Rep. Lofgren Introduces Bill to Fix Bureaucratic Visa Rules

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) recently introduced H.R. 5882, which would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department (DOS) to use visas (“green cards”) that went unused in prior years due to bureaucratic processing delays. The bill would also allow DHS and DOS to use green cards that go unused in the future by allowing them to “roll over” to the next fiscal year until they are used. This bill would not authorize any new green cards, but would ensure that green cards authorized by Congress are actually allocated.

“The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have consistently failed to use the allotted number of immigrant visas (“green cards”) authorized by Congress,” noted Rep. Zoe Lofgren. “This bill corrects that failure by recapturing unused visas from previous years and rolling unused future visas forward. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), has joined me in introducing this common sense measure and I thank him for his efforts on this issue and for joining me in sponsoring this bill.”

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren is serving her seventh term in Congress representing most of the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County. She serves as Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. She also Chairs the House Administration Subcommittee on Elections and serves on the House Homeland Security Committee. Congresswoman Lofgren is Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation consisting of 34 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives from California.