DIVERSITY VISAS for JUST & INCLUSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

What Are Diversity Visas?

The Diversity Visa was created by the Immigration Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-649) and was createad to balance immigrant admissions from global regions under-represented in the United States of America. It was following the Civil Rights Movement, that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1965 replaced the national origins quota system, which had historically prioritized European countries. There are 185 different types of visas to enter the U.S. under Non-immigrant Visas and Immigrant Visas. Of the latter, there are only three categories by which a person becomes a Permanent Legal Resident (LPR): 1. Family sponsorship, 2. Employment based and 3. Diversity Visa (DV).

How Does Diversity Visa Impact Black Immigrants?

As a fact, Diversity Visa makes no specic reference to race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, cultural or other areas that could be assumed by the the term diversity. However, 47% of Diversity Visas do go to African countries due to low numbers in the U.S. Signicant populations from Africa that would not have been admitted to the U.S. if not for the Diversity Visa Program. The numbers of family and employment visas for African countries are signicantly lower than those given to other regions such as Europe, Asia and Latin America. For example in 2004, family and employment visas that were granted to Africans were a low 10.8% where as Diversity Visa allocations were 40.6%. In 2010, the single largest number of Diversity Visas went to Ethiopia (3,987) followed by Egypt (3,447), Uzbekistan (3,279), Nigeria (2,937), Bangladesh (2,800), and Kenya (2,279). Countries which have signicant black populations that are excluded from the Diversity Visas Program are: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica.

Why Support Diversity Visas in Immigration Reform?

Diversity Visa Program is an important migration institution in order to ensure that people from throughout the world are represented in the United States. It is about equitable legal migration to the U.S. And naturally this means the inclusion of black immigrant populations, among others who have smaller presence in the United Sates. Recipients of Diversity Visas make tremendous contributions within the U.S. and abroad. Moreover, there are few other means for migrants from places with high black populations to migrate legally, and thus this program must be maintained and strengthened.

... Diversity visas will never erase the historic disparity, but they stand as a repudiation of the racism that guided American immigration policy until recent decades. - Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton

BIN is a national network of people and organizations serving Black Immigrant and African American communities who support fair and just immigration, as well as economic and social policies that benet these communities, and all communities of color, in order to create a more just and equitable society.

www.blackimmigration.net

917-310-3785

info@blackimmigration.net