Category: News

Two bills introduced to the Maine Legislature  in March 2018 at Governor LePage’s request will harm Maine’s economy by sending the message that Maine is not a welcoming state for immigrants.

• LD  1833, An Act to Facilitate Compliance with Federal Immigration Law by State and Local Government Entities, sponsored by Rep.  Laurence Lockman, would require all government entities in Maine to communicate and share information with federal immigration authorities, and require law enforcement agencies to act as immigration agents. This legislation is completely misguided for multiple reasons.
  • The bill is a solution in search of a problem. No government entities in Maine, including law enforcement agencies, fail to cooperate with federal immigration agencies, unless doing so would be in conflict with other federal laws or the U.S. Constitution.
  • Immigration law is extremely complex, and local authorities will inevitably violate the rights of U.S. citizens and others if they try to act as immigration agents. Profiling of individuals with foreign accents or imperfect or limited English will result, and indeed already has. (A case in point was the testimony describing a U.S. citizen originally from Italy who had stopped to check his tire, and was doggedly questioned by a Maine state trooper who did not understand that U.S. citizens need not carry any proof of their citizenship).
  • Immigrants nationwide worry that myriad changes at the federal level threaten their continued permanent residency or other legal status. This bill will make Maine’s immigrants afraid to contact local police if they are victims of or witnesses to crimes, and will make local communities less safe.
  • The bill sends a hostile message at a time when Maine needs to be welcoming to immigrants in order to have thriving communities and a vibrant workforce.

MeBIC testified in opposition to LD 1833.  It was voted out of committee on partisan lines.   MeBIC will continue to oppose LD 1833 as it heads to votes in the House and Senate.

• LD 1873, An Act to Align State-funded Benefits with Federal Eligibility Standards, introduced by Rep. Deborah Sanderson, would deny low-income Maine immigrants, including permanent residents and refugees, safety net public benefits. It would also target vulnerable asylum seekers who have come to the U.S. and Maine seeking protection. Federal immigration laws deny them work permits, and the ability to support themselves, until their asylum applications have been pending for more than 180 days.

Maine law presently allows asylum seekers to receive “general assistance” (GA) in order to have a bare subsistence level of support, while they wait for their work permits, and up to a maximum of 24 months. Asylum seekers overwhelmingly want to work and do so shortly after getting their federal work permits, quickly contributing more in income and sales taxes to the State and their localities than they received in G.A.

GA is a short-term investment with long term gain for Maine, as these asylum seekers contribute to our communities, our tax base, and our workforce.   MeBIC will oppose LD 1873. Read MeBIC’s talking points here.

 

The American Immigration Lawyers Association has released an important new report, Deconstructing the Invisible Wall: How Policy Changes by the Trump Administration are Slowing and Restricting Legal Immigration.

While some Administration actions such as the “Travel Bans,” termination of the DACA program, or deportations that have broken up families have captured headlines, many others have happened out of the public eye, but with devastating results.   Deconstructing the Invisible Wall explains the broad array of measures taken by the Executive Branch, without the need for Congressional action, that have constricted the pipeline of those legally eligible to immigrate or come temporarily to the U.S., and contributed to an image abroad of U.S. hostility towards foreigners that discourages some from even wanting to come visit, study, work, or live in the U.S.   Read the report here.

Immigrants have made essential contributions to their U.S. communities and to our economy for centuries, and continue to do so.    And despite the proliferation of anti-immigrant rhetoric, immigrants are vital to the country’s future.

Maine is currently experiencing record low unemployment that is leaving employers scrambling.  Even with wages rising in an effort to attract more workers, as a state with more deaths than births and with an aging workforce whose retirements will produce 90% of projected job openings through 2024, Maine  simply lacks enough available people to fill current and future job openings.

LD 1492, An Act To Attract, Educate and Retain New Mainers To Strengthen the Workforce, sponsored by Senator Roger Katz, recognizes that immigrants are part of our workforce solution, and are essential for a vibrant Maine.  LD 1492 positions Maine to better compete with other states to attract and keep immigrants in our communities.  In addition LD 1492 will help Maine’s immigrants reach their full potential more quickly by increasing the availability of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, by creating worksite-based combined ESL and job training classes, and by expanding a Welcome Center Initiative to help more professional level immigrants navigate the process of translating their professional experience to Maine workplaces.   Small planning grants would also be available to communities whose immigrant populations are growing.

