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4-Jun-07 4:00 PM EST

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Calls Needed Today to Protect Families!

Urge Your Senators to Vote for the Following Amendments!

The current immigration bill being considered by the Senate contains provisions that severely limit the ability of families to be reunited. The following amendments will help America keep its promise to promote family values.

Menendez-Hagel Amendment

• The current Senate immigration bill will clear only part of the family-based backlog. United States citizens who submitted applications for adult children or siblings after May 1, 2005, the “cut- off date,” will lose their place in line and be punished for playing by the rules.

• The Menendez-Hagel amendment would change the “cut-off” date for legal immigrant applicants from May 1, 2005 to January 1, 2007 – the same “cut-off date” set for the legalization of undocumented immigrants.

Clinton-Hagel-Menendez Amendment

• Current immigration law and the current Senate immigration bill limit the number of green cards available to spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to 87,900 per year. This has resulted in a backlog of over 1 million family members who wait five or more years.

• The Clinton-Hagel-Menendez amendment will re-categorize spouses and children of LPRs as “immediate relatives,” thereby eliminating the cap on the number of visas available to these family members, allowing permanent residents of the U.S. to reunite with their spouses and minor children.

Dodd-Menendez Amendment

• The current Senate immigration bill would set an annual cap for green cards for parents of U.S. citizens at 40,000 (less than half the current annual average number of green cards issued to these parents). It would also create a new family visitor visa program that only allows parents of U.S. citizens and spouses and minor children of immigrants going through the legalization process to visit for 30 days per year and includes overly harsh collective penalties for overstaying.

• The Dodd-Menendez amendment would increase the annual cap of green cards from 40,000 to 90,000 for parents. It would also extend the duration of the family visitor visa from 30 days to 180 days and make the visa renewable for three years in order to make it easier for families to remain together for a longer period. Additionally, it would make penalties levied on individuals who overstay their visa only applicable to that individual and not collectively applied to their fellow citizens.

Obama-Menendez Amendment

• The current Senate immigration bill proposes a merit-based point system to replace the current systems of family-based and employment-based immigration. This system would separate millions of families and inhibit businesses from hiring experts in various fields. This departure from 100 years of immigration tradition has not been tested, and its impact on American families and society is unknown.

• The Obama-Menendez Amendment would “sunset” or repeal the point system after five years of implementation. Congress could then renew the point system or reinstate revised versions of the historically used family-based and employment-based systems – whichever serves the American people best. This amendment would not change the bill’s purpose or substance – but it would safeguard our immigration system and ensure that only the best practices are permanently implemented

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be directly connected to your Senators’ offices. Urge both your Senators to support the Menendez-Hagel, Clinton-Hagel-Menendez, Dodd and Obama-Menendez Amendments today!