In US immigration bill, skills trump family ties

One of the most contentious issues in the immigration bill now being debated in the Senate may boil down to this: family ties versus economic promise.

That's because the proposed legislation contains a point system intended to greatly increase the number of immigrants admitted due to their education, earnings level, or job skills, while limiting those allowed in because they have relatives already in the country.

Such a change could transform the ethnic and social mix of the US workforce, as immigration policy has emphasized family reunion for decades. As for its effect on the economy, the experience of other nations with similar systems offers a lesson: it's hard for the government to predict today what sort of workers private companies will need tomorrow.

"If we need to have a point system in order to break the political deadlock we're dealing with, so be it," says Doris Meissner, former commissioner of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. "But the most important thing then would be to build in flexibility."

Passage of comprehensive immigration legislation remains far from assured. Bill supporters had hoped to wrap up debate in the Senate this week, but the queue of senators who want to offer amendments is so long that prospects for when a final vote might occur are now uncertain.

The prospective immigration point system is sure to be one debate subject. Critics on the right complain that as currently constituted the system does not reflect what high-tech employers need. Critics on the left say it disrupts a chain of family unification that reflects core American values.

"I have serious objections to the point system that is in the bill now," said Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) of California in a broadcast interview on Sunday.

The immigration bill would allow eight years to clear up the current backlog of applications for a permanent resident card, referred to as a green card.

After that, only the minor children and spouses of legal immigrants would be able to apply for family visas. Adult children, siblings, parents, and other relatives would have to apply in the general queue.

Currently about 160,000 green cards are awarded on the basis of employer sponsorship. By contrast, after the current backlog is cleared up, the bill would institute a merit-based system with an allocation of 380,000 visas.

This system would use a 100-point scale. According to a draft of the legislation, merit applicants could be awarded up to 47 points for employment-related criteria, such as occupation, or years of work for a US firm. They could earn up to 28 points for their level of education, 15 points for their knowledge of English and US civics, and ten points for family ties.

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