LD 1492 received strong support from Maine’s business community, including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Restaurant and Maine Innkeepers Associations, the Maine Health Care Association, and many individual businesses from southern Maine to Aroostook County.  As of March 15, 2018, both chambers of Maine’s Legislature approved the bill, with bipartisan majorities.

LD 1492 now faces its next hurdle as it heads to the Appropriations committee to vie for funding, before being scheduled for any additional votes.  Learn more about the bill here.

Bloomberg Businessweek featured Portland, Maine as one of three cities profiled in an article on how unemployment well below 4% is affecting employers, and the business community’s responses.

 

 

March 5, 2018 has arrived.  That’s the date that the Trump Administration declared as the last day of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.   It’s the date by which President Trump said Congress should craft a solution to allow DACA holders  to stay permanently in the U.S.

Were it not for two federal court injunctions  compelling the U.S. government to continue to accept DACA renewal applications, over 1000 DACA holders each day would now be losing their protected status and work permission.  But this is only a temporary reprieve; the government is appealing those decisions, and on March 5, 2018, a third federal court upheld the DACA rescission.

The nearly 800,000 individuals who have had DACA, including a few hundred from Maine, now live in limbo, their futures in suspense. These are people who are working, studying,  serving in the U.S. military, volunteering, and contributing in myriad ways to our nation, which is also theirs, given that many have no memories of the countries where they were born.

That limbo ripples far beyond DACA holders themselves. Employers don’t know if they will be able to keep their DACA employees on payroll.  Universities don’t know if their DACA students will be able to continue studying (and paying valuable tuition fees).  DACA holders have bought cars and homes, and their ability to repay their lenders will evaporate when they no longer have DACA work authorization.

President Trump said multiple times that he wanted to protect the DACA/Dreamers, but that Congress needed to act.   He said he would sign any bill that Congress sent to him. Congress did act, proposing a path to permanent residency for DACA/Dreamers and funding for increased border security, including an expanded border wall. But President Trump rejected that proposal, upping the ante and insisting on a complete and drastic overhaul of our nation’s immigration laws that would divide families and make us less globally competitive for labor, in exchange for a DACA/Dreamer solution.

Congress was right to reject President Trump’s demands. But Congress must continue the fight for permanent residency for DACA/Dreamers.   Our communities need them, our economy needs them, and it is the right and humane thing to do. Senators Collins and King were leaders in crafting a bipartisan solution for the DACA/Dreamers.   They should continue to press for action.

Update:  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began receiving H-2B petitions on February 21, 2018 and within 5 days had received 2700 petitions representing 47,000 seasonal jobs for the summer/fall 2018 season, far exceeding the 33,000 visa cap.  On February 28, 2018, USCIS conducted a lottery and randomly selected the cap-subject petitions it will consider.  USCIS will reject any cap-subject petitions received after February 27th, and will return to their employers any petitions not selected in the lottery, with the filing fees.  USCIS will continue to accept petitions for cap-exempt H-2B visas.

Maine businesses should urge our delegation to support H-2B cap relief as part of the ongoing negotiations to fund the federal government past March 23, 2018. 

Read more below about how we got to this point.

_____________

On January 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that by January 1^st, the first day that it accepted applications for the summer season, it had received applications covering more than 81,600 positions from employers hoping to obtain H-2B visas for seasonal non-agricultural foreign workers.  That number is triple that of January 1, 2017.  Only 66,000 H-2B visas are available annually, with a mere 33,000 allocated for seasonal jobs with start dates between April 1 and September 30.  While certain seasonal workers are exempt from the cap, the majority of employers who hoped to meet their summer season labor needs in part with H-2B workers are likely to be sorely disappointed.  Employers can learn which H-2B employees are exempt from the 33,000 cap, and track whether the cap has been reached here.

Last year, the H-2B summer seasonal visa cap was reached in mid-March, leaving Maine’s restaurants, hotels and other seasonal businesses scrambling to find staff.  Several had to open late or close early in the season, close some of their hotel rooms, or offer fewer meal shifts. Congress enacted a temporary fix applicable only to FY2017 that resulted in 15,000 additional H-2B visas  being added to the cap, but too late to benefit most employers.

When employers have to scale back because they can’t get the workers they need, this hurts entire communities.  States and localities lose tax revenues from the business’s reduced sales.  U.S. workers may lose their jobs or have reduced hours if a business decides not to open or limits its hours.  Local businesses lose the funds that foreign workers spend while living here.

