posted on January 31, 2007 10:03:41 AM
A friend who's a columnist for a Utah paper sends us his rough drafts. Today's is eye-opening.
The reality of immigrating legally? It makes "illegal" look easy
For many, the immigration debate comes down to one question: “Why don’t they come to this country legally?”
Maybe they tried to, or know someone who has.
I know a woman who is trying to. She’s in this country legally and wants to stay. She speaks excellent English. She has a job. She pays taxes.
So far she’s spent 10 years and $20,000 on her quest for permanent legal status. “It’s where my tax refund goes every year.”
But after all that, she is convinced the decision will boil down to whether the immigration officer is feeling cheerful that day.
Is the bureaucracy that hard, the decisions that fickle? She’s seen it happen.
News stories abound. Just last week a Salt Lake TV station told about Aaron Thorsted, Riverdale.
Thorsted served a year and a half in Iraq with the military and came home to find his wife, who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child, stuck in Guatemala with their daughter, who is a U.S citizen, and their unborn child.
His wife went to Guatemala, where she had not lived since childhood, to start her legalization process. Now she’s stuck. Because the unborn baby has since been born in Guatemala, it is not a U.S. citizen so it, too, now has to apply to come to the U.S.
Thorsted is in bureaucratic hell, which is why I won’t tell you the name of the person I talked to, where she’s from or where she works.
“If they (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) realized that I was speaking to you, that would be enough of a reason to throw your green card application out,” she said.
“It’s not about whether I have a good case. It’s not about the work I do. None of that matters. It’s just about whether the forms are filled out right, because the only way they can show they’re doing a job is by how many applications they turn down. They don’t have to say why.”
Which is why she pays lawyers to make sure her paperwork has no flaws an immigration officer can pick on.
She has been legal from Day One, on student and work visas. Work visas allow her to stay six years before going home and reapplying.
To be permanent she needs a “green card.” She applied for one two years ago. “You have to put in an application one year before your work permits expires, so we did that,” but there’s a backlog, which means repeatedly renewing her work permit, at $1,000 a whack.
“The green card people demand you have the application in within 30 days of the due date or you’re out, but they can have you on hold indefinitely,” racking up charges for visa extensions.
She may find out this year if her application is approved.
If she’s turned down? “I go home,” to a country she hasn’t lived in for decades.
Here’s the amazing thing. Despite the struggle, she still wants to stay.
“The type of work I do, I can’t really do back home. And I like the fact that the American lifestyle is more relaxed, there aren’t so many rules.”
There you are: She’s invested many years and much money to do it right, but if her application is rejected, she’s out. Meanwhile, she sees millions who haven’t spent the years, or the money, come anyway and stay.
So: “Why don’t they come to this country legally?”
As my friend said, “until you meet someone who is struggling to do it the right way, you have no idea.”
_____________________
A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) ~Dave Barry
posted on January 31, 2007 10:58:14 AM
Oh...let me get my violin out and play a sad tune.
She is doing nothing different than ALL who want to live here have to go through.
No sympathy from me because there's a long process to go through - FOR EVERYONE.
Those who want to live here will go through the legal process to have the PRIVILEGE of doing so. That way they don't have to spend their lives looking over their shoulders wondering when they might be deported.
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on January 31, 2007 02:18:23 PM
Where did I put my violin? Linda, did I loan it to you?
"When I talk to liberals, I don't expect them to understand my positions on various issues. I spend most of my time trying to help them understand their own." —Mike Adams
[ edited by Bear1949 on Jan 31, 2007 02:19 PM ]
posted on January 31, 2007 03:41:39 PM
Sorry, Bear. I thought the fiddle and bow were yours.
I'll return the violin asap.
But hope you don't mind me borrowing it whenever I read one of these sad sap stories meant to 'break your heart' about how terrible some have it doing it the legal way 'cause it's just SOoooo tough on them.
posted on January 31, 2007 05:15:18 PM
Did you actually READ the column?
"“If they (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) realized that I was speaking to you, that would be enough of a reason to throw your green card application out,” she said.
“It’s not about whether I have a good case. It’s not about the work I do. None of that matters. It’s just about whether the forms are filled out right, because the only way they can show they’re doing a job is by how many applications they turn down. They don’t have to say why.”
_____________________
A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) ~Dave Barry
posted on January 31, 2007 05:56:32 PM
There was a long article last month of a Brazilian couple ,hubby is a chef who has been in this country on work permit for years.
They applied for green card.
The problem is that they have a disabled son who would cost the state a lot of money to educate and take care of,they are now facing deportation.
Immigration is making it hard for any foreigner to stay in this country,but they come anyway.
