Protecting Immigrant Families

The Senate voted today to continue debate on the immigration bill until this evening when they will decide whether to end the debate and bring it to a vote.

The Senates bipartisan immigration reform bill will change Americas long-standing policy from a family-based to a skill- and economic-based immigration system. If this immigration bill becomes a reality, non-English speaking immigrants including Chinese immigrants will be the hardest hit.

The new bill uses English ability and professional skills as priorities for admitting immigrants. The bills supporters believe that this will bring higher standards of immigrants to America. This could help revitalize the American economy and lessen the burden on the welfare system. From this point of view, this seems to make sense.

But we should consider whether immigration laws should be concerned with economic benefits. Immigration laws are also human rights laws these laws need to have the rights of the immigrant applicants in mind.

The right to reunite with your family in America is a right that should not be taken away. An immigration policy that looks at English ability and professional skills is not only inhumane but discriminatory. Because the new law unfairly benefits immigrants from English-speaking countries, it alienates Chinese or Spanish-speaking immigrants.

An understanding of English allows immigrants to assimilate quickly into American life. Being able to speak English is a necessity. Most immigrants will proactively learn English without being required to do so by the government.

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