On October 2, 2020, the administration released a proposed rule that is yet another in a series of changes to drastically reduce the ability of immediate family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents to get permanent residency in the U.S.
Immediate family members typically make up about two-thirds of all immigrants to the U.S. annually, including here in Maine. Without them, since 2010, Maine would have experienced net population loss, with the further shrinkage of our labor supply and of the school age population who will be Maine’s future workforce and community leaders.
The proposed rule affects both who can file an “Affidavit of Support” form, which is required in the vast majority of immediate family immigration cases, and what information must accompany the form. It would delay or in some cases make it impossible for some U.S. citizens and permanent residents to live together in the U.S. with their spouses, children, parents or siblings simply because they are not well-off. That’s a violation of our values, as well as bad policy for an aging nation with low birth rates. Public comments are due on November 2, 2020. Guidance on submitting a comment to oppose the rule appears below.
Under the proposed rule, an Affidavit of Support “sponsor” would have to provide: routing information and account numbers of all bank accounts; credit scores or proof that the sponsor has no credit history; three years of tax records, in contrast to the current one year requirement, including certified copies from the IRS for at least the two years prior to the most recent tax year.
In addition, sponsors with incomes sufficient to satisfy the Affidavit of Support threshold who have received any public benefits in the prior three years would be required to find a joint sponsor. This means that a person now earning six figures would need to find a joint sponsor in order for their immediate family member to immigrate, if, for example, they received food stamps three years ago when they were a full time student with a low income.
The proposed rule also would let the sponsor include only their spouse’s income together with their own, in “household income”. Currently, the sponsor can include the incomes of other relatives they live with who contribute to the household’s expenses.
The administration says the proposed changes would prevent new immigrants from getting public benefits. But immediate family member immigrants are already prohibited from getting any means-tested public benefits for their first five years after immigrating, unless they accumulate 40 qualifying quarters of work or become U.S. citizens before then.
By raising barriers to execution of the Affidavit of Support, immediate family members of U.S. citizens will be prevented from getting residency, as the rule’s preamble acknowledges when it states that the “impact of this proposed provision could be a reduction in the number of immigrants granted an immigration benefit in cases where the intending immigrant is unable to submit a sufficient Affidavit.”
This rule continues a pattern of regulatory changes, including the public charge rule finalized a year ago, and the recent proposed rule to require Affidavit of Support sponsors to submit biometrics, including fingerprints, iris and voice prints, that will reduce critically needed immediate family immigration to the U.S., and to Maine.
Public comments will be accepted through November 2, 2020. MeBIC will submit a comment opposing this proposed rule. The more comments opposing this rule, the better. See suggestions below if you would also like to comment in opposition before the deadline of 11:59 p.m. on November 2nd.
To submit a comment, go to this Federal Register page and click on the Submit a Formal Comment button. You can then add your comment in opposition. Feel free to use any or all of the suggestion paragraphs below.
- I write to oppose this rule because families have been the backbone of immigration to the U.S. for centuries. Immediate family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents deserve to be able to live together with their petitioning relatives here in the U.S. Living together leads to healthier and more economically secure families, who in turn contribute to vibrant communities, a dynamic workforce, and a strong U.S. economy. The stated motive for the proposed rule’s changes are to prevent new family immigrants from getting public benefits, but they are already ineligible under current law from receiving benefits during their first five years of residency. The benefit to the government of these changes is therefore minimal to nonexistent, in contrast to the harm these changes would inflict on families and on the economy.
- The proposed changes to the affidavit of support documentation requirements are unnecessary and raise significant privacy concerns. Specifically, the government should not require that affidavit of support sponsors provide their bank account routing and number information, nor credit reports. Credit reports are not indicative of a person’s ability to support another person, and the affidavit of support form already requires persons who list assets such as bank accounts,= on the form to do so accurately, under penalties of perjury. The requirement that a person submit three years of tax returns, instead of the current requirement of just the prior year’s tax return, is also unnecessary and overly onerous, as is the requirement that copies of tax returns must be certified copies from the IRS that the sponsor must pay to obtain. This could discourage joint sponsors in particular from filing the affidavit of support.
- The proposed change requiring a petitioning U.S. citizen or permanent resident who has received public benefits in the past three years to get a joint sponsor for their immigrating relative, even if the petitioner has an income far exceeding the affidavit of support’s income level, is arbitrary and will unnecessarily divide families. A petitioner with a six figure income currently who three years ago was a full time graduate student pursuing a professional degree and working only 20 hours a week at $15.00 per hour, far above minimum wage, would have qualified for food stamps. That person’s low income and food stamps receipt while a graduate student is irrelevant to their current ability to support the family member(s) whom they are petitioning to immigrate. Due to the current legal liability of affidavit of support sponsors, joint sponsors should only be required when the petitioner lacks the current ability to meet the affidavit of support income thresholds.
- Eliminating the affidavit of support sponsor’s ability to count the income of family members, other than the sponsor’s spouse, with whom the sponsor lives and whose incomes are contributing to the total household income ignores the fact that many immigrant families live in extended family households, which often help them save money as they get on their feet in the U.S. A sponsor’s expenses are indeed lowered when their household members contribute to the household expenses. When those household members agree, as permitted under current regulations via signing the I-864A form, to have their incomes included with the sponsor’s income, and to be liable to support the new immigrant along with the sponsor, they should be able to be counted in the sponsor’s income equation.
- Requiring the sponsor to include in their household size all individuals for whom the sponsor has previously executed an affidavit of support, even if the person never immigrated, or has since become a U.S. citizen and so the sponsor has no support obligation for them, is arbitrary and unfairly raises the income threshold that the sponsor must meet. The current standard requiring the sponsor to list only those they have sponsored who are currently permanent residents for whom their obligation is ongoing, is the proper one.
- Collectively, these changes will increase the incomes that sponsors need to show, and discourage joint sponsors from assisting petitioners who need a joint sponsor. This will result in prolonging family separations or could prevent spouses, children, parents and siblings of U.S. citizens and spouses and parents of permanent residents from ever immigrating. This is contrary to our nation’s values and also to our need for immigrants and the energy and vitality they bring to our country.
- The proposed rule changes should be withdrawn in their entirety.