Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in introducing the Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act to eliminate the family and employment green card backlog. Almost four million future Americans are on the State Department’s immigrant visa waiting list, in addition to hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. who are also waiting for green cards. However, under current law, only 226,000 family green cards and 140,000 employment green cards are available annually. Children and spouses of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) count against these numbers, further restricting the number of available green cards.
“Too many hardworking families are stuck in limbo waiting for their green cards, burdening our broken immigration system and hurting businesses that rely on these workers,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This bill provides much-needed relief to the many Nevada families and employees who are facing unending backlogs
The RELIEF Act is cosponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
Along with eliminating the family and employment green card backlog within five years, this bill will help keep American families together by classifying spouses and children of LPRs as immediate relatives and exempting derivative beneficiaries of employment-based petitions from annual green card limits. It will also protect “aging out” children who qualify for LPR status based on a parent’s immigration petition and lift per-country limitations.
Specifically, the RELIEF Act will:
- Eliminate the family and employment green card backlog within five years in the order in which applications were filed;
- Keep American families together by classifying spouses and children of LPRs as immediate relatives and exempting derivative beneficiaries of employment-based petitions from annual green card limits;
- Protect “aging out” children who qualify for LPR status based on a parent’s immigration petition; and
- Lift per-country limitations.
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