Once again, there is absolutely no surprise to see that our president, Donald Trump, is trying to put an end to what most immigrant families have depended on, and that is the ‘chain migration’ or ‘family reunification’ process. The removal of this system may overall ruin the lives and impact the immigration process for many in the United States including Don Lugo High School students. Fear runs through peoples hearts knowing that their loved ones may never be reunited with one another due to the elimination of the family reunification process. I am utterly furious about this ongoing situation because of the substantial effect it will have on many families.

For those of you wondering “What is Chain Migration?” or “family reunification”, CBS News best describes it as, “the process by which green card holders or legal U.S. residents may sponsor a family member for immigration to the United States.

It is the most common legal form of immigration to the United States. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 238,087 immigrants were categorized as a “family-sponsored preference” in 2016, and 566,706 came as “immediate relatives of U.S. citizens” (spouses, children, or parents).

Between 60 and 70 percent of all lawful permanent immigration to the United States in the past decade has family-based roots.

Migration chain refers to the US naturalized citizens petitioning immediate relatives, for example, parents of US citizens including sons or daughters under the age of twenty-one.  Also, US citizens can petition siblings but it is known to be a long and lengthy process that can take up to twenty years in order for cases to be approved. The executive director of Alliance, Andrea Guerrero stated, “I think people do not understand how difficult it is to immigrate a family member already.” According to Fox News’ Zoe Szathmary and The Association Press, President Trump and members of the Republican Party have argued that the system could trigger an endless flow of family members immigrating to the United States. A former Don Lugo student stated, ”My family has waited too long, we should make reuniting with our families easy not hard!”

According to president Trump, “under the current immigration broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives,” which is absolutely wrong and unrealistic because a United States citizen can only petition immediate relatives. His allegations or ideas about chain immigration lack sufficient information about the reality of an immigration case. Ironically President Trump’s in-laws (Melania’s parents) benefited from the family reunification process.

The First Lady has also been apart of the petition to bring her own family to the US from Slovenia under the process of the chain migration system. According to University historian Mae M Ngai, “Donald Trump is a product of ‘chain migration.” Chain migration brought us the Trump White house to what we have today.

 “Chain migration is a total disaster,” said Trump “It threatens our security and our economy, and provides a gateway for terrorism.”