Amendment to Recapture Unused Immigrant Visa Numbers Advances in House
/On June 24, 2022, Representative Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) introduced this measure as an amendment to fiscal 2023 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security. Lawmakers moved forward with a proposal that would salvage unused green cards from the past three decades and make them available to immigrants stuck in long backlogs. This would reverse travel bans created by the Trump administration, making visas available to immigrants who weren’t allowed into the country. Recovering the expired visa numbers would tender new hope to immigrants who have been stuck in decades long backlogs. There are 140,000 employment-based green cards and 226,000 green cards available each year for nonimmediate family members. About 200,000 immigrant visas went unused last year as USCIS dealt with pandemic-induced strains, bureaucratic changes imposed by the Trump administration. The majority of backlogged employment-based green card applications are for immigrants from India and China, many who are already living and working in the US.
