Creating a rolling immigration registry cutoff date
The Registry Act was first enacted in 1929. Back then, it allowed immigrants who had entered the United States before 1921 to become permanent residents upon payment of a $20 fee. This act was amended several times, but the last amendment dates back to 1986. In 1986, the cutoff date was updated to January 1, 1972. This means that, in 2022, anyone who arrived in the United States 50+ years ago can become, to use the official term of Homeland Security, a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). LPRs are more colloquially known as “Green Card holders.”
The Democrat Senators Alex Padilla (California) and Dick Durbin (Illinois) naturally see that this is far too long ago to make most immigrants, who are under the age of 50, eligible. The population of undocumented immigrants is particularly young. According to Statistica, most undocumented immigrants in the US are between 25 and 44. The obsolete cutoff date of the immigration registry leaves all of these working-age adults in a legal limbo. This is why the two senators introduced their “Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929” in Congress in September.
The two senators propose that the cutoff date should be a constantly evolving one. Each year, it should allow immigrants who've been in the country for at least 7 continuous years to become LPRs. If the bill is successfully passed in 2022, it will enable immigrants to who've been on US territory since at least 2015 to apply for permanent residency. A newcomer who arrived in the US in 2022 would become eligible in 2029.
What is meant by “continuous” in “7 continuous years”? Does it mean you must not have left the US at all? No. As the immigration services company Citizen Path clarifies, it means that you have not taken trips of over 6 months during these 7 years. Trips longer than 6 months can endanger the continuous residence status of many immigrants, even those who already have a Green Card. You're perfectly safe if you occasionally return to your home country for a few weeks.
Who will benefit from this amendment?
Various types of immigrants would benefit from the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929. A press release on the website of Senator Padilla says that the bill will particularly benefit Dreamers, displaced individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), H1-B visa holders in specialty jobs, other essential workers, and the children of long-term visa holders who face deportation. It's likely to also benefit all undocumented immigrants who've been in the country for a very long time. In total, over 8 million immigrants might become eligible for permanent residency.
Who are the Dreamers? They are adults who were brought to the US in an undocumented way when they were still children. There are as many as 3.6 million Dreamers, says the National Immigration Forum. Through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, about 600,000 of them have a renewable two-year permit that defers their deportation. The rest are still unprotected. Many experience anxiety and gloom about the possibility of being deported from the country they've spent nearly all of their lives, including childhoods, in. The amendment of the Registry Act would solve their dilemma.
As for TPS holders, they are foreign citizens who are unable to return to their home countries because of armed conflict and other dangerous situations there. They had already been in the US for some time before being granted Temporary Protected Status. As their visa is temporary, they also live in fear of not being able to renew it. There are currently around 320,000 TPS holders in the country. The press release of Senator Padilla quotes a TPS holder from Nepal, Anil Shahi. Mr. Shahi says: “Despite our commitment to do well for our families and communities here, we have been treated unfairly for years by having been denied any permanency. The only humanitarian and viable solution for us is a pathway to citizenship, which the Registry Bill seeks to offer.”
H-1B visa holders, meanwhile, are highly-qualified economic immigrants. US employers use this visa to hire specialized foreign workers for 3 years. Some common professions that get approved for an H-1B visa are engineers, university professors, surgeons, programmers and accountants, among others. The visa can be renewed for a further 3 years, but after 6 years, the worker must re-apply for a whole new visa. Many who want to stay in the US indefinitely then apply for a Green Card through PERM (permanent labor) certification. However, this process is arduous and can take as long as 2 years to be completed. The Registry Act amendment can simplify things here too. In any case, the US would benefit from a brain gain if it's able to retain these highly-qualified workers.
Indeed, a core argument of the proponents of the bill is that it will help the American economy. Back by the research of the public policy organization FWD, they say that if all undocumented immigrants covered by this bill obtain legal status, they will contribute $83 billion to the US economy as well as an additional $27 billion in taxes every year. The US is currently facing labor shortages in sectors that have historically been staffed by immigrants, such as hospitality, services and construction. Turning more people into permanent residents might help solve this labor shortage.
How likely is it for the bill to pass?
The amendment proposal has already been sponsored by two other Democrat Senators, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (New Mexico). It also has the support of Democrat Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who actually provided companion legislation for this bill back in July.
At the moment, Democrats control both the House and Senate, so the bill does have a chance, gauges the immigration attorney Andy J. Semotiuk in Forbes. However, he says that it might still be a challenge to “build momentum,” especially as there is very little time left until the midterm elections in November. Republicans, whose general immigration policies run counter to this bill, might take control of the House of Representatives during these elections.
In any case, even if the bill doesn't pass, it will have changed the debate about immigration and will inform other policy-making in the future.
