Family Reunification

Family Reunification: Reunite families in a timely fashion by streamlining our outdated immigration policies.

Family reunification is the cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy, but current backlogs force many families to endure long waiting lists and long separations.

There are two kinds of backlogs. At the end of the immigration process, when an immigrant visa is available to the immigrant, there may be an administrative backlog due to the fact that the immigration service may not have sufficient resources to handle its workload. Delays in the process of adjudicating the permanent resident visa, or “green card,” have recently been as long as two years. These backlogs can be dealt with by giving the immigration agency more resources to handle its workload.

However, a much longer backlog has developed because the number of visas available by law each year is less than the number of prospective immigrants getting in line to wait for a visa. This problem cannot be solved by making the immigration services agency, now housed at the Department of Homeland Security, more efficient. It will only be resolved by reforming our immigration system so that the number of visas available better meets demand.

In fact, it takes many years, and sometimes more than a decade, for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to be reunited with their family members under U.S. immigration law. If a U.S. citizen mother signs up to sponsor her unmarried son right now, it will take him over 4 years to join her in the United States. If the son is a citizen of Mexico, his mother will have to wait for 9 years before they can reunite. If the son is a citizen of the Philippines, the U.S. citizen mother will be forced to wait for more than 13 years.

Faced with such lengthy separations from their U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members, some people overstay short term visas or even risk being smuggled into the United States in order to be with their families. A wider legal channel for the reunification of families will not only strengthen families and communities here in the United States, it will reduce the incentive for unauthorized immigration.

The emphasis we place in our immigration law on the reunification of families makes sense. It helps newcomers adapt to their new home as family members help each other adjust to their new surroundings by pooling resources and sharing responsibilities. Additionally, immigrants coming to the U.S. as a result of family ties also become valuable contributors to our economy. Finally, strong families help stabilize communities.

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© 2003 Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union