Help Unite Families

[wantmygcnow]

Sometime in April or May, we expect to see comprehensive immigration reform bills introduced into committee in both the House and the Senate. We have been working for months to try to get family-friendly legislation introduced as part of this reform, and everything we have been working for comes down to the next few weeks.

We have already seen one of our legislative goals, accountability for security check delays, introduced as part of the Citizen Promotion Act and the STRIVE acts. But we need you to help us to see the several other immigration issues that separate families introduced in the final comprehensive immigration reform bills as well. Please, think about all
of the children who go to bed without one of their parents, and help us make a lasting difference in their lives.

With your help, we can do it!

1. Join us on Capitol Hill

Friday, April 27th we will visit Capitol Hill to ask Congress to recognize the importance of families in immigration reform. If your family is separated or threatened by separation, please join us:

http://www.americanfamiliesunited.org/survey/public/survey.php?name=April27LobbyDay

2. Contribute to meeting our goals to maintain professional lobbying support

We desperately need you help to meet our fundraising goals to maintain lobbying support in Washington, DC. We have actually expanded our representation and are now represented by former Congressman Bruce Morrison
and Paul Donnelly, both of whom have lobbied on immigration issues for some time.

http://americanfamiliesunited.org/fundraiser

3. Attend a town hall meeting

The Congress and the Senate are on recess this week and next and many Congressmen and Senators are holding town hall meetings. Please call your Congressman and Senators' local offices (see www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to find your local offices) to find out if they are holding any town hall meetings, and ask your elected officials to support family unity in immigration reform.

4. Call the White House now!

For the past few weeks, press reports have noted a White House-led process of gaining consensus among Republicans on an outline for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Last week, "principles" that have so far emerged from this process were leaked to the press. As written, the principles, if converted to legislation, would sacrifice family
unity and due process.

The White House needs to hear from you! Thursday and Friday, April 5 & 6, call 202-456-1111 (between 9:00am and 5:00pm Eastern) or email comments@whitehouse.gov.

PHONE MESSAGE (an operator will take your message):

Tell the President to Support Real Immigration Reform:

* that reunites families
* that respects due process

 

[SIbmx]

If anyone writes to congress about this issue you can use that:

