Federal immigration policy determines who may immigrate to the U.S., how or if they may become citizens, and many aspects of their lives once here. It does not apply to persons born in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, as these are native-born U.S. citizens.
Legal immigrants and categories under which they may enter the U.S.: Immigrants who enter the U.S. legally today are most likely to do so as a spouse or child of a citizen or permanent resident, or as another family member. The next largest groups enter under an employment-based preference or as a refugee/asylee. Diversity immigrants come from a variety of countries under a "lottery" system without respect to the number entering from their countries via other visa groups.
In 1965, a major revision of immigration law set quotas for these various groups. These quotas indicate the primary foci for U.S.immigration policy:
o Employer need and employment-based preferences, including high-level professionals and entrepreneurs who provide work for others
o Family reunification, especially with immediate relatives
o For citizens
o For other permanent residents (lower
priority)
o Human rights issues related to needs for refuge, asylum or other protected status
o Diversity of country of origin
The quotas for these different groups are complicated. For example, the total quota for familybased immigration is 480,000, but immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are exempt, and actual totals generally exceed 600,000.
The 1965 diversity requirement set a maximum for each country of 7 percent of the total immigration in a given year (excluding refugees), now slightly over 25,000 per year. As a result, legalimmigration from Mexico, China, India and the Philippines, the countries that send us the mostimmigrants, is markedly lower than it would be if entry from a country were proportionate to those who
wanted to come.
Temporary visitors: Federal policy also determines who may enter the U.S. on a temporary basis, for instance as a tourist, a student or a guest worker. Temporary work quotas are also complicated. For example, in 2005 the quota for skilled professional workers was 65,000, but the actual number of these temporary workers was roughly 124,000. This number includes 20,000 workers with advanced degrees, not counted against the quota, who worked for the government, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.
Temporary visitors should have little relevance for permanent immigration, but 25 to 40 percent of unauthorized immigrants are individuals who have overstayed temporary visas. Adjustment from temporary to permanent status is frequent.
Quotas as policy: Much of the current focus on control stems in part from the very visible increase in immigration over the last several decades. This is true even though the percentage of immigrants today in terms of current population figures is no larger than it was in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Nationally our foreign-born percentage increased from less than 5 percent in 1970, its lowest point since before 1850 when records were first kept to between 12 and 13 percent in 2005.
In 1990, our foreign-born were concentrated in a few states. Only five coastal states showed 12 percent or higher. Today, 14 states do. Many states remain below the 12 percent threshold, but have experienced a doubling or tripling of the percentage of foreign-born. This marked increase has been a major factor in nationalizing the attention paid to immigration.
Status under which visas were granted for
permanent residence in 2005 (USCIS)
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens 39%
Other family sponsored preferences 19%
Refugees/asylees 13%
Diversity programs 4%
Other 3%
Employment based preferences 22%
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