Congress needs to enact a permanent solution to stop these perennial H-2B visa shortages.

In 2015, the Obama Administration issued a rule allowing spouses of certain H-1B professional/specialized knowledge visa holders to obtain work permission. The rule was an acknowledgment that many of these H-4 visa holding spouses of H-1B workers want to work, and their inability to do so was not only an emotional and professional or economic hardship for them, but also a loss of talent for the U.S.   It was additionally a policy that made the U.S. less competitive in the global labor market and harmed U.S. businesses’ ability to retain valuable employees.

The Obama Administration’s 2015 rule stemmed in part from long wait lists for permanent residency visas for citizens of certain countries.   For example, H-1B visa holders from India who are applying for their residency through their employment must wait over a decade to get their “green cards.”   This represents a tremendous amount of human capital.  For example, according to USCIS data, as of January 2018 over 20,000 Indian citizens holding bachelors or advanced degrees and already working in professional or skilled positions here in the U.S. were still waiting for adjudication of their permanent residency applications filed between 2006 and 2009.   Under the old rule, their spouses had no ability to work during this time.   The 2015 rule change allowed H-4 spouses in these circumstances to obtain work permits during the  backlog delay.   Otherwise, the H-1B worker might seek employment and residency in another country that allows the spouse to work, depriving her/his U.S. employer of a valuable employee.

In 2016, the first full year after the rule change took effect, over 41,000 work permit applications were approved for H-4 spouses,  enabling them to be productive, pay taxes, help support their families, and participate more fully in their communities.

A 2015  lawsuit claimed that allowing H-4 visa holders to work would harm U.S. workers.  While the Federal Court denied the plaintiff’s injunction request and the rule took effect, the litigation over the rule continued.

In April 2017, the Trump Administration asked the Federal Court to pause the litigation while they considered whether they want to revise the Obama Administration’s rule.   On February 28, 2018, the Administration indicated to the Court that it intends to issue a new proposed rule by June 2018.

It is anticipated that the current Administration will roll back the H-4 employment authorization rules.  This would make it harder for U.S. employers to retain the H-1B workers in whom they’ve already invested and who are part of their teams, and will harm our economy.

Should the current Administration indeed propose rolling back the Obama era rule, comments opposing that rollback during any “notice and comment” period will be critical.

 

 

After a Federal District Court in California struck down the Administration’s September 5, 2017 rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), the Administration appealed directly to the Supreme Court, trying, in an extraordinary maneuver, to skip over the usual appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Following briefing and arguments on whether it should hear the appeal without the case first going to the 9th Circuit, today the Supreme Court declined to accept the Administration’s appeal.

That means that if the Administration wants to appeal the lower courts’ decisions (there are now two separate Federal District Courts that have ruled against the Administration), it must proceed first to the appropriate Circuit Courts of Appeal.

It also means the injunctions against the DACA rescission remain in place and USCIS must continue to accept certain DACA renewal applications.  Anyone wanting to renew their DACA status should talk ASAP with a competent immigration attorney.

What is next?   The government may appeal to the proper Circuit Courts of Appeal.  Or the Administration could decide to again announce that it will rescind DACA, and provide a different rationale that will stand up in court (the DACA rescission was struck down because the courts determined the rescission was based on flawed legal reasoning).   It will be interesting to see what the Administration decides to do.

In the meantime, DACA holders need certainty and only legislation giving them a path to permanent residency will provide that.  We must continue to work for passage of the Dream Act or another durable solution for DACA/Dreamers.

Immigration authorities recently announced a significant change in procedure that will affect all asylum seekers applying for safe haven before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  All asylum applicants undergo a personal interview with USCIS to assess their eligibiity for asylum.   Because of growing backlogs, USCIS  will begin scheduling interviews on a “Last in, first out” (LIFO) basis to try to keep the backlog from growing.

Under the new procedure, USCIS will only schedule interviews with applicants whose cases were filed before early January 2018 if USCIS is able to keep up, via LIFO,  with newly filed asylum applications.   USCIS will chip away at the backlog, if possible, by working from more to less recently filed cases.

Maine asylum applicants have routinely waited as long as four years to be interviewed on their applications.  Now, individuals who have already waited nearly four years will likely be waiting many years longer for their interviews.

