On Jan. 30, President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union (SOTU) address, where he laid out the proposed four pillars immigration reform. These four pillars seek to alleviate immigration issues that have been testing lawmakers for years such as the state of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, securing the Southern border, closing the visa lottery program, and lastly, ending chain migration.
Reducing illegal immigration is one of Trump’s best-known policy goals, but the president has insisted that keeping legal migration in check must be part of of an immigration deal.
Out of all the four pillars, the fourth one could potentially have the largest impact on Guam.
This pillar would place significant limits on legal family-based migration.
According to the president’s SOTU address, the policy proposal would replace a system based on family reunification with one that is more merit-based.
“The policy behind our current system has been reunification of family members,” said Catherine Bejerana Camacho, a local immigration attorney.
Under the plan, legal immigrants would only be able to sponsor the members of their immediate family, such as spouses and their minor children, for legal permanent residency. Legal permanent residency is the first step towards gaining citizenship.
This new policy would end the long-held practice of U.S. citizens sponsoring extended family members such as parents, siblings, fiancées, and children over the age of 21.
Family reunification
“It’s kinda unfair,” said Nathaniel Siggaot, a U.S. citizen who petitioned for his mother in the Philippines to come to Guam. “It’s better to be with your family.”
Born in Seattle and raised in the Philippines, Siggaot waited around two years to bring his mother to Guam.
“It was really hard,” Siggaot said about the petitioning process. “But when I got my mom, it was worth it.”
Marie Mimay, Siggaot’s mother, has been on Guam for less than a month and disagrees with the proposed policy. Mimay is a citizen of the Philippines who aspires to obtain U.S. citizenship so she could sponsor other members of her family.
“I wanted to come here to work for my family so we could have a better future,” Mimay said. “I do not agree with his plan because I wouldn’t be able to bring my parents, siblings, or older kids.”
“It’s gonna be depressing for other people,” Siggaot said when asked about how this policy could affect other immigrant families. “Like, there’s [always] going to be another son who’s going to try to petition his mom.”
Chain migration in the U.S.
According to a 2017 report conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies, chain migration has significantly increased new immigration over the last 35 years. About 20 million (61 percent) out of the 33 million immigrants admitted to the U.S. from 1981 to 2016 were chain migration immigrants.
According to academic studies on chain migration, each new immigrant sponsored an average of 3.45 additional immigrants.
“Between 650 and 750 thousand people within the entire United States from all over the world become citizens,” said Sharon Rummery, a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) public affairs officer. “Here in San Francisco, we usually naturalize 1200 in a ceremony and they’ll usually be from between 95 to 105 nations.”
While none of the pillars are law, Camacho encourages those who are concerned about these potential changes to contact an immigration attorney for consultation.
“I have noticed that a lot of people want to become citizens because of these potential scares, Camacho stated. “If these proposed changes could potentially affect you or your family, now’s not the time to wait. [Do not] wait to file your petition because if these policy changes do become law, then you might not be allowed to file certain types of petitions and applications.”