White House to Present Congress with Immigration Reform Plan on January 29, 2018

By: Angelita Chavez-Halaka, Elizabeth Goings & Omar Nazarkhan

The White House is planning to present Congress with a proposal on immigration reform that would harness bipartisan support.   You can find a copy of the announcement online at Whitehouse.gov.

The proposal is set to be released on Monday, January 29, 2018, and would outline and further detail four issues surrounding immigration legislation:

1. Secure the Northern and Southern border of the United States.
2. Ending extended-family reunification visas. Specifically, the Whitehouse proposal would limit family sponsorships to spouses and minor children only (for both Citizens and LPRs). These changes would apply prospectively, not retroactively, by processing the “backlog.”
3. Cancel the visa lottery. The proposal seeks to eliminate lottery and reallocating the visas to reduce the family-based “backlog” and high-skilled employment “backlog.”
4. Provide a permanent solution on DACA. The proposal would allow for a 10-12 year path to citizenship and clear eligibility requirements to mitigate fraud.  This status would be subject to revocation for criminal conduct or public safety and national security concerns, public charge, fraud, etc.

Please keep in mind, these announcements are proposals and it will take an act of Congress to pass or change the existing law.

If you have any questions about your specific situation, we urge you to call your legal professional.

Chugh, LLP will continue to monitor any updates. To learn more about this alert, subscribe to our newsletter, or talk to one of our immigration practitioners, please email us at info@chugh.com.  We also encourage you to share this and future alerts with others who might benefit from its content.

Resource

Whitehouse.gov. “White House Framework on Immigration Reform & Border Security”. Issued January 25, 2018
Interpreter Releases Daily. “White House Plans to Offer Legislative Framework for Immigration Reform” . (January 25, 2018).