Conversely, under LIFO, new asylum applicants may be interviewed within 2 to 3 months of filing.  Many asylum seekers will be unable to find lawyers to help them properly prepare their applications and get ready for their interviews in this time frame, which may result in asylum seekers losing their cases.   The asylum application process is extremely complex, and asylum applicants without lawyers are far more likely than those who have competent legal representation to have their applications denied.

How does this affect Maine employees?

Asylum cases often present life or death situations.  Waiting for a decision on one’s asylum application means living a life in limbo, temporarily safe, but unsure if the U.S. will eventually allow a new, permanent future in the U.S., or will force the asylum seeker’s return to persecution abroad.  Waiting for years for this decision is extremely stressful.

Many Maine workers, especially those who have arrived in recent years from countries such as Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Angola, are asylum seekers authorized to work while their cases are in process with USCIS.   In addition to their concerns about their own futures in the U.S.,   many are separated from their spouses and children who can only join them here once the asylum seekers have been granted asylum.   For asylum applicants already stuck in the backlog, the LIFO system will prolong by years their strain and worry about their futures and their family separations, as they wait for interviews, and decisions in their cases.

How can Maine employers help?

Employers who offer an EAP as an employee benefit can make sure that their employees are aware of that benefit, and other support that may be available.

When President Trump spoke last September about his decision to rescind DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, he stated that he had great sympathy (and even “love”) for these young adults (the so-called Dreamers), and urged Congress to get a deal done that would provide them with a path to stay in the U.S. permanently.

That was then.  On January 12, 2018, when presented with a bipartisan proposal to help the Dreamers, President Trump rejected the deal.

And this week, with debate on DACA underway on the Senate floor, and following countless hours spent by bipartisan groups of legislators to reach good faith compromises to allow for legalization of DACA/Dreamers, President Trump announced that he would veto any bill not incorporating his “four pillars”.  He then endorsed a 592 page bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley that went far beyond the scope of DACA and border security,  proposing arguably the most fundamental change in the values of U.S. immigration policy since 1924, when Congress imposed race-based national origins immigration quotas.

On February 15, 2018, the Senate voted on four immigration proposals. All of the proposals failed, including the bipartisan  Immigration Security and Opportunity Act (S.A. 1958) and the bipartisan  USA Act of 2018 (S.A. 1955), both of which were narrowly tailored to address DACA/Dreamers and border security.   MeBIC supported both of these measures, which had elements that both sides could like and hate, but at least were thoughtful compromises.  Of the four items voted on, S.A.1958,  sponsored by Senator Angus King and co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins, gained the most votes in favor (54-45).  The Adminstration-backed Grassley bill received the least votes, suffering defeat  by 60-39.

The Senate will be on recess next week, while March 5, 2018, the last date of the DACA program (absent Court rulings blocking the rescission), looms.   When the Senate returns to work, it is imperative that they continue to make crafting a permanent solution for the Dreamers a top priority.

There is little doubt that President Trump’s veto threat influenced the outcome of this week’s debate.  Holding the nearly 800,000 DACA holders who are already integral members of our communities and the country’s economy hostage in order to achieve a massive overhaul of the U.S. immigration system is unconscionable from a humane perspective, and unwise from an economic one.   Any massive immigration overhaul should be the result of careful thought and a deliberative process, with hearings and input from a wide range of experts.   The 60 Senators who voted against the Administration-backed Grassley bill apparently agreed.

We can only hope that President Trump will revert to his earlier willingness to sign any bill that resolves the status of the DACA/Dreamers that gains bipartisan support, and will allow other immigration issues to be tackled at a later date.

Update:  On January 13, 2018, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will resume processing applications to renew DACA status and work authorization in compliance with the January 9th Federal Court order discussed below.  Only persons who already had DACA can apply; USCIS will not accept applications from persons who had never had DACA protections previously.

On February 13, 2018, a second Federal District Court in New York also ruled against the government’s rescission of DACA  and ordered USCIS to process DACA renewal applications under the same terms as defined by the California federal court order.

Those interested in renewing should consult with experienced immigration attorneys for more information.  Since the government is appealing the Court’s ruling, this relief may be short-lived.

—————-

On January 9, 2018 the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Administration’s decision rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was based on a “flawed legal premise” and should be blocked from taking effect. For background on DACA, read this post.

