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U.S to Toughen Immigration Laws
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Subject: U.S to Toughen Immigration Laws
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From: ramani@saathi.ncst.ernet.in (S.Ramani)
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Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 18:13:21 GMT
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Apparently-To: editor
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Approved: surekha@nyx.cs.du.edu (Surekha Reddy Gaddam)
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From editor Thu Jun 8 12: 46:13 1995
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Newsgroups: misc.news.southasia
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Organization: NCST, Bombay
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Sender: news@nntpa.cb.att.com (Netnews Administration)
By T V Parasuram
Washington, June 5 (PTI) In a bid to effectively curb illegal
immigration and reduce legal immigration as well in the United States,
the Congress is proposing to toughen laws to boost employment future
for its own citizens, reports quoting lawmakers today said.
An advisory commission set up by the Congress is also proposing
to reduce skilled immigration and end visas for brothers and sisters
and adult children of legal immigrants. They will now qualify only if
they have required job skills.
These proposals come amid fears that too many Asians and Latins
are immigrating and unless checked, the current white majority of 75
per cent will be reduced drastically and whites may even become a
minority in a few decades.
The bipartisan commisison of nine members is headed by Barbara
Jordan, a former Congressman who is now a professor at the University
of Texas.
Legal immigration over the last three years has averaged 830,000.
It is proposed to reduce it to 700,000.
Under the panel's recommendations, immediate relatives of U. S.
citizens -- spouses, children under 21 and parents would still be
allowed to immigrate without a waiting period or limits on the number
admitted each year.
The panel will probably recommend a new act to eliminate the
large backlog of visa applications already filed on behalf of the
spouses and minor children of permanent resident aliens.
The Congress could do it over three to eight years instead of the
ten years currently estimated.
There are now 1.1 million would be immigrants on the waiting list
of spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents. About
850,000 of them are relatives of illegal aliens who gained legal status
under an amnesty programme created by Congress in 1986. Most others are
overseas relatives of recent legal immigrants.
The panel is recommending substantial fees on employees who want
to bring in foreign workers like computer scientists, engineers and
health professionals. The fees are meant to discourage employers from
hiring foreign workers.
