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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Congress split on immigration policy; panel to debate granting more visas, easing the restrictions on family members WASHINGTON - As Congress tries to decide how to control illegal immigration, a pivotal question facing lawmakers is whether they should increase the number of visas. In the emotionally charged immigration debate, the issue has created a deep split between those who say the scarcity of visas compels immigrants to enter the country illegally, and others who argue that too much legal migration has encouraged illegal entries by extended family members. This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is to consider a proposal that would increase the number of green cards, or permanent visas, for unskilled workers and ease restrictions on visas for immediate family members of citizens. With 500,000 illegal crossings each year, the demand for green cards for unskilled workers greatly exceeds the 5,000 to 10,000 that are available, immigration advocates maintain. "That one fact is why people are not coming through legal channels," said Cecilia Muñoz, a vice president at the National Council of La Raza. But immigration restrictionists want Congress to cut back the number of green cards now available. "You start reducing the mentality of a right to immigrate," said James R. Edwards, who studied the issue for the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports tighter immigration controls. There are 81 visa categories for "nonimmigrants," which include temporary workers, students and visitors. Among the "immigrant" categories are people who are requesting asylum, who already have jobs lined up or who are relatives of citizens or legal residents. In the fiscal year that ended last October, the United States issued nearly 5.4 million visitor visas and more than 401,000 immigrant visas, according to the State Department. In some categories, the number of immigrant visas issued was lower than the number available because of the backlog. As the immigration bill is being readied for Senate floor debate in early April, lawmakers are weighing whether the legislation should include an increase in the number of permanent visas available to families and low-skilled workers. There are now 480,000 visas available each year for relatives of citizens and residents with green cards, but the waiting list is long. Legal permanent residents from Mexico who applied in June 1999 for permission to bring a spouse or minor children to the United States, for instance, are just now getting the required visas. "If you are told that your spouse or minor child cannot be here for the next six or seven years because of the backlog, that's an incentive for them to get here illegally," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. But opponents of proposals to bolster the number of visas argue that an increase in green cards in recent years has led to a rise in illegal immigration, largely because of what they call "chain migration" by distant relatives. "Illegal immigration has risen as legal immigration has risen," said Caroline Espinoza of Numbers USA. The number of visas available to people who have been promised jobs now totals 140,000. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has proposed raising the cap to 290,000. For unskilled workers and their spouses and children who are in that category, Specter's proposal would increase the number of visas available to at least 87,000 from about 5,000 to 10,000. Current illegal immigrants who were employed in the United States before Jan. 4, 2004, would be eligible for "gold cards" that would let them continue working here but not allow them to get green cards or citizenship unless they return to their home countries.
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