In a recently published briefing paper, the Cato Institute has suggested that Congress should approve the tens of millions of green card applications currently pending. The Washington, D.C.-based think tank posits that such a move would strengthen the nation both economically and demographically, as well as help curb illegal immigration.
The Cato briefing, entitled "Green Card Approval Rate Reaches Record Lows," indicates that at the outset of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, approximately 34.7 million green card applications were in a state of pending—10 million more than the figure reported in 1996. Due to caps on legal immigration and uncapped categories, only 3%, or 1.1 million, of these green cards will be approved in 2024. The remaining 97% of applicants will continue to wait.
David J. Bier, author of the briefing, says: "Congress should see these green card applicants as a historic opportunity to unleash the economic potential of immigrants." He further states that approving all existing applicants and increasing legal immigration nearly fivefold would protect the United States from many adverse consequences of demographic decline and reduce illegal immigration.
The briefing also provides an overview of the history of the green card, focusing on events that led to an influx of applicants and a bottleneck in approvals. It explores a series of laws and policies such as the Immigration Act of 1924 and country caps imposed by Congress which caused green card denials to skyrocket and new applicant numbers to fall in the early 20th century. This was followed by a rebound due to post-World War II policy changes before another drop in the late 1960s when Congress tightened some caps leading to an unprecedented spike in the 1990s.
Bier explains in his briefing: "Another reason for the buildup in green card requests is that the government has repeatedly failed to issue all the green cards available under the caps." He further states that although this failure only accounts for a part of the backlog, rectifying it would have meaningfully addressed the low rate of issuances over the past century.
According to the Cato briefing, Bier concludes with an appeal to Congress to assimilate green card applicants. He notes that those on the waiting list appear to be more educated and more likely to start working at a higher rate than the general population. "The United States is facing both short‐ and long-term demographic and economic challenges that these aspiring Americans can help address," he says.
