I read
this diary, and was not only upset about the situation, but about how some people responded with calls to deport the girls because their dad didn't file the proper paperwork. I'd like to take this opportunity to dispel some of the myths and give a little bit more information about immigration. I find that most Americans are completely ignorant of the subject and buy the conservative lie about how there are hordes of millions of brown people coming here illegally to rape your women, take your jobs, and teach your kids their culture in order to destroy 'Merka.
There's no reason for illegal immigration, they should just take the time to come here legally.
This statement, while not mean-spirited, shows a complete lack of understanding for the immigration process. For many people, immigration to the U.S. is impossible. It costs thousands of dollars (at least), it requires many years, and often there are limits on how many people can enter the U.S. from your country that keep you out altogether.
Even though the H1B visa was popular back when our economy was doing well, those people were not free here like normal people are. Most people with H1B visas tried to come here permanently, simply using H1B as a stepping stone to get into the country. Unfortunately, it was difficult back then, and it is basically impossible now. Getting an H1B itself is much more difficult than it was five years ago. Getting a green card on top of that is hopeless. The process of waiting on the government to even look at your case usually takes longer than the time the H1B lasts. The result is that you get deported anyway, and you have to file at least another document that adds months if not longer, and in many cases you have to start all over.
Most types of visas are basically impossible for most people. For another example, my sister in law was attending college in the U.S. on a student visa. After she graduated, she found a job and they were willing to sponsor her. They filed, however the U.S. had already given out the quota of visas to people from Mexico for that year. Unfortunately, you don't get much time to stay in the U.S. after your student visa runs out, so she had to leave the country. She is a graphic artist and has done rendering of computer animations, used her skills as a photographer in her work, and done web design. She is a great artist and a well-educated and hard-working professional. If the U.S. doesn't even accept people like her, they're definitely not going to accept an average person with an average skillset or an average education.
The other factor, which is the main one, is desperation. In the case of illegal immigrants from Latin America, it is poverty that causes people to risk their lives to come here illegally. They pretty much have a choice between starvation for themselves and their family and breaking a stupid U.S. law, or being able to provide for their family and taking a risk. They don't have the time to waste while the INS, BCIS, or DHS twiddles their thumbs and sits on their visa application. They also don't have the money to apply for a visa. If they had that kind of cash, they wouldn't need to come here to work in the first place because they would be doing well already. I seriously doubt that the average American family would be able to afford to immigrate to the U.S. either.
The other thing that illegal immigrants have to face is death, blackmail, kidnapping, murder, and many other dangers, just to get into the country. Those that walk across the border with states like New Mexico and Arizona are risking their lives from things like extreme cold at night, heat exhaustion, dehydration, and many other things simply from the elements. On top of that, particularly in southern Arizona, you have insane landowners who kidnap, shoot, or at least intimidate people who appear to be Mexican and are near or on their property. Arizona is an extremely racist state, and many wealthy landowners have no problem with shooting someone for simply walking across their property. There are issues such as illegals leaving trash or whatnot, but since when is murder justified by littering?
Another way that illegals come to the U.S. is via "coyotes", which are essentially people who are experts in smuggling people across the border. You have probably heard stories about them before. In Texas, there was a truckload of people two years ago who all suffocated to death, when the driver ran and left all of them in the back of the truck. There are also many cases where coyotes kidnap people and hold them for ransom until their families can pay to have them released. Considering that many illegals pay everything they have to the coyotes, it's a very difficult thing to do.
When you factor in all of these dangers, there are many more dangers that you face when you get into the U.S. such as working in dangerous, non-OSHA compliant conditions, or the risk of being captured and deported, possibly not being paid, and general lack of healthy conditions and still living in very poor places. With all of these things, don't you think that people would prefer to come here legally? You bet they would. The only problem is, it's not possible for them to do so, and it's often the only choice they have.
Can't they just marry an American and get instant citizenship?
