New Congress likely to address concerns about immigration system

In the aftermath of a monumental Election Day, there is a growing sense that Congress will try to address the flagging immigration system in the U.S. Latino voters played a major role in the election and there are some serious matters that need to be dealt with by lawmakers to better equip the country in handling new societal and global dynamics.

Three key issues in this regard are immigrant employment, enforcement of current immigration laws and visa caps.

With roughly 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, many of them are going to be looking for work. That's a tricky situation in the absence of a work visa -- unless the individual works "off the books" or in a low-level job, they risk deportation. But they have to work to provide for themselves and any family members, so this Catch-22 is something Congress needs to address.

Law enforcement is also clearly a major element to the immigration system. With states like Arizona attempting to pass harsh laws that target illegal immigrants (and discriminate against Latinos), it is possible that new federal provisions will be enacted to clean up and unify current laws.

Last but not least is the visa cap system, which limits the number of visas handed out to people based on ethnicity or certain situational aspects (such as family and work visas). These caps could be addressed so that more immigrants are allowed to enter the country legally; and it is possible that the federal government could loosen the reins (so to speak) on the laws, however light that may be.

Source: Boston Globe, "Immigration reform could be on new Congress' agenda," Alan Wirzbicki, Nov. 11, 2012

• To learn more about the U.S. immigration system and how you can defend yourself in case of an immigration dispute, please visit our Los Angeles removal appeal page.