives assistance
through the “refugee resettlement program.”
How does someone gain
refugee status?
To qualify for refugee resettlement in the U.S., a person must come from
a country designated by the Department of State. The person must meet the
definition of a refugee by proving that he or she has a “well-founded fear of persecution.” The refugee applicant must prove that this fear is based
on the possibility of persecution because of his or her race, religion,
membership in a social group, political opinion, or national origin.
In addition, a refugee must fit into one of a set of “priority” categories,
which factor in degree of risk to the refugee’s life, membership in certain
groups of special concern to the U.S., and existence of family
members in the U.S. A person claiming
refugee status must undergo a vigorous screening process before being resettled
in the U.S. First, the person is
screened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to
determine if he or she qualifies as a refugee under international law. If he or
she qualifies, he or she next is screened by the U.S. embassy in the host
country, which contracts with private organizations to collect personal
information about refugees. The embassy will check the name of the refugee in
its Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS), which contains the names of
millions of persons who have been denied visas, or who may be otherwise
ineligible for entry into the U.S. If he or she passes
that test, an officer from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
conducts a face-to-face interview and reviews the file. The refugee is then
photographed and fingerprinted by the State Department. Certain refugees must
receive clearance from the FBI. If no problems arise in all of this screening,
the refugee proceeds to the U.S., where an inspector
from the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection conducts one more interview
and compares the refugee with host country U.S. embassy records. While
these redundant checks ensure that no one who is not entitled to refugee status
will get it, they have greatly slowed the admissions system, and hampered our
ability to protect vulnerable individuals. Thousands of refugee “slots” have
gone unused in recent years, even as the admission ceilings have been greatly reduced
from those of the recent past. Without additional resources, the U.S. is falling short of its
commitment to protect refugees. After refugees have been in the U.S. for one year, they are
eligible to become permanent residents. There is no limit to the number of refugees
who may become permanent residents each year.
Family-sponsored
immigration
Family-sponsored immigration is the way U.S. citizens and lawful permanent
residents bring family members from other countries to live permanently in America. Citizens may sponsor
only their spouses, children, parents (if the citizen is older than 21 years),
and brothers and sisters (if the citizen is older than 21 years). LPRs may
sponsor only their spouses and unmarried children. Neither citizens nor LPRs
may bring in more distant family members, such as aunts, uncles, and cousins. Our
immigration system divides the family members eligible for sponsorship into two
tiers. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens—that is, spouses,
unmarried minor children and parents, but not brothers and sisters or unmarried
and married adult children—are admitted as their applications are processed.
Non-immigrant visas
“Non-immigrants” are tourists, students, and other persons who
come temporarily to the U.S. for pleasure, business,
study, diplomacy, or other purposes on an alphabet soup of visa categories. The
total number of immigrants—family-sponsored, employment-based, and diversity immigrants—is
small compared to the number of people who come here for short periods of time.
These non-immigrants outnumber immigrants by about 30 or 40 to one. In fiscal
year 2003, nearly 28 million persons came to this country temporarily. Of
those, more than 24 million came here as tourists or business visitors.
Visas for tourists and
business visitors
The vast majority of people coming to the U.S. temporarily do so for tourism
or business. In most countries, these individuals must obtain a visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate.
In reviewing an application for a temporary visa, U.S. immigration law
requires consular officers to ensure that the applicant does not intend to stay
permanently. Therefore, a visa applicant must prove that he or she plans to
return on or before the time the visa expires. The applicant can do this by showing
that he or she has a residence outside the U.S. and other ties that
will insure he or she will return before the expiration date of the visa. In
addition to proving they are not intending immigration, visa applicants are
fingerprinted and photographed, and information about them is checked against
government databases of persons who are ineligible to enter the U.S. because of criminal
activity, past visa problems, or links to terrorist groups.
Visas for students
Over one-half million students come to the U.S. each year. A person is considered
a student if he or she comes to the U.S. to enroll in coursework
of 18 hours or more per week. To obtain a student visa, a person must first
apply to a U.S. academic institution,
be accepted, and receive an immigration form “I-20” from the school. The
student must then apply for a visa at a U.S. consulate in his or her
home country. Among the things the student may need to show in the visa
application process are acceptance to a U.S. school, availability of sufficient
funds to cover all expenses for the entire course of study without resorting to
employment in the U.S., evidence of family and/or economic ties to the home
country sufficient to induce him or her to return after completing the
coursework and, if required by the school, proficiency in English. Students are
usually allowed to remain in the U.S. for the duration of their
studies. If there is any change in the student’s status—that is, if his or her
coursework drops below the minimum required, or if the student changes field of
study—the school is required to report this information to the government. The
increased scrutiny of visa applications for students in recent years has led to
months-long delays for some students, and a perception that the U.S. is a less-welcoming
place to study. For the first time in three decades, enrollment of foreign
students in U.S. colleges and
universities fell in 2004. Information about foreign students is collected via
the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based
system which maintains immigration status information, such as admission at a
port of entry, as well as personal and academic information about students,
such as their course load, field of study, current address, and other information.
