US senators introduce bill to reunite immigrant families, reduce visa backlogs

Two Democratic Party Senators on Wednesday introduced legislation aimed at reuniting immigrant families and raising the per-country family-based immigration caps, allowing more visas to go to a single country such as India and China. Introduced by Senators Mazie K Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Tammy Duckworth introduced the Reuniting Families Act, which would promote family unity in the country’s immigration system, reduce the family-based immigration backlogs, and update laws to reflect how families immigrate to the US. “As the only immigrant currently serving in the US Senate, I am proud to introduce the Reuniting Families Act to update our country’s family immigration system and promote family unity,” said Hirono. Duckworth said, “Our country’s broken immigration system is riddled with unnecessary barriers that have created backlogs and kept families apart for years.” “This legislation would implement common sense reforms to help end family-based backlogs, which keep too many with approved green card applications stuck in bureaucratic limbo, and get more families where they belong—together,” he said. "The Reuniting Families Act offers smart and moral policies, such as recapturing unused visas lost to bureaucratic delay and repealing the harsh and ineffective immigration bars that separate families, to help end the decades-long backlogs and finally begin the process of modernising our family-based immigration system," he said.