Immigration laws and regulations that affect international students and professionals in the United States are getting stricter every day. One of these restrictive bills is the EAGLE Act or H.R. 3648 (formerly H.R.1044/S.386) which effectively blocks US immigrants from receiving a employment-based green cards for several decades.
A previous version of this bill (H.R.1044) passed the House of Representatives and the Senate (as S.386 with a slightly different language) in 2020. In both cases with no hearing.
The bill’s sponsors have introduced it again this year in the House, i.e. the EAGLE Act. If it passes in silence all of us, researchers, scholars, and professionals who came to this country for a better future would immediately enter a 17-year waiting line to obtain permanent residency (aka Green Card). The line will constantly grow to 37 years by FY2030 according to Congressional Research Service.
More importantly, since it is almost impossible to maintain a legal immigration status for such a long time, especially with the current trend of new restrictive rules, many will have to leave the country almost immediately after graduation. Please watch this video to understand the devastating effects of this bill.
Fortunately, we, Support Alliance of US Immigrants a.k.a All of Us have been working for two years to help us with this issue. “All of Us” is a grassroots organization, mostly made up of international students, workers, researchers holding or studying for US advanced degrees. It has more than 5,000 members, from over 50 countries. You can visit the website to know more about their mission and activities.
With the work of “All of Us” thus far, we have been able to successfully delay this troublesome bill from passing in the congress Senate. We are all honored to be a part of this movement and would like to ask you to join this cause as well; so we can fight for our rights together.
Action Items
1️⃣ ☎️ Contact Congress: We need to discourage representatives from co-sponsoring the bill. Follow the call/email action item here. Also follow this action item to ask for a meeting.
2️⃣ Email your current/previous university, explain your opposition, and ask them to contact the congress.
We need to point out to the universities that the EAGLE Act contradicts President Biden’s proposal. Our lobbyists are in communication with higher education organizations in DC, but they need to hear from their members (such as your university). That is the goal of this action item.
📝 We have prepared a sample letter that describes the situation to university officials and asks them to react. Please immediately edit it based on your information and send it to all universities in the US you have been affiliated with so far.
📎 Find the Sample Letter Here
(Don’t forget to CC outreach@supallofus.org in all communications)
3️⃣ Join our email list to receive major news and action items.
4️⃣ Join our telegram channel for real-time updates and action items: https://t.me/supallofus_channel
(on telegram you can send a message to @supallofus and receive help with the action items or finding more venues to join)
5️⃣ Spread the word. Inform your friends and other organizations using this template.
Everyday counts!
Please stay hopeful, don’t be distracted with twitter rumors, and keep up the good work.
“All of Us” is an independent advocacy organization supported by immigrants themselves. The continuation of this fight needs our help and support. I have been donating to our organization over the past several months and I hope you support all of us with your donations, too. Please consider contributing to our cause
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Eagle Act?
This bill (previously known as S386 or HR1044) aims to dramatically change how green cards are allocated. Specifically, it will stop issuance of green cards to new applicants to clear the backlog. The bill is being heavily pushed by misinformation, intimidation, and financial support from the Big Tech to ensure their access to cheap labor with limited rights. For a complete explanation see this video on our website.
Who will be affected?
Everyone who needs a green card through employment or National Interest Waiver (all EB1, EB2, and EB3 categories).
What is the effect?
For about a decade no new green cards will be issued to applicants from any country other than India. All green cards will go to the current backlog which is composed mostly of Indian IT workers.
What are we doing?
After learning about the bill, a group of volunteer immigrants founded the Support Alliance of US Immigrants (aka All of Us), raised money and organized community activism. All of Us has blocked the progress of this bill for two years. With the help of our 5000 members and our lobbying team in DC we develop strategies and execute action items to make congress aware of the negative effect of this bill on immigrants. We need your support to continue this fight.
What can you do?
Join us in the fight. Follow the above action items. Read more on our website. Watch our explanatory video. Inform others who will be affected. Follow our action items and donate to us to sustain our fight on our behalf.