Any change in this information must be reported to the government by the
school, using SEVIS. The schools themselves must have permission to enroll
foreign students. Most U.S. colleges and
universities have been approved by the government to enroll foreign students.
With the requisite permission, other institutions—including vocational schools,
junior colleges, public high schools, and language training schools—may also
enroll foreign students.
Visitors not required to
obtain visas
Canadians crossing over the U.S. border are generally
not required to have a visa. Citizens from the 27 participating countries in
the Visa Waiver Program also are not required to obtain a visa if they are
planning to come to the U.S. for business or
pleasure for a period of 90 days or less. However, there are strict conditions
under which people may come to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program—they must
have valid, machine-readable passports; their stay is limited to a maximum of
90 days; they must have round-trip tickets, if they arrived by air or sea; and
they must have proof of financial solvency. If they do not have a machine-readable
passport, they must apply for and obtain a visitor visa. The U.S. places strict rules on
the participating countries before they are admitted to the Visa Waiver
Program. First, the non-immigrant visitor visa refusal rate (the rate of visa
applications denied by U.S. consular officers) must
be three percent or less for the previous fiscal year. Second, the
participating country must offer reciprocal visa-free travel for U.S. citizens. Third, the
country must have a machine readable passport program in place. Fourth, the
country must be politically and economically stable. Fifth, the participating
country must have effective border controls for its own borders. Sixth, law
enforcement agencies in the participating country must be cooperating with
their U.S. counterparts. Finally,
the U.S. considers any possible
security concerns that might be raised, should a country be admitted to the
program. Countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Regardless of whether
they have a visa, arriving foreigners are fingerprinted and photographed
through the USVISIT program, which eventually will be deployed to become a
regular part of the inspection procedure at all land, air, and sea ports of
entry. Foreigners leaving the country will again have to check in with USVISIT
so that the Department of Homeland Security will have information on whether the
visitor complied with the terms of his or her stay. By February 2005, the
program had not been fully implemented, but procedures to collect information
from foreigners exiting the U.S. were being tested at a
number of airports.
Naturalization
Naturalization is the process by which eligible legal immigrants
become U.S. citizens. Through the
naturalization process, immigrants display a willingness to become full members
of our society. The process is not an easy one. It requires that immigrants
live in the U.S. for a certain number of
years, learn our language, study our history and government, show that they are
of “good moral character” and have not committed serious crimes and, finally,
swear allegiance to the United States. Over time, most
immigrants become citizens.
The naturalization
process
Eligibility: An applicant for
citizenship must be at least 18 years of age, and must have resided continuously
in the U.S. as a Legal Permanent
Resident for at least five years prior to filing. Permanent residents who have
been married to a U.S. citizen for three years
are eligible to apply for citizenship. There are special expedited provisions for
immigrants serving in the armed forces during a designated period of armed
conflict. Children who are adopted from another country automatically have U.S. citizenship conferred
to them as long as one or both parents are U.S. citizens, the child is
under 18, and the child is legally residing in the U.S. with the U.S. citizen parent or
parents. Immigrants must be of “good moral character,” usually determined by
checking with the FBI for any record of a criminal background. A person must
also demonstrate an ability to speak, read, and write ordinary English and have
a general understanding of U.S. government and history.
Long-time older permanent residents are exempt from the English requirement if
they are 50 years or older and have been living in the U.S. for at least 20 years,
or if they are 55 years or older and have been living in the U.S. for at least 15 years.
These immigrants must still demonstrate knowledge of U.S. history and government,
but they may do so in their native language. Certain persons with disabilities
are exempt from the requirement to demonstrate knowledge of U.S. history and government.
Interview: After submitting an
application and fee to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an
appointment is made with the applicant to take his or her fingerprints, which
are checked by the FBI. An interview is then scheduled with the applicant,
during which an immigration examiner reviews the application and determines if
the applicant meets the requirements for U.S. citizenship. To
demonstrate English proficiency and knowledge of U.S. history and government,
the applicant must be prepared to answer several history and civics questions.
They may also be asked to read a sentence or brief passage from a USCIS
textbook, and to write a sentence dictated by the examiner.
Oath and Swearing-In: Approved candidates for
citizenship must take an Oath of Renunciation and Allegiance, giving up
foreign allegiances and titles and swearing to support and defend the Constitution
and laws of the U.S. If the person has a
severe disability preventing him or her from understanding, or communicating an
understanding of, the meaning of the oath, the person may obtain a waiver of
the oath requirement. The final step in the naturalization process is the
swearing-in ceremony, which can take place before a judge or in an
administrative ceremony.
