Emerging Amnesty Bill Favors Filippinos

The stakes in Washington D.C. are incredibly high for people on all sides of the pending immigration bill. With two to three amendments being voted on every day, and at all hours, it is difficult to predict what the final product will be. However the merit based point system discussed below provides real benefits to Philippine immigrants. Also Senate will vote on closing further debate and amendment votes on the bill Thursday night in a bid to keep the immigration bill in some recognizable form that will still appeal to a majority of both the Senate and House of Representatives.

The guest worker program parts of the bill, seen to primarily benefit immigrants from Mexico and South America, has been cut in half from 400,000 to 200,000 workers, has been limited to a five year program and in the early hours of the Thursday morning narrowly avoided total elimination from immigration reform bill altogether by one vote.

Also under attack has been the new merit-based “point system” developed for ranking eligible immigrants seeking legal permanent residency. Senator Barack Obama lost a vote to remove a new point system for those seeking permanent resident "green cards" after five years rather than 14 years.

Also defeated were provisions that would render persons with prior deportation orders ineligible for the new immigration reform benefits proposed by Senator Cornyn. Sadly one of the most anticipated relief measures elimination of the family based category backlogs was also defeated, as was an amendment from Sen. Clinton to remove limits on visas for the spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents.

As this bill has developed, one of the clear emerging winners will be immigrants from the Pacific Rim including the Philippines. Although many groups have hotly contested this bill’s negative impact on family based immigration, the point system favors in many respects immigrants from the Philippines who are educated, speak English and have extended family ties in the United States.

Allocations of points are roughly as follows:

1. Employment factors including the demand for the job, skills, national importance, an employer endorsement, and age and experience of the worker contribute to a potential 47 of 100 points. This allocation of points heavily favors educated English speaking professionals which represent a substantial percentage of Philippine immigrants. 2. Associate, Bachelor’s and Graduate degrees can add 10, 16 and 20 points to this total. 3. English speakers gain 15 points, English being historically spoken the Philippines and taught in the school system provides a substantial advantage to Philippine immigrants. 4. Adult sons and daughters of Citizens (8 points) legal permanent residents (6 points) or brothers and sisters of Citizens (4 points) also gain credit for family relationships, and past immigration applications (2 points) all gain an advantage over “new” immigrants with no prior family connections.

As a long-time practitioner of immigration law serving immigrants from the Philippines I see a substantial advantage for many Philippine immigrants over other nationalities. Although this may not be perceived as “fair” by other immigrant groups, it is important for immigration attorneys to make a shrewd assessment and determine how their clients will benefit from the new laws.

I continue to monitor developments with immigration reform at both the public level and in consultation with lobbyists in Washington D.C., and I believe the ultimate outcome of this legislation may be a significant boon for our clients from the Philippines.

Robert J. DuPont is the founding attorney for The Law Offices of Robert J. DuPont. Mr. DuPont graduated from Yale University and USC Law School. He is admitted to the California Supreme Court, Federal District Courts in the Central and Northern Districts of California, as well as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. DuPont has been a speaker at ILW, a leading immigration law publisher. He was the founder of the Immigration Law Committee with the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Mr. DuPont has risen to prominence with over a decade’s practice in the field of immigration law. He has brought cases to their successful conclusion before the EOIR, BIA, AAO, Federal District Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

A similar version of this article may have been published in the Asian Journal.