B.

CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAW

Although amended, the Immigration and Nationality Act

of 1952 is still the basic statute dealing with immigration and nationality. It not only recodified existing law but made many changes. Built upon three basic premises family reunification, protecting available jobs for the domestic labor force, and control of alien visitors the act nevertheless maintained the national origin quota However, it also provided for:

system.

(1)

permanent, limited immigration according to
preferences for certain relatives of United
States citizens and resident aliens and for

immigrants with special skills;

(2) visa requirements for visitors;

(3)

(4)

(5)

grounds for exclusion of undesirable aliens;

a double screening barrier requiring both a
visa and port of entry admission; and

deportation grounds, procedures and relief

from deportation.

The basic underlying selection factor of the 1924 act was the national origin quota, not occupational status or relationship to persons already residing in the United States. Criticized with some vigor from the very beginning, by 1952 opposition to the national origins quota system had become

quite vociferous.

But the opposition was not sufficient

to prevent enactment of a new law, over Presidential veto,

with the national origin quota provision intact.

1965 Amendments

By 1965 the major political issue concerning immigration was the national origins quota system and its validity as a basis for selecting immigrants to the United States.

In 1963, amendments to the Immigration and Nationality
Act of 1952 were introduced which brought the

national origins quota system into question. On October 3, 1965 the amendments were signed into law and comprise the system under which immigration operates today.

The 1965 amendments abolished national origin quotas as the basis for admission to the United States and substituted family relationship and needed talents or skills as the prerequisites for immigration.

The visitor

and deportation related features of the 1952 act were retained as was a revised form of the preference system. The major provisions of the act are as follows:

1.

Reunification of families is the foremost

consideration for gaining immigration admissibility.

The closer the family relationship to a U.S.

citizen or permanent resident alien, the higher
the preference.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Preference for admission is also available

for individuals who possess certain special
talents or skills: a) professionals or those
with exceptional ability in the arts or sciences;
and b) skilled or unskilled workers who can
fill specific labor needs in short supply.
Individuals admitted under these provisions
must obtain a labor certification from the
Secretary of Labor.

Annual ceilings of 170,000 for Eastern Hemisphere
natives and for the first time, 120,000 for
Western Hemisphere natives were established.

Western

The preference system as outlined below applies
to Eastern Hemisphere immigration.
Hemisphere immigration is first come

serve.*

first

Spouses and children of U.S. citizens and parents

of citizens over 21 years of age are exempt from
the numerical ceilings.

For the Eastern Hemisphere, a foreign state

7.

Labor certification controls were strengthened

to control the influx of skilled and unskilled

foreign workers.

The new preference system went into effect on December 1, 1965, while the system of hemispheric ceilings was not effective until July 1, 1968. (See Charts 1 and 2.)

Considerable attention was given to the nature of the new preference system. Prior to 1965, skilled workers and professionals who had pre-arranged employment were classified as first preference immigrants and allotted fifty percent of each national quota. This preference was used infrequently and the emphasis upon skilled labor over relatives was largely reversed by the 1965 amendments which decreased reliance on imported workers. Three of the first five preference classes are allotted to relatives of U.S. citizens. The percentage of the total limitation

accorded to the relative classes rose from 50% to 74%. Only professionals are placed ahead of any of the relative classes. Moreover, an additional 6% of the limitation was set aside for the new refugee preference,

The

leaving only 20% for workers and their families (10% for professionals; 10% for skilled or unskilled workers). worker preferences cannot benefit from "fall down" portions of higher preference allocations whereas the

-

unused

relative preference can, and workers, both professional and nonprofessional, are subjected to an affirmative labor certification requirement.

CHART 1

NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS ON IMMIGRATION VISAS

Some form of numerical limitation has been imposed on immigration into the United States since 1921, although certain classes of immigrants have traditionally been able to obtain visas outside of these limitations. Outlined below are the basic elements of the amendments of the Immigration and Nationality Act by the Act of October 3, 1965. Act of October 3, 1965