13. Section 531 of the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act
of 1996 (“IIRIRA”) amended INA § 212(a)( 4) to require virtually all
aliens immigrating through one of the family-based categories to submit
a legally binding affidavit of support as a condition of admission.
14. 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a); INA § 245(a).
15. Grounds of inadmissibility are numerous. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a); INA §
212(a).
16. 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a); INA § 245(a).
17. 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i); INA § 245(i) (these immigrants must pay a penalty
fee of $1,000, in addition to standard U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services fees).
18. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)( 9); INA § 212(a)( 9).
19. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)( 9)(B)(v), INA § 212(a)( 9)(B)(v).
endnotes
1. Permanent residents are permitted to live and work in the United
States, and travel in and out of the United States. They remain citizens of their country of origin until, or unless, they apply for naturalization and are sworn in as U.S. citizens.
2. Informally referred to as “green card” holders, in reference to long-gone days when the permanent resident card was green. It’s now a
hard white plastic card with holograms.
3. 8 U.S.C. § 1151; Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 201(b).
4. 8 U.S.C. § 1153(a)( 1), INA § 203(a)( 1), referred to as 1st preference category.
5. 8 U.S.C. § 1153(a)( 2)(A), INA § 203(a)( 2)(A), referred to as 2A preference category.
6. 8 U.S.C. § 1153(a)( 2)(B), INA § 203(a)( 2)(B), referred to as 2B preference category.
7. 8 U.S.C. § 1153(a)( 3), INA § 203(a)( 3), referred to as 3rd preference
category.
8. 8 U.S.C. § 1153(a)( 4), INA § 203(a)( 4), referred to as 4th preference category (the U.S. citizen petitioner must be at least 21 years of age).
9. See 8 U.S.C. § 1151, INA §203.
10. Visas are issued to beneficiaries in order of priority date, the date that a
petition for permanent residence (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Service Form I-130) is filed.
11. The Visa Bulletin issued by the Department of State is updated monthly
and advises which priority dates are current. The Department of State’s
Visa Bulletin Web site is
LOOKING FORWARD Applied to Arizona’s common scenarios, these rules result in the cre- ation of a large class of unauthorized migrants who have U.S. citizen family members, often children, but who have no way to work lawfully until they are legal and no way to become legal until the law creates a path to do so. Until there is comprehensive reform that recognizes the practical requirement to legalize the millions of relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents and provides visa quotas sufficient to prevent a future subclass of unauthorized migrants, the United States will, in effect, continue to have a virtual legalization law with no protections and no management. Such an ad hoc system provides neither border nor interior security. We can, and must, do better.