What public benefits do
immigrants and refugees receive?
Determining whether or not an immigrant qualifies for public
benefits is a complicated matter. Eligibility for benefits depends on a number
of factors, among them:
- his or her immigration status;
- whether or not he or she
entered the U.S. before or after the 1996 welfare
reform law was enacted (August 22, 1996);
- length of residence in the U.S.;
- his or her income and resources
and the income and resources of the family member who sponsored him or her;
- work history;
- whether he or she is a child or
adult;
- his or her state of residence;
and
- the various other eligibility
requirements of the particular benefits program.
Most benefits programs are open only to long-term, lawful
immigrants. A small number of programs (such as school lunch programs and emergency
medical services) are open to all people in need. For federal means-tested
public benefits, newly-arrived legal immigrants generally are:
- barred for their first five
years in the U.S.; and
- subject thereafter to a process
called “deeming” where the income and
resources of the U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent
Resident sponsor of the immigrant are added to the immigrant’s own income to
determine whether the immigrant is poor enough to qualify for the benefit
under the program’s financial guidelines. Deeming continues until the new
immigrant either becomes a citizen or works 40 “qualifying quarters” (at
least 10 years). The work of a spouse (or of a parent in the case of a
child under 18) also counts towards the 40 quarters. After becoming
naturalized citizens, or working for 40 quarters, legal immigrants are
generally eligible for federal and state programs provided they meet the
general program criteria.
Shouldn’t family
sponsors be responsible for the immigrant’s care?
They are. U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents wishing to sponsor
an immigrant relative for admission to the U.S. must earn enough (125% of the
poverty level for the family size, including the immigrant) to demonstrate that
they are financially capable of supporting the immigrant so that the immigrant
does not need to rely on public benefits. They also must sign a
legally-enforceable affidavit of support. This document makes the
sponsor liable for the immigrant’s use of means-tested benefits until the
arriving immigrant obtains citizenship or works 40 “qualifying quarters” (at
least 10 years) without using means-tested services.
Are undocumented
immigrants entitled to any federal government services?
While immigrants who are not here legally are ineligible for
nearly all federal benefits, they are still eligible for certain very basic
kinds of assistance, including: emergency Medicaid, immunizations, testing and
treatment for the symptoms of communicable diseases, short-term non-cash
disaster relief, school lunches and breakfasts, and certain other programs essential
to public health and safety.
Myth: Immigrants don’t pay taxes.
Immigrants pay taxes, in the form of income, property, sales, and
taxes at the federal and state level. As far as income tax payments go, sources
vary in their accounts, but a range of studies find that immigrants pay between
$90 and $140 billion a year in federal, state, and local taxes. Undocumented
immigrants pay income taxes as well, as evidenced by the Social Security
Administration’s “suspense file” (taxes that cannot be matched to workers’
names and social security numbers), which grew by $20 billion between 1990 and
1998 (Source: http://www.immigrationforum.org/about/articles/tax_study.htm)
Myth: Immigrants come here to take welfare.
Immigrants come to work and reunite with family members. Immigrant
labor force participation is consistently higher than native-born, and
immigrant workers make up a larger share of the U.S. labor force (12.4%)
than they do the U.S. population (11.5%).
Moreover, the ratio between immigrant use of public benefits and the amount of
taxes they pay is consistently favorable to the U.S. In one estimate,
immigrants earn about $240 billion a year, pay about $90 billion a year in
taxes, and use about $5 billion in public benefits. In another cut of the data,
immigrant tax payments total $20 to $30 billion more than the amount of
government services they use. (Source: “Questioning Immigration Policy – Can We
Afford to Open Our Arms?”, Friends Committee on National Legislation Document
#G-606-DOM, January 25, 1996. http:www.fas.org/pub/gen/fcnl/immigra.html)
Myth: Immigrants send all their money back to their home countries.
In addition to the consumer spending of immigrant households,
immigrants and their businesses contribute $162 billion in tax revenue to U.S. federal, state, and
local governments. While it is true that immigrants remit billions of dollars a
year to their home countries, this is one of the most targeted and effective
forms of direct foreign investment. (Source: http://www.cato.org/research/articles/griswold-020218.html.)
Myth: Immigrants take
jobs and opportunity away from Americans.
The largest wave of immigration to the U.S. since the early 1900s
coincided with our lowest national unemployment rate and fastest economic
growth. Immigrant entrepreneurs create jobs for U.S. and foreign workers,
and foreign-born students allow many U.S. graduate programs to
keep their doors open. While there has been no comprehensive study done of
immigrant-owned businesses, we have countless examples: in Silicon Valley, companies begun by
Chinese and Indian immigrants generated more than $19.5 billion in sales and
nearly 73,000 jobs in 2000. (Source: Richard Vedder, Lowell Gallaway, and
Stephen Moore, Immigration and Unemployment: New Evidence, Alexis de Tocqueville
Institution, Arlington, VA (Mar. 1994), p. 13.)
