A Dayton attorney says local immigrant families are rushing to file paperwork to bring relatives to the U.S. before Congress makes any changes to current laws.
Trump Administration officials have repeatedly discussed ending what they call “chain migration”, or the program that allows U.S. citizens and green card holders to sponsor family members to come to the U.S. Talk of eliminating family-preference immigrant visas has heated up in recent weeks, as Congress has debated immigration reform.That has local immigrant families scrambling to take advantage of the program
“They want to file for them now, for parents and brothers and sisters, just in the event any law that is passed would not be retroactive," said Dayton immigration attorney Karen Bradley. "So if you have something in place now, and there’s a new law a year from now, it wouldn’t apply to those things that have already been filed and are pending or approved.”
Bradley says some of her clients have been separated from their relatives for many years.
“I mean you know, you want to get your parents here. Parents are getting older, families are here they have young children. They want their families to be reunited, and be in the same place.”
A congressional deal that would have made several changes to U.S. immigration policies fell through earlier this month. There’s no word yet on when talks will resume.
Copyright 2021 WYSO. To see more, visit WYSO. 9(MDA5NTM4MTIyMDE0MTg3NDc2MTVlZjdmNQ001))