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Immigrant Migration

Decent Essays

There are two types of migrants, especially families, that have been affected by IIRIRA, legal migrants and illegal migrants. It is the different treatment of these two migrants under the law for family reunification benefits that create a hierarchy of mixed status families, which prioritizes wealthier, fairer and better educated migrants over those who are low-income, non-white and less educated. The profiles legal migrant spouses, such visa-overstaying and legal permanent residents, are vastly different than the profiles of undocumented spouses entering the border illegally. Migrants seeking any type of temporary visa for the US is required to prove sufficient funds to cover all costs of the trip and intent to depart after the completion of one’s trip (Bureau of Consular Affairs). …show more content…

Section 245(a) enacted prior to IIRIRA allows eligible immigrants, those who entered legally and fell out of status, to adjust their immigration status from within the US, this often reduces the time and costs needed to change one’s status without having to be separated from one’s family. However, undocumented spouses, who did not enter the US legally, must adjust their status through Consular Processing. Upon leaving the country, the undocumented spouse triggers the 3 or 10-year (sometimes permanent) bars. Given that these migrants are from a lower socioeconomic background, the time away from their families and partaking in the immigration process results in loss earnings and debt, this is a reason why most undocumented migrants are hesitant to start the immigration process unless they are forced to, by providing their information they risk being separated from their families forever. Thus, the 3 year and 10 years bars disproportionately affect the undocumented spouses of US citizens than it does visa-overstaying spouses of US

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