Guest Column
American Family Values Are Being Compromised
Immigration Law Separates Families by Forbidding a Green Card
Holder's Foreign Resident Spouse and Young Children from Visiting Them
In the U.S.
Washington, D.C. - Imagine that you are a young child living in a
country other than the United States and you have not seen your father
in over five years. This is caused by no fault of his, but because of a
drastic flaw in U.S. Immigration law. This law prohibits you from
visiting your father, a green card holder living in the U.S., while your
immigrant visa petition is being approved. Imagine going five years
(the length of a typical waiting period) of your young life without your
father - him being little more than a stranger who visits occasionally.
For many children, this scenario is a reality. Law abiding lawful
permanent residents (LPRs) living in the United States are being
unfairly separated from their spouses and minor children while their
I-130 petitions, an application for the green card holder's spouse and
minor children to live in the U.S., are pending. All of this
aggravation and red tape, all because that law abiding green card holder
got married after December 2000.Q
The long waiting period of five years or more that green card holders
and their families must endure is caused by statutory numerical
limitations on available visas, coupled with immigration backlogs and
bureaucratic delays. This waiting period breaks up families and sends
the wrong message about American family values.
While this loophole is heart wrenching, there is a solution. There is
currently a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 1823, that
would amend the provisions of a temporary, non-immigrant visa, called
the V visa, - and would help unite spouses and minor children of legal
immigrants with the LPR living in the U.S. The bill was introduced by
Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-1) and currently has nine co-sponsors.
Though H.R. 1823 would amend the provisions of the V-visa and allow
foreign resident spouses and minor children of legal immigrants to enter
and live in the U.S. temporarily while their I-130 petitions are
pending, it is not the final solution. Amending the Immigration and
Nationality Act to remove numerical limitations on visas for spouses and
minor children of legal immigrants is the solution.
H.R. 1823 needs more support. Visit www.UniteFamilies.org to learn
more about how resolve this most pressing issue.
About UniteFamilies.org UniteFamilies.org is a volunteer-run
organization focused on the issue of family separation. Their belief is
that keeping husbands and wives separated from each other and from their
young children sends the wrong messages about American family values.
For more information, visit
www.UniteFamilies.org.
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