As soon as we take a single skilled immigrant from a developing nation, around 17 different families may be put in line to follow because of our reckless Chain Migration policies.

Our immigration policies literally "take a village" every time a new Anchor Immigrant is admitted to this country.

Fortunately, our immigration policies do have a few boundaries and delays that keep the whole village from entering our U.S. communities immediately. But every one of the members of those 17 families begins to consider future immigration to the U.S. as an entitlement. And because of that, millions don't wait for their turn, instead settling in the U.S. illegally to wait for the greencard that they believe is rightfully theirs.

THE 'ANCHOR IMMIGRANT'

Our U.S. population is exploding -- consigning more and more of us to heavily congested, heavily regulated lives -- because of high immigration numbers, which have snowballed because Congress insists on continuing Chain Migration.

Because of Chain Migration, every immigrant we allow into the country because he/she brings a special skill, education or experience becomes an Anchor Immigrant.

That is, if officials determine that an employer can't find an American to fill a job and allow the importation of a foreign worker, that worker becomes an anchor in the U.S. for vast numbers of other people from his/her home country.

One problem for the United States is that only the Anchor Immigrant is supposed to be picked on the basis of serving the national interest.

All the other immigrants attached to that Anchor through Chain Migration get to come without any regard whatsoever to their education, skill or humanitarian need.

ONE ANCHOR CONNECTS TO 17 FAMILIES

My "17-Family Chain-Migration Village" example is not close to the worst possible scenario but it is a nightmare that is not uncommon.

Here's the scenario:

• Consider a typical Anchor Immigrant who comes from a developing nation and has three adult siblings. All of them come from one family. As soon as the Anchor Immigrant is accepted, all those siblings know that the Anchor Immigrant can put them in line for immigration once he/she becomes a U.S. citizen. Mentally, that one whole family is now in line to come to America.
• But there are many more families who mentally get in line, too. The Anchor's spouse, plus each of those three siblings' spouses will be eligible. That makes five families now in line (the original plus the families of the four spouses).
• In every one of those families are their own siblings, minor children, parents, etc. This is getting to be quite a crowd of people who suddenly see their future as possibly being in the U.S. That makes five families involved now (the original and the four spouses' families).
• Now, consider the siblings of those four spouses. That would be 3 siblings multiplied by the 4 spouses, equalling 12 more adults, all of whom potentially have their own spouses! Potentially, each of those 12 spouses of the siblings of the spouses of the Anchor's siblings is from a different family.
• Now, you have those 12 families, plus the Anchor's family, plus the families of the four spouses of the three siblings of the Anchor. That potentially adds up to 17 families that immediately can know that they are in a chain that eventually can have a chance to immigrate to America. And all of that happens the minute our government decides to give a permanent work permit to a single foreign worker.

An Anchor Immigrant immediately creates chains of expectation into possibly 17 different families.

You can imagine how a village or urban neighborhood can quickly have most of its residents seeing that their future is in the United States. Not only does this build huge pressures for more migration and more population growth in the U.S. but it saps whole villages and neighborhoods of the will for self-improvement.

Why will people pour themselves into bettering their own communities when they believe their future lies living in America? And, of course, the chain migration does not end with those 17 families. Our rules are set up so that every Chain Immigrant also becomes an Anchor Immigrant, making it possible for every relative to get in line to come to the U.S.

The only solution is to end the Chain Migration categories entirely. (See our pages on the legislative solutions.) That means limiting each Anchor Immigrant to bringing a spouse and minor children. No adult children, siblings or parents.

The Anchor Immigrant can easily visit his/her relatives annually (or more often) and can be in constant communication by phone, internet and postal mail. Chain categories must be ended if we are to avoid the nightmare of 439 million U.S. population in 2050 as projected by the Census Bureau.

CONGRESS THREATENING TO ADD 550,000 MORE 'ANCHOR IMMIGRANTS' NEXT YEAR

Sen. Menendez of New Jersey is blocking the re-authorization of E-Verify (to keep illegal aliens out of jobs) until Congress agrees to add 550,000 additional Anchor Immigrants next year.

At the moment, the leadership of both Senate and House are seriously considering trying to pass the 550,000 increase in Anchor Immigrants.

Powerful media like the Los Angeles Times and New York Times are lobbying hard for more Anchor Immigrants.

Unless the American people themselves become fully aware of the dangers of Chain Migration and the concept of the "17-Family Chain-Migration Village," the Big Business and Big Media lobbyists are likely to multiply the chain migration nightmare many times again.

Make sure you have gone to your NumbersUSA Action Buffet and sent all your free faxes to push your Members of Congress to stop Sen. Menendez and to eliminate Chain Migration.

ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA.