Vargas: Undocumented and hiding in plain sight. Child Immigration Issue

In the vid he says "we dream of a path to citizenship", I thought there was one.

ScienceChic wrote: Perhaps the question then becomes, what does that path look like? How hard or easy is it to navigate? Is it fair? Is it affordable? Being a natural citizen, I've never had to go through the process so I have no first-hand experience with it, nor do I know of anyone personally who has that I can ask. Does anyone here know?

IMO the path is navigable, but long and not inexpensive. My best friend's husband is Algerian. She met him in about 2002, visited Algeria on an invitation from him (you have to have a written invitation to get into Algeria) in 2003 and at that point they decided to get him to the U.S. When she got back from Algeria in October of 2003, she started the paperwork through INS. Since she didn't meet the minimum income requirements to sponsor him, she asked me to co-sponsor him, which I agreed to do. We sent the initial application to INS/Dept of Homeland Security in 2004. If I remember correctly, neither department talked very well with the other and duplicate information was requested because it had been lost between departments (I sent my birth certificate twice...the first time, they lost it and it still hasn't been found). My friend had to go back to Algeria in May of '06 to prove to the Algerian government and the U.S. Embassy in Algiers that she was engaged to this man. He arrived in the U.S. in July of '06.

In the fall of '07 they had an appointment in Denver with INS for him to get his approval to be in country (not a green card...that was given with his visa), which gave him ten years to get his citizenship. They had to get affidavits from people they knew who had witnessed their "love story" to prove this was real and not a ploy to get him his citizenship and the hearing was lengthy.

At that time he could begin the process to become a citizen, which ultimately ends in passing a written test that is difficult (I've tried to take it...), but it costs like $600 to take the test. Once the test is passed, then he will have to fill out more forms and eventually will be sworn in as a U.S. citizen.

They don't have the money right now to buy the materials to study and then to pay for the test.

So, while there is a "path" to citizenship, it is not as easy as snapping the fingers or even waiting a year.

I will say, should someone from the U.S. decide to become a citizen of a foreign country, the "path" is just as arduous and unlike in the U.S., once you are a citizen, there are no guarantees the country will take care of you.

I would like to see legal immigration made easier. Currently over 350,000 people are in the process of becoming Americans this way. I think the Republicans like having the cheap labor and I think the Dems using the millions of illegal immigrants as an election issue. Expect nothing to be done in the legislature.

ScienceChic wrote: Perhaps the question then becomes, what does that path look like? How hard or easy is it to navigate? Is it fair? Is it affordable? Being a natural citizen, I've never had to go through the process so I have no first-hand experience with it, nor do I know of anyone personally who has that I can ask. Does anyone here know?

It has been my experience that nothing worthwhile comes easily. This is the only place in the world that people are literally dying to get into rather than dying trying to escape it. It should be hard, it should be arduous. We are no longer trying to populate area from the Atlantic to the Pacific as we once were under a misguided policy known as "Manifest Destiny".

When Ellis Island was open for business, every immigrant had to pass through that portal before being allowed to remain here. They were examined, had to have someplace to go, had to have family that would support them or a waiting job - documented - before being granted admission to the Union. Why should that be any different today? That one wants to live here is not sufficient for them to decide that the rule of law doesn't apply to them. When found they should be deported regardless of their current situation, regardless of what situation it might place them in. Their deportation hearing can be held at the US Embassy in the country of their origin when their case comes up on the docket. The land that the embassy sits on is US soil, it is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. There is absolutely no reason why they can't await their day in court in their own country instead of this one. If the court decides that they should be allowed admittance, then the US Embassy can arrange their return to the Union.

That is a very reasonable strategy for our current situation. And no, it is not rude to refer to one who intentionally violates the laws of the Union as an illegal immigrant. That is precisely, and exactly, what they are. They are people who have immigrated into the Union in violation of the law. They are not undocumented immigrants, they are unlawful ones.

Speaking of Ellis Island, a quick aside. My dad came from Russia thru there. The details are buried deep in my mind and possibly in a box somewhere but the Ship dropped anchor before midnight and it created quite the stink. Something about the quota system. They finally let them stay but there was serious consideration to sending them back. People jumped overboard and tried to swim to shore. I cannot remember if they made it or not.