"And we want to make these people legal"
"Just earning a decent living" (sarcastically)
"We don't need more people like this in this country"
One thing seems to be clear. A lot of people don't understand one basic about Immigration reform. Most undocumented immigrants in this country really are hard - working and law - abiding. These are the immigrants that WANT to be legal but it takes a long time for their paperwork to process. Sometimes years or even decades.
That particular problem can be solved easily. Once in the country, an immigrant should be able to obtained a temporary legal document from the town they now live in if they can provide proof that they have filed for legal status such as for a Green Card or a Visa. That document would mean that they are in the country legally and can legally work and pay taxes.
Determining how "temporary" this temporary document should be is tricky. I know it can take at least 6 months in cases of a family member being a naturalized citizen. Naturalized citizens are children and spouses of the immigrant. But I also know that it can take years in some cases. If this "temporary legal document" was offered, it should be able to be renewed annually with continued proof you are waiting for a Visa or Green Card. Perhaps capping the renewability at a decade.
Temporary Green Cards are currently available called "Conditional Green Cards". They expire at the second anniversary. It's conditional because you have to prove you didn't just get married to get a permanent Green Card. Temporary Visas are available for work and school. Whether a visa is permanent or temporary. But that means you have to be marrying a US citizen for love or have a job waiting for you already. Not every undocumented immigrant has a job or a fiancée when entering the country. Some are just looking to start a better life. Those are the people that need the kind of temporary option I mentioned above.
Conditional Green Cards:
http://kb.immigrationdirect.com/Knowledgebase/What-is-a-Conditional-Green-Card?gclid=CIC09cDy1r0CFRFnOgod3QQAtA
Temporary Visas:
http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/temporary-nonimmigrant-workers
Permanent Visas:
http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers
There is one thing people forget. If an immigrant commits a crime, they get punished. Just like natural born citizens. A Mexican immigrant caught selling Cocaine will get the same jail sentence as a natural born citizen selling the same amount of Cocaine. The comments I read sound like some people think immigrants would be able to get away with crimes. That's not the case.
The laws being debated in the Senate are about finding an easier way to be in the country legally. Once in the country, you have to abide by the same laws as natural born citizens. Most undocumented immigrants do that anyway. Why is it so hard to understand that giving undocumented immigrants an easier way to be here legally doesn't mean they can do whatever they want without facing consequences? Most of those here illegally don't want to be illegal and don't break other laws.
Below is the website to what President Obama proposes for Immigration reform. It has four parts. If you want to learn more, go to the website.
1. Continue to strengthen border security.
2. Streamline Legal Immigration
3. Make it easier to Earn Citizenship
4. Cracking down on Employers who hire undocumented immigrants.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration
Making it easier to be here legally will lessen identity theft. The reason stolen identities are popular profit makers is because there are people who want to be here but can't get the documentation they need to be here legally. Identities will still get stolen but there would be less of a market for them so less people's identities would be at risk to get stolen.
The Immigration and Naturalization Act only allows 675,000 new permanent immigrants a year from across the world. The priorities go to
1. Spouses of natural citizens
2. Parents of natural citizens
3. Child if the parent is 21 or old and the parent is a natural citizen
This information and the tables are from the below website.
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/how-united-states-immigration-system-works-fact-sheet
Family-Based Immigration System
| |||
Category
|
U.S. Sponsor
|
Relationship
|
Numerical Limit
|
Immediate Relatives (IRs)
|
U.S. Citizen adults
|
Spouses, unmarried minor children, and parents
|
Unlimited
|
Preference allocation
| |||
1
|
U.S. citizen
|
Unmarried adult children
|
23,400*
|
2A
|
LPR
|
Spouses and minor children
|
87,900
|
2B
|
LPR
|
Unmarried adult children
|
26,300
|
3
|
U.S. citizen
|
Married adult children
|
23,400**
|
4
|
U.S. citizen
|
Brothers and Sisters
|
65,000***
|
* Plus any unused visas from the 4th preference.
** Plus any unused visas from 1st and 2nd preference.
***Plus any unused visas from the all other family-based preferences.
| |||
Worldwide level of family preference allocation: 480,000 minus visas issued to IRs and parolees, plus unused employment-visas from previous fiscal year. Floor for preference categories: 226,000.
| |||
What about Employee immigrants?
Usually, these visas are sponsored by an Employer and are for highly skilled Employees and are for a specific job. There are only 140,000 permanent visas granted each year for employment purposes.
Permanent Employment-Based Preference System
| ||
Preference Category
|
Eligibility
|
Yearly Numerical Limit
|
1
|
“Persons of extraordinary ability” in the arts, science, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers, some multinational executives.
|
40,000*
|
2
|
Members of the professions holding advanced degrees, or persons of exceptional abilities in the arts, science, or business.
|
40,000**
|
3
|
Skilled workers with at least two years of training or experience, professionals with college degrees, or “other” workers for unskilled labor that is not temporary or seasonal.
|
40,000***
“Other” unskilled laborers restricted to 5,000
|
4
|
Certain “special immigrants” including religious workers, employees of U.S. foreign service posts, former U.S. government employees and other classes of aliens.
|
10,000
|
5
|
Persons who will invest $500,000 to $1 million in a job-creating enterprise that employs at least 10 full time U.S. workers.
|
10,000
|
*Plus any unused visas from the 4th and 5th preferences.
**Plus any unused visas from the 1st preference.
***Plus any unused visas the 1st and 2nd preference.
| ||
Worldwide level of employment-based immigrants: 140,000 for principal applicants and their dependents.
| ||
Currently, there is a 7% cap on immigrants from a specific category no matter what their reason is for coming to America.
There are other ways to be in this country legally including Asylum and Refugees.
Green Cards:
A Green Card holder (permanent resident) is someone who has been granted authorization to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. As proof of that status, a person is granted a permanent resident card, commonly called a "Green Card." You can become a permanent resident several different ways. Most individuals are sponsored by a family member or employer in the United States. Other individuals may become permanent residents through refugee or asylee status or other humanitarian programs. In some cases, you may be eligible to file for yourself.
http://www.uscis.gov/greencard
Visas:
The United States welcomes thousands of foreign workers in multiple occupations or employment categories every year. These include artists, researchers, cultural exchange participants, information technology specialists, religious workers, investors, scientists, athletes, nurses, agricultural workers and others. All foreign workers must obtain permission to work legally in the United States. Each employment category for admission has different requirements, conditions and authorized periods of stay. It is important that you adhere to the terms of your application or petition for admission and visa. Any violation can result in removal or denial of re-entry into the United States.
http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/working-us
Citizenship:
To apply for naturalization, you will need to file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. Be sure that you meet all eligibility requirements before you apply. Certain exceptions and modifications are available to those who qualify. Below you will find a general description of the application process. Items such as a naturalization eligibility worksheet and document checklist are available to help you prepare.
Naturalization Eligibility:
http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Citizenship%20&%20Naturalization%20Based%20Resources/A%20Guide%20to%20Naturalization/PDFs/M-480.pdf
http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/apply-citizenship
More on Immigrants
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/why-don%E2%80%99t-they-just-get-line
US Citizenship and Immigration Services Official Site:
http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship
I like what President Obama proposes. When it takes years to get a Green Card or a Visa, the system is broken. On the USCIS website they say they process in the order the requests are received. There are 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country. There needs to be an easier way for them to be able to achieve legal status. But by strengthening border patrol it's harder for drug cartels to bring drugs into the country. The goal of Obama's proposal is to make it easier for the hard-working and law-abiding immigrants to achieve legal status while making it harder for the criminals to get in.
https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do
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