Falling in love with someone from another country is not a crime.
- by: Equity in Globalization
- recipient: President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III
This year, tens of thousands of Americans are separated from their loved ones and families, who wait for months and often years for a U.S. visa, hostages to an immigration bureaucracy notorious both for its inefficiency and insensitivity. The price of a U.S. visa has quadrupled in recent years, yet the process remains slow and punitive. As globalization has increased, more Americans are marrying people from other countries. and U.S. immigration services should reflect the realities of a globalized world. Join us calling for basic reforms in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Citizenship and Immigration Services Head Alejandro Mayorkas, and FBI Director John Mueller, and to President Barack Obama. Thank you.
Dear Secretary Clinton, Director Mayorkas, and Director Mueller:
We, the undersigned families and friends of American citizens who are separated from their loved ones this holiday season, ask that you take action to reform the legal immigration process. While politicians argue over illegal immigration, hundreds of thousands of American citizens undergo needless pain and uncertainty because of an immigration process that is punitive rather than positive. The focus of this petition is on facilitating the reunification of immediate families (spouses and children) of U.S. citizens and, secondarily, naturalized citizens. Specifically we request the following:
1. Institute a 90-day limit on security checks, the so-called "administrative processing" and "administrative review" which petitioners face at the consular level. When the 90-day limit is exceeded, the petitioner should be able to call for a supervisory review and given a reason for the delay.
2. In the spirit of President Obama's emphasis on transparency and accountability, it is imperative that the agencies release statistics on the number of applicants whose applications are undergoing administrative processing/review, and issue specific information on processing times for as long as such information has been tracked by the relevant agencies.
3. Require that the relevant agencies provide specific reasons when a family-based visa application has been denied. Because of the enormous increases in application fees, we also believe that the immigration authorities must provide a brief mechanism for appealing visa denials in the case of family visas, or a simplified method for re-applying, with a lifetime cap on fees.
4. Appoint a commission to examine the entire legal immigration system as it affects U.S. citizens and their families. The primary focus should be streamlining the visa process and eliminating elements of the process that keep families, particularly spouses and children, apart for long periods of time. This review should include both an analysis of waivers and an investigation of denials of visitor visas. The question of racial, ethnic, and religious profiling in denials of visitor visas, although uncomfortable for many, should also be studied as part of the overall review. As a nation, we need to ask whether our immigration system reinforces historic inequities based on race and ethnicity.
The commission's final report should highlight reforms that streamline the current system and eliminate or significantly reduce delays, and bring the legal immigration system in line with U.S. standards of transparency and accountability. The overall aim is to reduce average processing time for spouses and children of U.S. citizens to six months or less.
Thank you for your consideration.
The Petitioners
Sign PetitionSign PetitionWe, the undersigned families and friends of American citizens who are separated from their loved ones this holiday season, ask that you take action to reform the legal immigration process. While politicians argue over illegal immigration, hundreds of thousands of American citizens undergo needless pain and uncertainty because of an immigration process that is punitive rather than positive. The focus of this petition is on facilitating the reunification of immediate families (spouses and children) of U.S. citizens and, secondarily, naturalized citizens. Specifically we request the following:
1. Institute a 90-day limit on security checks, the so-called "administrative processing" and "administrative review" which petitioners face at the consular level. When the 90-day limit is exceeded, the petitioner should be able to call for a supervisory review and given a reason for the delay.
2. In the spirit of President Obama's emphasis on transparency and accountability, it is imperative that the agencies release statistics on the number of applicants whose applications are undergoing administrative processing/review, and issue specific information on processing times for as long as such information has been tracked by the relevant agencies.
3. Require that the relevant agencies provide specific reasons when a family-based visa application has been denied. Because of the enormous increases in application fees, we also believe that the immigration authorities must provide a brief mechanism for appealing visa denials in the case of family visas, or a simplified method for re-applying, with a lifetime cap on fees.
4. Appoint a commission to examine the entire legal immigration system as it affects U.S. citizens and their families. The primary focus should be streamlining the visa process and eliminating elements of the process that keep families, particularly spouses and children, apart for long periods of time. This review should include both an analysis of waivers and an investigation of denials of visitor visas. The question of racial, ethnic, and religious profiling in denials of visitor visas, although uncomfortable for many, should also be studied as part of the overall review. As a nation, we need to ask whether our immigration system reinforces historic inequities based on race and ethnicity.
The commission's final report should highlight reforms that streamline the current system and eliminate or significantly reduce delays, and bring the legal immigration system in line with U.S. standards of transparency and accountability. The overall aim is to reduce average processing time for spouses and children of U.S. citizens to six months or less.
Thank you for your consideration.
The Petitioners
See more petitions:
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.