NumbersUSA Endorses Rep. Phil Gingrey's Chain Migration Reduction Bill

Monday, March 2, 2009, 8:52 AM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Dear Congressman Gingrey,

NumbersUSA is proud to endorse H.R. 878 and to salute you for your leadership in once again trying to enact what we believe is the single most important change needed in our immigration policies.

The Nuclear Family Priority Act would put the emphasis of family immigration where it belongs – on spouses and minor children.By ending chain migration of adult relatives and in-laws, H.R. 878 would bring about more economic justice to America’s most vulnerable citizens, a better quality of life to Americans whose daily lives are becoming too congested and regimented, and more opportunity for our grandchildren to live in individual liberty and environmental sustainability.

In introducing H.R. 878, you are operating in the spirit of bi-partisanship and compassionate change that seemed to be high on the wish list of Americans last fall. Ending chain migration was one of the top recommendations of Democratic leader Barbara Jordan when she chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. She concluded that chain migration serves no compelling national interest while harming the Americans who most need our help.

While ending chain migration would directly reduce overall immigration by around 1.2 million a decade, it would eventually and indirectly lead to an even larger decline in other categories.

The creation of the chain migration categories has been the primary reason total authorized immigration has skyrocketed from 2.5 million per decade to 10 million.

Chain migration was recklessly put into our immigration system 50 years ago. At first glance it seems relatively harmless as it allows immigrants to bring in not only their spouse and minor children but also their brothers, sisters and adult children. But that starts a chain that cannot be stopped. Each of those adult relatives can bring in his/her spouse, leading to the mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law. All of that leads to the immigration of the Anchor Immigrant’s cousins, aunts, uncles and the in-laws of the in-laws of the in-laws.

The result of all this uncontrolled migration is that at age 233, our nation is undergoing its biggest population explosion ever, leading to massive loss of natural habitat and farmland, and to flooding American occupations with excess labor that increases unemployment and depresses wages.

Thank you again for leading on this long-overdue step while declining to raise the greencards in any other category.

Sincerely,

Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA