What may change in American immigration policy

There are almost 34 million legal immigrants living in the USA. Many live and work in the country after obtaining the status of a lawful permanent resident of the United States (green cards), while others are in the country on temporary visas available to students and employees. In addition, about 1 million illegal immigrants have temporary residence and work permits in the US through the DACA program, which provides protection against the deportation of illegal immigrants brought to the US by children, writes Pew Research Center.

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For many years, the proposed changes in immigration policy have sought to shift the country's immigration system from its current focus on family reunification and labor migration to a system based on the assessment of human knowledge and achievements, which prioritizes the admission of immigrants with certain qualifications in education and employment. These proposals have received increased attention during the administration of 45-th US President Donald Trump.

Here are the key facts about the US immigration policy and the proposed changes in this area look at the moment.

Family Immigration

In the 2016 fiscal year, 804 793 people received green cards based on the relationship with a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. This program allows you to get green cards to those who have a spouse, child, sibling or parent who has US citizenship or, in some cases, the status of permanent resident of the United States. Immigrants from countries with a large number of applicants often wait for years for the right to receive a green card, because, according to the law, citizens of each particular country can apply for a maximum of 7% of all green cards issued during the year.

President Donald Trump has proposed restricting the issuance of green cards for family reunification only to spouses and minor children of citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Other family members are invited to undergo a procedure for evaluating their knowledge and skills in order to be eligible to move to the United States, at the moment a bill involving these changes is being considered by Congress. Today, family immigration, which some people call “chain migration”, is the most common way to get green cards (thus, about 70% of more than 1 million people who become green card holders annually receive permanent resident status).

Reception of refugees

In 2016, the United States accepted 84 995 refugees. In 2017, this figure was 53 716 refugees, the lowest since 2007.

The 2018 fiscal year set a refugee acceptance limit of 45 000 people, which is the lowest since the adoption of a modern refugee reception program for those fleeing persecution in their home countries in 1980.

One of Trump’s first decisions as president in 2017 was to freeze refugee reception programs, which he said were based on the need to ensure the safety of US citizens.

Eventually, the reception of refugees from most countries was resumed, although applications from citizens of 11 countries that the administration described as “high-risk” states were accepted and reviewed on an individual basis with more thorough checks. In January 2018, the same reception conditions were renewed for all countries.

Labor Green Cards

During the 2016 financial year, 137 893 employment-based green cards were issued to foreign workers and their families. At the moment, the Senate is considering a bill proposing to introduce an assessment of job seekers from other countries based on their skills and achievements, similar to the one they want to introduce for relatives of citizens and permanent residents of the United States.

The new system also proposes to eliminate the issuance of green cards for immigrant investors who invest in US commercial enterprises that create jobs or benefit the economy (EB-5 program).

Diversified visas

Every year around 50, 000 people get green cards through a diversified visa program, also known as a green card lottery. The program began in the 1995 year, and thus more than 1 million immigrants received green cards through this lottery.

Trump said he intends to close the program, which aims to diversify the US immigration population by providing visas to countries from which a small number of immigrants come to the country. Citizens of countries with high immigration, such as Mexico, Canada, China and India, can not apply for participation in the lottery.

Visas H-1B

In the 2016 fiscal year 180 057, highly qualified foreign workers received H-1B visas. This is the country's largest temporary employment visa program, accounting for about a quarter (24%) of all temporary labor visas issued in the 2016 year. Since the foundation of the program in 2007, up to 2016, more than 1,4 has issued a million H-1B visas in total. With the advent of Trump, the number of checks and cancellations of H-1B visas has increased. In addition, the administration intends to set an annual limit on the number of H-1B visas. In the meantime, congressional debates are being held on a bill to expand this program.

Temporary permissions

A relatively small number of illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States under unusual circumstances, received temporary permission to stay in the country. One of the key differences of this group of immigrants is that, despite their permission to live in the United States, most of them are not able to obtain the status of legal USA resident.

Temporary residency permits in the US are received by illegal immigrants under such programs:

DACA

Near 700 000 illegal immigrants had temporary work permits and protection against deportation under the DACA program as of 5 September 2017. This program provides protection for illegal immigrants who were brought into the country by children. Trump announced the closure of this program in September 2017 of the year, introducing a transitional period to 5 March 2018. All illegal immigrants, whose temporary permits will expire or there will be no problems by this day, become objects of deportation. However, the federal courts are currently considering the legality of such a presidential decision, deciding that the program should continue to operate until the completion of the review process, which is likely to last longer than until March March 5.

Temporarily Protected Status (TPS)

More 320 000 immigrants from 10 countries have permission to live and work in the United States under a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program that applies to residents of countries where war, hurricanes or other disasters have made them unsafe for their citizens to return to their homeland. Many of them are likely to lose their advantages in 2018 and 2019. The Trump administration said it would not resume the program for illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan, which account for about 76% of registered TPS participants.

The first group, which is expected to lose its advantages, consists of approximately 1 000 Sudanese, whose status was established before 2 in November and after that it should be either renewed or canceled. The protective period for the largest group, about 195 000 people from El Salvador, expires on September 9 of the year 2019. Near 7, 000 Syrians with TPS have recently received an extension of their protection period. During the administration of the Trump administration, only the immigrants from Syria and South Sudan received an extension of the status of temporary protection against deportation.

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