What does this decision mean for DACA holders?

The Court’s order applies nationwide.   It orders the government to continue processing DACA applications from those who already have had DACA. A person who has never had DACA will not be able to file a first-time application.

Estimates are that over 13,000 DACA holders have already lost their DACA status and their permission to work. Under this order, the government must allow them to apply to renew both their DACA status and their work authorization. Should this order stand, the more than 8500 people whose DACA status and work permits will expire each week starting on March 6, 2018, can apply to extend their status.   The order does not allow DACA holders to apply for “advance parole” so that they can temporarily leave and reenter the U.S., however.

What’s next?

In a highly unusual move, the government has asked the Supreme Court to take up its appeal, without first having appealed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.  This decision is a reprieve, but not a solution for those with DACA. These young adults need a path to permanent residency, not temporary fixes that leave them and their families, communities and employers in a cloud of uncertainty.

Congress must pass a bill creating a path to permanent residency for the DACA/Dreamers.  That debate is ongoing as of this writing,

 

LD 1492, An Act to Attract, Educate and Retain New Mainers to Strengthen the Workforce. Sponsor: Sen. Roger Katz

LD 1492 addresses Maine’s shrinking labor supply by recognizing immigrants as a critical part of the solution. Passed out of the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs with 11-2 support, it was later carried over to 2018.   At a January 31, 2018 work session, LD 1492 once again received strong Committee support.  As amended, the bill would provide funding to expand the availability of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, offer combined ESL and job training at worksites in public/private partnerships, expand the New Mainers Resource Center model operating in Portland into the Lewiston-Auburn area, and provide funds for planning grants for communities experiencing growing influxes of immigrants to assess services needed to help reduce brain waste and accelerate immigrant integration.

There was no 2018 testimony taken, but at last year’s public hearing, the bill received broad support from Maine’s business community, including several MeBIC partners, such as the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Coastal Enterprises, Inc., the Maine Healthcare Association, Barber Foods, Pro Search, Inc., SIGCO, Inc. Smith’s Farms, as well as from adult education providers, the Lewiston City Council, other individual employers, and Maine residents. The Maine Innkeepers Association and the Maine Restaurant Association also submitted testimony supported key portions of the bill.

The bill is now headed to the full Legislature for a vote.  See a summary here.

English language skills are one of the biggest barriers hindering immigrants from reaching their full potential in the workforce and in our communities. Maine’s immigrants want to improve their English, but often face daunting waiting lists to get into adult education English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in Portland and Lewiston, or find that classes matching their level of English are simply not offered yet in communities whose immigrant populations have been growing recently, such Augusta, Bangor and Biddeford. Moreover, research has shown the effectiveness of contextualized ESL classes, and workplace based classes combined with job training, as proposed in the bill, improve both workplace skills, and also ESL class accessibility, so that students don’t need to choose between the short term need to work and their long term learning goals.  LD 1492 would take a strong first step at lowering barriers to immigrant integration, benefiting immigrants and Maine’s labor supply alike.

MeBIC urges Maine’s business community to contact their Representatives and Senators to voice their support of LD 1492.   For further information about LD 1492, contact Beth Stickney at MeBIC.

On January 25, 2018, the Administration released its “White House Framework on Immigration Reform & Border Security”, whose “pillars” featured prominently in the President’s State of the Union address. Previously, the Administration had not been clear on what it would accept in any deal to provide a path to permanent legal status for those with DACA, the so-called “Dreamers”, but this framework makes a deal harder, rather than easier, to reach.

What are the “Four Pillars”?

The semi-good:

• A path to legal status for those with DACA, and those who were DACA eligible but never got the chance to apply. This would legalize an estimated 1.8 million immigrants youth who are already integrated into our communities, studying, working, serving in our military, and paying taxes. While this is a good start, the proposed 12 year long process relegates these young adults to long-term second-class status, and prevents them for years from being able to work in jobs that are restricted to U.S. citizens, for no rational reason.

