Bipartisan Michigan Lawmakers Want Congress To Speed Up Green Card Process

Michigan Advance

March 23, 2022

In bipartisan fashion, two Michigan lawmakers have called for their colleagues to support federal legislation designed to help more immigrants obtain green cards to work and help build the American economy.

State Rep. Padma Kuppa (D-Troy), the Michigan Legislature’s first Indian immigrant and Hindu lawmaker, introduced House Resolution 248 on March 8 to urge the federal government to enact legislation that would “help address our worker shortage, particularly in the STEM fields, by reforming the per-country caps or numerical limits on employment-based immigration.”

State Rep. Jack O’Malley (R-Lake Ann) is a lead co-sponsor of the non-binding resolution.

“By removing country-specific caps, over a million people stuck in the backlog who are working and living in the United States, and thousands here in Michigan, will be able to get their green cards,” said Kuppa, who is co-chair of Asian-Pacific American Caucus. “These country caps restrict a person’s ability to work, travel, contribute to our society, and can also suppress wages, making us less attractive to global talent and hinder our competitiveness.”

The resolution asks Congress to pass the bipartisan effort House Resolution 3648 sponsored by U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) The legislation modifies requirements related to employment-based visas and addresses related issues. U.S. Reps. Brenda Lawrence (D-Southfield) and Haley Stevens (D-Rochester Hills) are co-sponsors.

Rebeka Islam, Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote – Michigan, executive director, supports the Kuppa and O’Malley effort.

“We’ve seen how worker shortages throughout the pandemic have impacted all of us,” said Islam, a Bangladeshi American who moved to the U.S. at age 6. “What’s frustrating is we know if the green card issue were addressed, that close to a million people could potentially help fill this gap. We’ve seen how businesses have closed this gap throughout history by hiring immigrants who are motivated and extremely hard-working. Lifting the caps could address this serious predicament we find ourselves in now. Reforming or eliminating numerical caps would help keep families together, it would help address labor shortages and get people to work, and it would benefit Michigan and its economy overall.”

The Green Card Backlog Coalition, a national group advocating passage of House Resolution 3648, has continually challenged federal lawmakers to act.

“Due to the green card backlog, the people from India are forced to wait for more than 50 years when the rest of the world gets it in six months,” the Green Card Backlog Coalition writes on its website. “This wait comes with tremendous personal and economic costs. Even though they have been living in America and contributing to the economy.”

Similarly, Michigan People’s Campaign, a statewide organization geared toward economic and racial justice, also backs HR 248.

“House Resolution 248 is a decisive first step toward acknowledging and dismantling outdated immigration policies still on the books from the Jim Crow era. Michigan People’s Campaign stands with all allies that recognize that the path to U.S. citizenship is not yet equally accessible for all immigrant communities due to country caps, said Ken Whittaker, executive director of the Michigan People’s Campaign. “In 2022, Congress needs to do more to address the social and economic cost of the current barriers to citizenship for Michigan families.”

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) “is absolutely supportive of efforts to address the appalling green card backlog and USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] delays in an equitable manner,” said spokesman Denzel McCampbell. “She looks forward to continuing to work with advocates on all levels of government to push for change.”

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