When people think about the immigration history of New Jersey, the contributions that Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans have made are undeniable. With the large Asian-American population in New Jersey, there are likely many responses to the proposed immigration reform that is being discussed in Congress. While many Asian-Americans are concerned about potential losses of family-based immigration categories, others are pleased that they may finally have a pathway to citizenship.
One of the hottest topics within immigration reform is creating a way to naturalize the roughly millions of immigrants in the country who do not have the legal permission to be here. While many people in New Jersey may think these immigrants to be only Latinos, there are more than 1 million from Asia. Although we may not instinticvely think of unauthorized immigrants from Asia, there are sizable populations from China, India, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam.
What has really raised Asian-American concerns, however, is the fact that both the immigration bill that was passed in the Senate and the immigration bill that is currently being discussed in the House plan to restrict family-based immigration. Though spouses and unmarried, dependent children will still be able to be sponsored by American citizens, siblings and married, adult children may be left out. Though no immigration bill has become law, it appears that a few family-based immigration categories are being sacrificed to create new visas for highly skilled workers and unauthorized immigrants.
Currently, however, family-based immigration is still a possibility for anyone in New Jersey hoping to bring his or her family members to the U.S.
Source: Los Angeles Times, “Asians urged to apply for family visas, in case they're done away with,” Cindy Chang, July 30, 2013
