Chain Migration - Problems Associated With Chain Migration

Problems Associated With Chain Migration

Currently there is a movement against chain migration and its effects. Specifically, the family reunification emphasis of the Hart-Celler Act had the unintended consequence of dramatically increasing levels of migration in general and chain migration in particular. FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a conservative think tank, promotes the idea that, “chain migration-and the expectations and long lines it produces-increases illegal immigration. Additionally FAIR argues that, “illegal aliens given amnesty by Congress in 1986 are now fueling naturalization in record numbers. As these former illegal aliens become citizens, all of their immediate relatives qualify to come immediately to the United States, and start new migration chains of their own.”

NumbersUSA, a group that lobbies Congress for lower levels of immigration, states that, “one of the chief culprits in America's current record-breaking population boom and all the attendant sprawl, congestion, school overcrowding, and other impacts that reduce American's quality of life." NumbersUSA cites the tradition of chain migration to America as a main cause for creating incentives for undocumented immigration.

NumbersUSA, FAIR, and other groups are working to change immigration law to limit chain migration favor. NumbersUSA cites a specific bill it supports. “On Feb. 4, 2009, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) introduced the Nuclear Family Priority Act (H.R. 878). The bill would eliminate the extended family visa categories (e.g., married sons and daughters of citizens, etc.), thus ending “chain migration” as recommended by the bi-partisan Barbara Jordan Commission in 1997.”

Some academics agree. Massey et al. argue that while immediate family immigration provisions were created to promote and stabilize the family unit in American immigration and society, family reunification visas for extended family, such as adult siblings, are unnecessary when faced with rising immigration numbers. Massey et al. support eliminating those quotas.