The bad:

• Border security measures. This “pillar” would include billions of dollars for the border wall, despite its lack of public support, with even some border state Congressional Republicans and conservative think tanks While many Democrats would agree to technology and personnel security upgrades, the wall, as envisioned by the Administration, would be ineffective and a waste of taxpayer funds, especially when about half of the undocumented population enter legally and overstay their visas. This “pillar” would also strip due process rights from those crossing the border in search of asylum, in violation of U.S. obligations under international law.
• Drastic cuts to immediate family immigration. The Administration proposes to “emphasiz(e) close familial relationships” and end “extended family chain migration”. This is patently false. Current law does not allow extended family to immigrate. Permanent residents (green card holders) can sponsor only their spouses and unmarried children. U.S. citizens can, over a period of many years, bring their entire immediate families, including their spouses, fiancé(e)s, children of any age and marital status, parents, and siblings. Aunts, uncles, cousin, grandparents and other extended relatives of U.S. citizens are not allowed. This “pillar” proposes restricting family immigration to only spouses and minor, unmarried children of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.   Under these terms, most of us would not be here, since vast numbers of our forebears immigrated in the categories being eliminated. (This includes the President, whose Scottish mother immigrated through her sister, and his German grandfather who immigrated through his brother.)
• Elimination of the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. The DV lottery was created by Congress in 1990 to give those without immediate family or employer sponsors a chance to immigrate and try their hand at the American Dream. Fifty thousand visas are available annually. The “framework” document states that individuals are selected “without consideration of skills, merit, or public safety.” This is disingenous. DV lottery visas are only issued to those who pass rigorous criminal and national security background checks, and can prove that they have, at a minimum, completed secondary or high school or have at least two years of experience in a skilled trade.  DV lottery “winners” also must prove that they will be able to support themselves in the U.S., and are ineligible for means tested public benefits for their first five years in the U.S. DV immigrants are a reliable stream of new workers for our economy. Changing or eliminating the DV lottery program may indeed be a viable negotiating pawn in the effort to create a path forward for DACA/Dreamers, but the Administration’s ostensible reasoning is dishonest.

The negative economic impact of the Administration’s framework.

In exchange for legalizing up to 1.8 million DACA/Dreamers, the Administration’s proposal would:

• Dramatically reduce family-based immigration: The Administration has already endorsed proposals that are estimated to cut family based immigration by as much as 44 percent. The Administration’s premise is that we have too many immigrants, and that family-based immigrants do not add needed skills and talent to our work force. Centuries of immigration have proven otherwise; family immigrants come with a wide range of education and skill levels, from dishwashers to PhD scientists, and they overwhelmingly work. Current family-based immigrants have higher education levels than native-born U.S. citizens, and are essential to stem our shrinking labor pool as “baby boomers” retire.
• Substitute our current employment-based immigration system with a “points” system: The framework does not mention this shift, but the White House has repeatedly stated its support for revamping our current employment immigration scheme with a system that would assign points for education levels focused on STEM fields, English proficiency, age, wealth, and extraordinary achievement (such as being a Nobel Laureate or an Olympic medalist), as proposed in the RAISE Act, which the Administration endorsed in 2017. While there is widespread agreement that the U.S.’s current employment-based immigration system needs an overhaul, the RAISE Act is not the solution. It would reduce our overall number of employment-based immigrants, and not be tied to job openings. Not every business needs a person with a doctorate in a STEM field. Moreover, most highly educated, motivated professionals who would not qualify. Use yourself as an example, using this tool.

In addition, the Administration would sacrifice family-based immigration for this new points-based system as if there must be a trade off. It repeatedly, but erroneously, states that this is the same system that Canada uses.   However, the Administration fails to mention that Canada’s points based system is in addition to its family-sponsored, employer-sponsored, and refugee immigration components. Moreover, the Administration would allow only the spouses and under 18 year old children to accompany the points-based immigrants. This would discourage many talented people, who would want their college aged children to be able to accompany them to the U.S., from choosing to immigrate to the U.S.

Finally, by endorsing the RAISE Act, the Administration also supports reducing the overall number of employment based immigrants from current levels. This is indefensible when the nation’s unemployment rate has held steady between 4.1% and 5% for two years, and our labor pool, both nationally and in Maine, is shrinking as the Baby Boom generation retires.

Bottom Line: 

Through the recently released “Framework” document and its support of the RAISE Act, the Administration has shown its hand, bowing to immigration restrictionists who categorize today’s immigrants as somehow fundamentally different from the generations of immigrants who came before us and built this country.   This characterization is false, and harms not only our country’s values, but also our ability to progress. Today’s immigrants, like the centuries of immigrants who came before them, bring energy, renewal, and optimism that the “American Dream” is still alive and well.   Our country, and our economy, needs them.