Myth: Immigrants are a
drain on the U.S. economy.
During the 1990s, half of all new workers were foreign-born,
filling gaps left by native-born workers in both the high- and low-skill ends
of the spectrum. Immigrants fill jobs in key sectors, start their own
businesses, and contribute to a thriving economy. The net benefit of
immigration to the U.S. is nearly $10 billion
annually. As Alan Greenspan points out, 70% of immigrants arrive in prime
working age. That means we haven’t spent a penny on their education, yet they
are transplanted into our workforce and will contribute $500 billion toward our
social security system over the next 20 years (Source: Andrew Sum, Mykhaylo
Trubskyy, Ishwar Khatiwada, et al., Immigrant Workers in the New England Labor
Market: Implications for Workforce Development Policy, Center for Labor Market
Studies, Northeastern University, Boston, prepared for the New England Regional
Office, the Employment and Training Administration, and
the U.S. Department of Labor, Boston, Massachusetts, October 2002.
http://www.nupr.neu.edu/1102/immigration.PDF#search=’center%20for%20labor%20market%20studies%20at%20Northeastern%20University%20studies’)
Myth: Immigrants don’t
want to learn English or become Americans
Within ten years of arrival, more than 75% of immigrants speak
English well; moreover, demand for English classes at the adult level far
exceeds supply. Greater than 33% of immigrants are naturalized citizens; given
increased immigration in the 1990s, this figure will rise as more legal
permanent residents become eligible for naturalization in the coming years. The
number of immigrants naturalizing spiked sharply after two events: enactment of
immigration and welfare reform laws in 1996, and the terrorist attacks in 2001.
(Source: American Immigration Lawyers Association,“Myths & Facts in the
Immigration Debate”, 8/14/03. http://www.aila.org/contentViewer.aspx?bc=17,142#section4)
(Source: Simon Romero and Janet Elder, “Hispanics in the US Report Optimism” New
York Times, Aug. 6, 2003.)
Myth: Today’s immigrants
are different than those of 100 years ago
The percentage of the U.S. population that is
foreign-born now stands at 11.5%; in the early 20th century it was
approximately 15%. Similar to accusations about today’s immigrants, those of
100 years ago initially often settled in mono-ethnic neighborhoods, spoke their
native languages, and built up newspapers and businesses that catered to their
fellow émigrés. They also experienced the same types of discrimination that
today’s immigrants face, and integrated within American culture at a similar
rate. If we view history objectively, we remember that every new wave of
immigrants has been met with suspicion and doubt and yet, ultimately, every past
wave of immigrants has been vindicated and saluted. (Source: Census Data:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kprof00-us.pdf,http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf
)
Myth: Most immigrants
cross the border illegally
Around 75% of today’s immigrants have legal permanent (immigrant)
visas; of the 25% that are undocumented, 40% overstayed temporary
(non-immigrant) visas. (Source: Department of Homeland Security: http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/index.htm.)
Myth: Weak U.S. border enforcement has lead to high undocumented
immigration
From 1986 to 1998, the Border Patrol’s budget increased six-fold
and the number of agents stationed on our southwest border doubled to 8,500.
The Border Patrol also toughened its enforcement strategy, heavily fortifying
typical urban entry points and pushing migrants into dangerous desert areas, in
hopes of deterring crossings. Instead, the undocumented immigrant population
doubled in that timeframe, to 8 million—despite the legalization of nearly 3
million immigrants after the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control
Act in 1986. Insufficient legal avenues for immigrants to enter the U.S., compared with the
number of jobs in need of workers, have significantly contributed to this
current conundrum.
(Source: Immigration and Naturalization website: http://www.ncjrs.org/ondcppubs/publications/enforce/border/ins_3.html)
Myth: The war on
terrorism can be won through immigration restrictions
No security expert since September
11th, 2001 has said that restrictive immigration measures would have
prevented the terrorist attacks— instead, the key is effective use of good intelligence. Most
of the 9/11 hijackers were here on legal visas. Since 9/11, the myriad of
measures targeting immigrants in the name of national security have netted no
terrorism prosecutions. In fact, several of these measures could have the
opposite effect and actually make us less safe, as targeted communities of
immigrants are afraid to come forward with information.
(Source:
Associated Press/Dow Jones Newswires, “US Senate Subcommittee Hears
Immigration
Testimony”, Oct. 17, 2001.)
(Source:
Cato Institute: “Don’t Blame Immigrants for Terrorism”, Daniel Griswold,
Assoc.
Director of Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies, see:
http://www.cato.org/dailys/10-23-01.html)
Sincerely
in Christ,