Panel Votes to Open Door to Immigration : Legislation: House members seek to increase annual visas to 775,000 from 540,000. The action is intended to benefit Europeans and Africans.

Congress took a long stride Wednesday toward enacting major immigration changes that would allow entry of at least 90,000 more foreigners each year and open the door wider to Western Europeans, who have been all but shut out for a decade.

The House Judiciary Committee voted, 23 to 12, for legislation that would increase the overall number of annual visas issued to legal immigrants to 775,000 from the 540,000 in current law and the 630,000 proposed in a Senate-passed measure.

It would be the first revision of legal immigration laws in 25 years and would follow the enactment in 1986 of a statute aimed at stemming the influx of illegal aliens.

While continuing a family reunification policy that has predominantly benefited Latinos and Asians, the House bill places new emphasis on work skills and establishes a new category for “diversity immigrants” to broaden the mix of nationalities admitted to the country.

Both changes are intended to significantly increase immigration of Europeans and Africans--and, not incidentally, to expand political support for the measure.

Other changes include a streamlining of applicant procedures for businesses seeking to bring in workers with particularly needed skills. A key amendment sponsored by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) would prevent deportation of spouses and minor children of people who were given legal status under the amnesty provision of the 1986 law.

A bill passed by the Senate a year ago has a similar thrust but on a smaller scale.

Congressional leaders expressed confidence that action can be completed this year, despite an Administration veto threat over the proposed immigration increases and other issues.

Democratic sponsors argue that “reasonable increases” of legal immigrants are needed to reduce huge applicant backlogs, to balance out the numbers from source countries and to provide the skilled workers needed to make the United States more competitive in world trade.

“The business community is getting the things it wants. Labor unions are satisfied. The family-based and diversity immigration groups are on board,” said Rep. Bruce A. Morrison (D-Conn.), primary sponsor of the measure. “It is a bill that has enough benefits and improvements for everybody.”

Opponents, including both Republicans and Democrats, object that inflating immigration levels would unduly burden social services, take away jobs from American citizens and generally degrade the “quality of life” enjoyed by American citizens.

On the House floor, critics will seek to have the proposed increases focus more on employment skills and less on family-based considerations.

In committee debate, Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) said that while “most immigrants have made solid citizens,” there are “some limits to unbridled generosity.” Noting that schools and hospitals in his district are already strained by immigrants, Moorhead said that “if you force them on us faster than we can assimilate them, we will not be able to keep up our quality of life.”

Berman rejoined that studies show legal immigrants quickly “produce jobs and create money for the public treasury.”

It is estimated that thousands of people would be affected by the Berman amendment aimed at keeping together family members of newly legal immigrants. The amendment would liberalize a “family fairness” policy announced by the Immigration and Nationalization Service last year.

Under that policy, only spouses and minor children who entered the United States before Nov. 11, 1986, are protected from deportation. Berman’s proposal moves the cutoff date to Jan. 1, 1990, responding to protests from Latino groups that many family members who would eventually qualify for legal status are being unfairly deported during the waiting period.