Speech #910126409

Mr. Speaker. the act of October 3. 1965. marked the beginning of a new era in immigration policy. The national origins quota system. which discriminated against nationals of certain countries. was abolished. In its place. a policy was adopted granting preferred status to intending immigrants on the basis of reuniting families and supplying professional. skilled. and unskilled labor for occupations in which there was a shortage in the domestic labor force. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Nationality of the House Judiciary Committee has established the general overall workability of the 1965 amendments during the 3year interim period and the 1year of full effectiveness since its enactment. However. problems which were not anticipated prior to the enactment of the 1965 act have occurred with regard to certain aspects of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Together with 50 cosponsors. I have introduced legislation to correct the deficiencies in the present law. Currently. a different system applies to the Western Hemisphere than applies to the Eastern Hemisphere. For the Eastern Hemisphere. there is a preference system which sets forth seven categories in which immigrants. who apply for admission to the United States. may fall. The preferences are arranged in order of the closeness of family ties between the intending immigrant and relatives in the United States. and also the type of professional or skilled services he could render in the United States. Under the present law. there is no preference system for the Western Hemisphere. Intending immigrants are admitted on a firstcomefirstserved basis. This system is highly inequitable since the spouse of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence or the brother of a U.S. citizen are required to wait on the same list with an unskilled worker who has met labor certification requirements. but who has no ties to anyone in this country. The number of applicants from the Western Hemisphere for permanent residence in the United States greatly exceeds the numerical limitation of 120.000 immigrant visas a year available to natives of the Western Hemisphere. Parents. spouses. and children of U.S. citizens are the only groups exempt from the numerical limitation. The present waiting list for a Western Hemisphere immigrant visa is backlogged approximately 11 months. The bill would establish a preference system for the Western Hemisphere. This would result in allowing the persons with the greatest equities in immigrating to be admitted first. The tremendous hardships inflicted upon families seeking reunification will be eliminated. Moreover. companies and other business entities located in the United States which have branches. subsidiaries. or affiliates in the Western Hemisphere and are engaged in international business would be able to bring highlevel international personnel into the United States as immigrants since thirdpreference numbers would be readily available. The preference systems for both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres would be identical. To help alleviate the backlog in the Western Hemisphere caused by demand for visas exceeding the available supply. our bill would increase the numerical limitation for the Western Hemisphere from 120.000 to 130.000. During the 3year transition period. numerical allocations will apply to 170.000 for the Eastern Hemisphere and 130. 000 for the Western Hemisphere. After a 3year transition period. our bill would create a unified worldwide preference system and numerical ceiling of 300.000.