How Grades Are Calculated

Americans for Better Immigration (ABI) seeks to grade all Congressional actions since 1989 that affected -- or would have affected -- the numerical level of immigration and illegal migration into the U.S.

Actions are weighted based on the best available assessment of their impact or potential impact on the size of the U.S. population.

ABI includes not only floor votes but also committee votes, co-sponsorships and other leadership actions such as signing a letter in support of or against particular immigration legislation.

ABI's grades are based on a systematic, consistent set of principles that have been evaluated and reviewed by experts in immigration policy (including people from the State Department, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, Census Bureau, congressional immigration committee staff, Members of Congress, several think tanks of differing immigration philosophies and a number of universities).

Unlike many congressional scorecards, the ABI grading system does not pick and choose among actions in a way to skew toward a particular party or particular members. The grades are based on whether actions raised or lowered immigration numbers and don't necessarily reflect what ABI's preference was. While it is not possible to construct a purely objective rating system, ABI has attempted to be as honest and accurate as possible in reflecting the purely numerical effects of immigration actions. We believe that those people who support high immigration and high population growth would find our scoring so reliable that they could interpret our F- grades as A+ grades for their side.

Following is a guide to the way in which ABI's Congressional Report Cards grades are calculated. If you have questions about the weighting of a particular action or any other scoring matter, please e-mail us. ( info@betterimmigration.com)

GENERAL RULES:

• In most cases, points are assigned based on the numeric impact on each category.
• Actions are assigned to as many of the following categories as applicable. But the points assessed to an action relate to only the numeric part that affect that particular category.
  1. Illegal Immigration
  2. Chain Migration
  3. Anchor Baby Citizenship
  4. Amnesties
  5. Worker Importation
  6. Refugee\Asylees
  7. Diversity Lottery
• ABI recognizes that while actual votes are very important, the actions that push a measure toward a vote (or passage inside another vehicle) are also important. Co-sponsorships, for example, are a way to build pressure on congressional leaders to consider a bill. A public, well-timed letter to leadership may make the difference in whether a measure is slipped as a rider on an appropriations bill. These are the things that help a citizen know whether a Member of Congress truly shows leadership on an issue or only supports a particular outcome when forced vote.
• Overall grades are calculated by averaging the weighted percentage scores of all the categories. See this for the weight assigned to each category based on its contribution to the overall increase in population in each year.

CATEGORIES:

Legal Immigration:

• 10 points are assigned for every 10,000 foreign nationals who would be added or subtracted by each action over a 10-year period. For instance, if an action would add 300,000 people to the U.S. population over a 10-year period, 30 points are assigned to that action. (To view the worksheets on these, go to http://www.numbersusa.com/responsible/pastactions.html.)

Illegal Immigration:

• The illegal immigration grade is figured on a different point system because it is not possible to know how many more or less illegal aliens settle due to an action.
• Actions are rated on a scale of 1 to 10 on their presumed effectiveness at deterring or encouraging illegal immigration.
• The fact that actions on illegal immigration get far fewer points than in other categories means nothing because it is the final percentage for the category (not the points) that is averaged into the overall grade.

Worker Importation:

• Actions that affect the number of permanent workers are scored on the same basis as for the 'legal immigration' category.
• If a foreign-worker program is TEMPORARY, then the total number of visas that would be granted over the time period of the program (up to 10 years) is calculated. Then the total number of points is divided in half because the program is temporary, but understanding that under current law enforcement procedures, a large percentage stay as illegal aliens when their visas expire.
• If a temporary foreign-worker program contains significant worker protections, then the number of points is divided in half again.

Amendments:

• If amendments to immigration bills have no clear numeric effect, they will be scored in this way: Count the total number of amendments that are being scored, and increase the total by one. Then divide that number into the total points assigned for the final committee or floor vote.
  
  This is designed to keep somewhat ambiguous votes on amendments from having more weight than a final vote or an amendment for which there is a clear numeric effect.

Co-sponsorships:

• Points are assigned for co-sponsoring a bill based on the numeric effect that bill would have if passed.
• ABI recognizes that there are many reasons why Members don't co-sponsor a bill: they oppose it, or they oppose part of it, or they make a habit of not co-sponsoring any bills, or they feel their position as a committee chair or member of the leadership prohibits them from signing. For that reason, ABI does not assign large points for NOT co-sponsoring a key bill. On the other hand, ABI does not believe a Member who never shows any leadership should get a 100% rating. For that reason on bills of special importance, Members may be assigned a single point for NOT co-sponsoring. If a Member shows any kind of leadership at all in a category, those single points won't affect the grade.