Hillary Clinton and US Immigration
Politics – Hillary Clinton’s Immigration Plan
Over the this election cycle we have been enjoying writing about the US immigration plans of each presidential candidate so that you can be informed as how their policies could impact on your future life in the US. So, if you are planning on moving to the United States anytime soon, it maybe worthwhile to get up to speed on these matters. As an immigration law firm with no political affiliations we hope you find our articles completely unbiased.
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In previous issues, we have discussed the immigration plans of Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz. We are now looking at Democratic front runner Former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The battle for the Democratic nomination is now down to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and it a real a close battle.
Hillary Clinton’s Broad Immigration Reform Goals
At the outset, Clinton’s plan for the following:
- Enacting comprehensive immigration reform to create a pathway to citizenship, keep families together, and enable millions of workers to come out of the shadows.
- Ending family detention and close private immigrant detention centers.
- Defending President Obama’s executive actions to provide deportation relief for DREAMers and parents of Americans and lawful residents, and extend those actions to additional persons with sympathetic cases if Congress refuses to act.
These goals seem to fully address how Clinton will address the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, but what does her plan really mean for those who are trying to come to the United States through the legal processes?
An End to the Three- and 10-Year Bans
Currently, anyone present in the United States without proper authorization for more than 180 days is subject to a three-year re-entry ban, and an unauthorized stay of more than a year means a 10-year ban. A person subject to the ban is not be permitted to re-enter the US for any reason unless they can prove extreme hardship to spouse or parent who is a US Citizen or Permanent Resident. To many, this seems unnecessarily harsh and encourages undocumented immigrants to stay in the shadows.
While this is not mentioned in her immigration reform plan, Clinton has committed to ending the three- and 10-year bars imposed by the current US Immigration system.
Easier Access to Citizenship for Green Card Holders
Currently, if you have had a Green Card for a certain number of years, maintained continual, phyiscal residence during that time, demonstrate a good moral character, pass a naturalization interview and pay a fee of ~$680, then you can become a United States Citizen. According to Clinton’s plan, she intends to “expand fee waivers so more people can get a break on costs; increase access to robust language programs to help people boost their English proficiency; and enhance outreach and education so more people are informed about their options and engaged in the process.”
Unknown Changes to Legal Immigration System
While her position favoring federal assistance provisions to undocumented workers and their families has been consistent since at least 2006 (though critics may have a different opinion), it is entirely unclear how electing Hillary Clinton to the White House will affect legal immigration. Hillary was in favor of the 2006 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, the 2007 McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill and the 2013 Bi-Partisan Immigration Reform Bill (writing in her memoir, Hard Choices, “I only wish that the bipartisan bill passed in the Senate in 2013 reforming our immigration laws could pass the House”). However, other than a willingness to pass any proposed comprehensive immigration reform, she has expressed no other position on immigration law outside of the reforms for those who are in the country illegally.
This is why Bernie Sanders said, speaking about immigration, “The Hillary campaign keeps trying to divert attention from their non-existent plan…” Most likely, Sanders was drawing attention to the fact that Hillary’s plan does not deal with the legal immigration process, other than to say that she is in favor of comprehensive reform.
Outside of dealing with undocumented aliens, we have other pressing immigration problems to solve such as fixing the broken H-1B Graduate and Skilled Worker programs where, due to quota restrictions, US companies cannot bring in sufficient foreign workers to fill the skills’ shortage in the US. We also have a chronic shortage of nursing and medical staff. Additionally, US companies are finding it’s almost impossible to fill vacancies for seasonal workers for the hotel and tourism industry. Finally, US Citizens looking to sponsor family members can find themselves waiting a decade to get their cases processed.
America was built and made great by immigrants, but somewhere along the line this seems to have been forgotten. Today, immigrants are often portrayed in a negative light rather than the future and hope of America. What happened?
What to Expect?
The election cycle is unpredictable, and while Clinton is in a heated battle with Bernie Sanders, for now, she remains the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
We do not endorse any candidates, and look forward to providing more information in our next issue about how the political climate will affect US Immigration.
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US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
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Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292
Everyday the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram provides a comprehensive range of US Immigration expertise. We also provide a free consultation for our prospective clients.
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Specializing in the E2 Visa, EB1 Green Card, L-1A Visa and O1 Visa and K1 Visa Marriage-Based Immigration. Attorney Chris M. Ingram is dedicated to providing the very best in US Immigration legal representation. Enjoy our website.
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