America is built on immigration. This is the history of this country and we all should remember and appreciate it. Actually, I am sure that the majority of students in this classroom have ancestors or relatives that came here from other parts of the world, and I think we all should thank them, for what we have today and what we might be able to achieve tomorrow. Some of your ancestors came to Ellis Island with no money, no food but faith in the future. But today immigration situation changed dramatically: people get smuggled into the country, National Guard is building fence on the border with Mexico, immigrants have to wait years in order to gain legal status in U.S and honest hard working immigrants have to violate immigration laws in order to feed their families and have a shelter for their kids. But today, I am not going to talk about so-called “war on illegal immigration”, guest-worker programs or immigration amnesty. Today, I am going to talk about future Americans that suffer from quite imperfect immigration laws and policies.
If you are a foreign worker currently working in the United States you can bring your spouse into U.S in less than 6 months, if you are an U.S. citizen you can bring your foreign born spouse into the country in less than 6 months, if you are a student studying in U.S you can still bring your spouse into this country in less than six months, BUT if you are Legal Permanent Resident of the United States of America it takes more than 6 years to bring your spouse or child to live here with you.
While they wait they are not allowed to enter the U.S., even for a brief visit. The permanent resident, on the other hand, must reside predominantly in the U.S., otherwise they lose their permanent residency status. Immigration law is just splitting these families apart.
Family separation is a very serious issue and for a country that sets the world rules of democracy it just unacceptable.
Lawful Permanent Residents are denied playing an active role in raising their own children. For no fault of their own, children and parents miss priceless moments that are witnessed in normal family environments every day. Even worse, for those families who cannot afford frequent travel, a child grows up not knowing one of his/her parents. Six years is an incredibly long time during childhood.
LPRs must live separated from their husband or wife, being forced into a unpleasant and challenging long-distance relationship. This can cause breakups of what would otherwise be normal happy families.
Single LPRs are also affected. Those who are ready to marry and start a family often have difficulty in finding an acceptable life partner here in U.S. Their immigrant status, in essence, prevents them from marrying a loved one from their own country and living in the U.S. The senseless part is that if they had married prior to becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident, they would have avoided family separation altogether.
Deep inside some of you may say: Why should I care? If you care about our country well being you should think about that:
There are significant adverse economic impacts on the U.S. when Lawful Permanent Residents are separated from their families.
Immigrants with immediate families abroad often remit part of their earnings to them. Every year, an estimated 4.2 billion U.S. dollars is sent out of the country by LPRs who are supporting their spouses and families.
Family unification would result in this money remaining in the U.S, as families of LPRs that come to the country add to the consumer base. Money that would be sent abroad to support them would be spent in the U.S.
Though it can't be generalized, over time, entrepreneurial spirit in immigrants has resulted in a lot of success stories. Immigrants have a proven track record of creating jobs. If LPR forced to choose between country and family, he or she may choose to leave the U.S. And when LPRs leave the country, they take their jobs with them. Jobs that may have been created in the U.S. as a result of the LPR's entrepreneurship would be moved elsewhere.
In general, LPRs contribute significantly to the success of the U.S. economy, as, on average, immigrants contribute $80K more in taxes over their lifetime than they receive in benefits.
Taking aside moral aspects of this issue, the U.S. has still much to gain by uniting families of LPRs.
V visa
The issue of family separation comes from an annual visa cap which is set by U.S Congress, but the number of people waiting to unite with their families far exceeds number of available visas. As a result of that we have a 6 year wait. This issue is not new, and a mechanism to unite families of LPRs was created by the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act of 2000 (the LIFE Act).
It was called the V visa., but unfortunately it’s no longer available. The V visa allows the spouse and minor children of an LPR to live in the U.S. while they await approval of their family immigration petitions. The visa allows the spouse to work while in the U.S. and travel out of the U.S. as needed. It is valid until the immigrant petition is either approved or rejected.
The V visa was created to remedy a temporary problem in the year 2000 — excessive family separation of LPRs due to immigration backlogs. Unfortunately, it was not a temporary problem. Family separation of LPRs is still here, V visa is not.
V visa is one of the best alternatives to solve the family separation issue:
1.No additional immigrant visas are needed.
2.No security or background checks are bypassed. National security is not compromised.
3.V visa beneficiaries still wait their turn to get their immigrant visas. They are not "jumping the queue".
Alternative solutions
There are other alternatives solutions for example:
1. Remove numerical limits on immigrant visas for spouses and minor children of LPRs. While this is the true solution to the problem of family unity, additional work would be needed to address the processing delays.
2. Allow spouses and minor children to qualify for student/visitors visas. However not all the family members will qualify for student visas. It is not necessary that the school for which the family member qualifies will be in the same geographical area. Visitor visas only allow limited duration visits.
3. Reduce residency requirements for naturalization. This will allow the LPR to naturalize faster thereby qualifying his/her spouse and children as immediate family of a citizen.
Unlike the V visa, none of these solutions have been enacted before. Many of these solutions increase immigrant benefits beyond family unity — something that may not be attractive to Congress.
Living in a society where time is a valuable asset and freedom is an important aspect of the democracy, those, suffering from such injustice feel betrayed. The current immigration system is unacceptable and as the studies shows often leads to family separations, suffering, and causes permanent damage on the family relations. As Congress currently discusses the possibility of allowing illegal immigrants to ‘legalize’ themselves in the country and even earn a citizenship, it causes confusion among the people who do not understand why responsible residents/ citizens of the United States are being punished in such a cruel way: family separation.
Naturally, the current situation raises many questions of what solutions are right and what are wrong when it comes to controlling incoming immigrant traffic to the United States. With socialism, communism and dictatorship slowly becoming extinct and the international gates opening, how many more residents can the U.S. welcome? Recent events in Israel, Lebanon and Cuba show that the number of those asking for political asylum in the U.S. can considerably rise. Considering terrorism and national security as essential gateway issues, who should be granted permission to enter and enjoy the benefits of this country? And who has a right to make that decision? After all, the freedoms and opportunities available in America are in many cases the fruits of a hard labor afforded by immigrants. Even more important question, what can be done to maintain strong family values, especially among young generations? In a society where almost half of the marriages end in separations or divorces, does the government have a right to impose restrictions and therefore increase the percentage of the family separations? Unfortunately, as of today, it is unknown how many families fall apart as a result of current immigration laws.
Again, thousands of future U.S citizens across the United States are currently suffering from not being able to enjoy time with their families. They are forced to return to their empty homes after a long day at work. The only family they have is what they see or hear on their computers. Marriage anniversaries, birthdays, and other family events are usually being celebrated digitally: through their computers. These families are having a hard time hiding their tears, anger, and disappointment. When will they be able to see each other again face to face just like everybody else? When will they be able to hold each other again? Long years of separate lives are lying ahead… With nothing else left but hope that soon this all will be over.
I hope all of you understand that the current issue expands far beyond immigration. Family is the most important thing we have in our lives. Everyone should make family happiness number one priority. Immigrants who build America came to this country to create happy families and lead happy lives, but it’s not what we see today…
Even though many of you have happy families I urge to support any legislations that would help millions of others to unite with their families, because the reason your ancestors came to this land was to build a country where everyone can become happy.

 

[Asylee_Spouse]

town hall meeting, Input your messages here...

I will attend one of the meeting hold locally this Saturday, however I don't have much to say since they Sponsored/Co-sponsed the STRIVE Act.
If you have any suggestions, I will bring them up.
In case someone wants to come, Here are the details:
When: 7:00pm, April 14th.
Where: Copernicus Culture & Civic Center
5216 W Lawrence Ave. Chicago.
Who: Rahm Emanuel & Luis Gutierrez