As President Trump continues his call to limit family-based immigration, an increasing number of immigrants residing in the US are filing petitions to bring eligible family members to America, in case an immigration bill restricting family reunification is eventually passed. Currently, the US immigration system allows for family reunification (what President Trump derisively calls “chain migration,”) where in certain cases Green Card holders or citizens can sponsor eligible relatives to come to the US. President Trump has proposed limiting family-based immigration to immediate family members, including spouses and minor children, and restricting it for parents, siblings, and adult children.
Read moreReuters: “Fewer family visas approved as Trump toughens vetting of immigrants”
As the Trump administration campaigns against “chain migration”—where US citizens or Green Card holders petition for extended family members to immigrate to the US—approvals of family-based visas have dropped dramatically in the 2017 fiscal year despite no changes to law. Within the first nine months of 2017, the number of I-130 approvals dropped to 406,000, compared to the 530,000 approvals from the same time period in 2016, despite a similar amount of applications, a Reuters review of US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) figures show.
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