“Why Don’t They Just Get In Line” Barriers to Legal Immigration
This statement for the record was submitted as part of the April 28, 2021 hearing by the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee of Immigration and Citizenship, titled “‘Why Don’t They Just Get In Line’ Barriers to Legal Immigration.”
The statement articulates makes clear that no such line exists, and how a broken immigration system – especially as it pertains to legal channels to admission in the U.S. – has many consequences for individuals, communities, and the nation as a whole. UnidosUS urges action to fix our system by the passage of bold legislation like the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, or through other commonsense measures like updating the immigrant registry, modernizing section 245i of the INA, and eliminating barriers to family unity imposed the outmoded and cumbersome Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
