Purpose

Our purpose is to promote a rate of immigration that results in an environmentally sustainable and economically just society that protects individual liberties. In order to achieve our purpose, we have two foundational goals:

1. Examine numerical levels of annual legal and illegal immigration.
2. Educate the public about the immigration-reduction recommendations from two national commissions of the 1990s

Bi-partisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

Barbara Jordan, chair

"As a nation with a long history of immigration and commitment to the rule of law, this country must set limits on who can enter and then credibly enforce our immigration law." — U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform (1995).

To fight economic injustice, this commission urged reduction in immigration numbers that are now so high as to harm the most vulnerable American workers and their families.

The President's Council on Sustainable Development

Former Sen. Tim Wirth, co-chair

"We believe that reducing current immigration levels is a necessary part of working toward sustainability in the United States." — President's Council on Sustainable Development (1996)

To achieve an environmentally sustainable society, this council urged reducing immigration numbers to a level that will allow the U.S. population to stabilize.

Two Immediate Commission Objectives

• Eliminate Chain Migration
• Eliminate the Visa Lottery

The Barbara Jordan Commission recommended the elimination of these two immigration categories as the best way to protect vulnerable American workers and their families.

The President's Council on Sustainable Development, appointed by President Clinton, did not make specific recommendations about what to cut to get the numbers down to a level that would allow for population stabilization. But the cuts suggested by the Jordan Commission would go about half way toward the reductions needed.

In 1996, legislation was brought to the floor of the U.S. House and Senate that would have eliminated Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery. But Congress chose to address only illegal immigration that year and to postpone a decision about the two legal immigration categories.

Unfortunately, neither house has yet to address the set-aside issues of Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery.