79 PERCENT OF VOTERS AGREE

Dear Friend,

The fight for immigration reform is about more than Barack Obama's unconstitutional actions. 

True conservative immigration reform requires an end to chain migration, a process that allows one foreign national to bring over foreign-born relatives, who sponsor their relatives, resulting in entire extended families resettling in our country–in other words, it prioritizes distant family members above merit and expertise.

Think about this: In the past 35 years alone, 20 million people came to this country simply because some relative had a green card. 

For decades, special interest groups and politicians have resorted to emotional appeals to block needed reforms. As conservatives, we must prioritize sound policy.

Let's consider those currently in the unlawful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program–a limited group of 690,000 illegal immigrants. 

76 percent come from Mexico. 

The Department of Homeland Security reports that Mexican immigrants sponsor an average of 6.38 additional persons via chain migration. If given permanent legal status, each of those people could potentially sponsor their relatives as well. 

Unless Congress gets at the root of our broken immigration system, even a narrowly tailored amnesty could result in three to four million additional green card holders. 

As my colleague Mike Needham explained last week on Fox News Sunday, this debate is "over whether or not we could give amnesty to illegal immigrants who are here, and have chain migration allowing them to bring distant relatives."

Our immigration system needs drastic reform, and it must start with chain migration. 

Recent polling suggests 79 percent of voters want a system that prioritizes highly educated and skilled immigrants. Merit-based immigration makes sense for the 325 million Americans and those who would legally become citizens. 

Take a minute to share the White House graphic on chain migration below. 

Thank you for standing with us and the President on this critical priority. 

Dan Holler
Vice President
Heritage Action for America

P.S. Take a few minutes to read Heritage Action's latest brief: Time to Shut Down Chain Migration