No. That's simply a right-wing myth. My personal experience is with marriage to an immigrant. My wife is not a U.S. citizen, but since I am we were able to apply to bring her into the U.S. to get a permanent residency status. Unfortunately, there's not really any good way to do this. If we had not taken advantage of a loophole (I think it is a loophole) in the immigration laws, we would still be waiting to get married. The normal process is that you file for a fiancee visa, which can take a year or two. Then, once that is granted, you have to bring your fiancee here and immediately get married. Then you immediately file for the new status, which can take up to two more years, possibly more now. After that, they get their conditional permanent residency. It basically states that they can remain here as long as they are married to you. If you turn out to be a jerk and hit your wife, then she faces deportation if she leaves. There is a way to file to get out of an abusive relationship that lets you stay here, but I've never heard of it being done. After the conditional permanent residency, you have two more years until they can get the real green card and be a real permanent resident. Then, they can apply for citizenship, which takes another five years. So, you end up taking more than ten years for someone to become a citizen by marrying a citizen, which is the easiest way for a person to get their citizenship. Is it any wonder that people might not want to deal with the hassle?
Immigration should be difficult and require sacrifice, because these people are coming here to take our jobs!
It is true that they are coming here to look for jobs, but a simple look at economics tells you that it is a good thing to get people to come here to work. The first reason has to do with our future. The baby boomers are nearing the end of the road of their careers. Unfortunately for the U.S., the baby boomers did not replace themselves with kids. The problem is such that it will be impossible to replace every person even if we all started screwing each other right now and popping out as many babies as possible. The babies would not grow up soon enough to be able to fill all of those jobs and be good consumers in time. The only solution to the economic crisis we face due to the ageing majority of our population is to allow immigrants to come in and fill those roles. This requires easing up on the strict, costly, and time-consuming process that immigration has become. The immigration laws that are so strict pretty much came about under our grandparents' watch (if you're about my age.) A lot of it had to do with anti-communist fear (the extensive background checks and different limits for certain countries), and a lot of it had to do with racism (limits on certain countries, different requirements based on where you come from.) If we had these laws in place since the U.S. started, we'd be lucky to have kept even the 13 colonies, much less expanded as much as we have.
Back to the point, the ageing population is only one portion of the equation. Another is that these people not only take jobs, but they also spend money here. Sure, a lot of immigrants send money back home to their families. This could easily change if we'd not only make it easy for their family to come, but possibly even make it a requirement. Immigrants should be encouraged to move here, not just temporarily, but to become Americans. The idea of a guest worker program is horrible, because these people should be encouraged to come here permanently. If they come here permanently, they are going to buy houses. They are going to put their kids in school. They are going to pay taxes and be interested in how they are used. They are going to buy groceries, a car, and go to the movies. Their kids are going to want to spend $50 on Yu Gi Oh cards. They will become Americans, working in the U.S. and spending their money in the U.S. which helps our economy grow. For every job an immigrant fills, he either creates or strengthens many more jobs. It's simple economics.
The third part of the equation is that immigrants also offer fresh views and new things to the country. For example, we can talk about food. Who here doesn't like eating tacos, fried rice, pizza, or any other food that is technically foreign. Sure, we usually take something and bastardize it in the U.S., but at least we take the ideas to build diversity and new choices in our own culture. I may not like listening to Ricky Martin, but at least he offers people here something different to listen to.
Even illegal immigrants do contribute to our society. I would advise watching the movie "A Day Without A Mexican." One of the points that can be made is that those of us in the middle class can afford to eat vegetables, or we can afford to build new houses a lot cheaper, or a ton of other things because we are doing it on the backs of illegal immigrants. I'm not here to discuss the morality of underpaying someone to do a job, but simply pointing out that if those of you who wanted to deport illegal immigrants got your wishes, you would suffer as well when the price of a tomato goes up to $50.
I'm going to wrap this up for now because I've written enough and probably nobody would read it. If someone does read it, I'd suggest you do some reasearch. The best way to do research on this subject is to go talk to immigrants about their situations. They may not agree with what I wrote, but make up your mind for yourself rather than believing what I write or what anyone else says just because it's what we believe. Talk to someone that came here legally and find out how difficult it was for them. Odds are, they were probably either in during when Clinton was president or they were well off enough to be able to come here legally. Talk to someone that came here illegally, and see how it was for them and what their motivations were for coming here. I'd also suggest attempting to read up on some of the immigration law, but be prepared to be overwhelmed. You should also find out about the contributions that immigrants make to our society. Find out how many U.S. soldiers are Mexican immigrants, or find out how people from Africa came here to escape AIDS, starvation, and war and are happy to be living here. Talk to someone who is here as a student and trying to get a job. The best way to understand immigration is to talk to immigrants. Don't listen to politicians or people who tell you that "everyone says" something. Most people know nothing about this subject, but at the same time most people have a strong opinion on it.