Obama admin proposes new immigration policy

Washington, Jan 21: The newly elected Barack Obama administration have proposed a new immigration policy, which favours increase in number of the legal immigrants in the country. This could be a boon to Indians planning to visit United States. Reports suggest that governmental statistics of the past have indicated that majority of the Indians are legal immigrants.

The White House document that outlines the Immigration Agenda reads, "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."

Obama said in the paper that the broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and offering a complete solution that secures border, enforce laws and reaffirms heritage as a nation of immigrants. The document also promises to crackdown on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.

Sources say that Obama administration is also planning to support a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English and and give them an opportunity to become US citizens. Earlier when he was a Senator, delivering a speech Obama had said that it is time for fixing broken immigration system and need stronger enforcement on border and 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," he added.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)