Since our founding, NumbersUSA has promoted the immigration recommendations of the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. It recommended that annual legal immigration numbers be cut to around a half-million (compared to current totals of more than one million a year) and called for policy changes that would eliminate most illegal immigration.
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5 Great Immigration Solutions
In line with the commission's pro-immigration stances, NumbersUSA backs continued permanent immigration in three categories: nuclear family of spouse and minor children including overseas adoptions and marriages by U.S. citizens, our fair share of internationally recognized special needs refugees, and foreign workers with truly extraordinary skills that serve in the national interest. Therefore, sensible solutions would include eliminating the visa lottery, ending chain migration, reforming the outdated practice of birthright citizenship, eliminating visas for unnecessary foreign workers, and reducing fraud in the asylum and refugee programs.
On illegal immigration, NumbersUSA favors removing jobs, public benefits and other incentives that encourage people to become illegal aliens and remain in the U.S. This includes requiring employers to verify the eligibility of all employees through the E-Verify system, completing the Congressionally-approved biometric entry/exit system, enforcing existing immigration laws in the interior, and making improvements to border security.
End Most Illegal Immigration
Implement E-Verify
E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is currently free to employers and is available in all 50 states. It provides an automated link to existing federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers. While its usage remains voluntary throughout the country, some states have passed legislation making its use mandatory for certain businesses.
End Visa Overstays
While much of the discussion of illegal immigration has been over border security, visa overstay is just as much part of the problem. Overstayers fall in three different categories: those who were issued visas, those who came from countries that have been granted participation in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and those who entered from Mexico or Canada with Border Crossing Cards (BCCs).
Stop Amnesty
Under federal law, illegal presence in the United States is punishable by removal and a 3-year bar from re-entry for aliens illegally present for longer than 180 days and less than 1 year, or a 10-year bar from re-entry for aliens illegally present for longer than 1 year. Illegal aliens who had been previously removed, but are found illegally present again are permanently inadmissible.
Improve Border Enforcement
The Department of Homeland Security reported in December that they reached their target of 18,000 border patrol agents protecting the land and sea borders of the United States, most of who are stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border. The border patrol uses a variety of tools to deter and apprehend smugglers and potential illegal immigrants, including using dune buggies to combat drug smuggling on the California-Baja California border, mounted patrols to combat human smugglers, and helicopters equipped with thermal imaging devices to find illegal alien convoys at night.
Reduce Illegal Immigration Rewards
Although sanctuary policies are illegal under Federal law, two states (Maine and New Mexico) and a multitude of cities and counties maintain policies that forbid officials from asking about a person's immigration status or informing Federal immigration authorities about the presence of illegal aliens.
Reform Immigration Numbers
Reform Birthright Citizenship
Birthright Citizenship is the practice of offering automatic citizenship to children born in the United States. Under current federal law, all children born in the U.S. receive automatic citizenship, but this practice had created a magnet for foreign nationals who want their children to have citizenship in the United States.
Reduce Unnecessary Worker Visas
The Department of Labor released disturbing numbers, stating that more than 2 million Americans lost their job in 2008. To help the American worker, NumbersUSA proposes an immigration freeze on most legal forms of immigration. All immigration, with the exception of refugees and nuclear families, should be halted while the job market continues to struggle.
Reduce Refugee and Visa Fraud
NumbersUSA has always supported the United Stated taking "our fair share of the world's internationally recognized special needs refugees, but we are concerned about fraud that occurs in two major ways in our refugee programs.