RETROGRESSION UPDATE
As americans count the days before Obama formally takes office on January 20 next year, filipino nurses are also looking forward to how an Obama presidency will positively impact their american dream in the midst of a seemingly never-ending visa retrogression.
On his website, President-elect Barack Obama has outlined his administration's approach in addressing the ever-polarizing issue of immigration. Obama's immigration policies can be summarized by these three points:
1. America's borders must be secured
2. America's immigration system must be improved
3. Provide a path to legalization for undocument immigrants
What's vital for filipino nurses is Obama's resolve to fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.
The prospect of the visa retrogression getting lifted in 2009 is good if Obama's blueprint for change becomes a reality.
"The time to fix our broken immigration system is now… We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace… But for reform to work, we also must respond to what pulls people to America… Where we can reunite families, we should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with the skills our economy needs, we should."Related Article:-- Barack Obama, Statement on U.S. Senate Floor
May 23, 2007
