September 25, 2019
To: Members of the U.S. Senate
Dear Honorable Senators,
As organizations representing immigrant communities who would be harmed by H.R. 1044/S. 386, the so-called Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, we write to express our opposition to this legislation. Given that this proposal would remove a pillar of our immigration system and have significant repercussions, we urge Senators to block the bill from moving forward for unanimous consent.
We do so for the following reasons:
1. The bill would not fix the green card backlog faced by visa applicants. Instead, it would merely shift the backlog onto other nationals, reducing the diversity of the green card process.
2. The bill offers a zero-sum approach that pits one group of immigrants against others to fight over a broken immigration system.
3. A true solution would protect diversity by expanding the number of green cards available.
We agree that the substantial backlog of visa applicants is unfortunate and needs to be addressed. But H.R. 1044/S. 386 is not a fair solution and risks further problems, such as creating what the State Department has referred to as a “monopoly” of the green card process for one group of nationals and eliminate any diversity from the process. We urge Senators to object to the bill moving forward by unanimous consent and reject what would be a counterproductive attempt at fixing a long-standing, complex problem.
Sincerely,
Arab American Institute
Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA)
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Emgage Action
Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC)
Italian American Democratic Leadership Council
Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Iranian American Council Action
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
Pakistani American Political Action Committee (PAKPAC Membership)
Project South
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
United Chinese Americans
United Macedonian Diaspora
United We Dream
We Strongly Encourage You Contact Your Senators with this Letter As Soon As Possible
United Chinese Americans (UCA）
美國華人聯合會
1050 Connecticut Ave, NW. Suite 500, Washington, DC 20006