Thread: Attaining U.S. Residency Can Often Take Years

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... 70365/1004

Published Friday, May 27, 2005
Attaining U.S. Residency Can Often Take Years

By Eric Pera
The Ledger

LAKELAND -- For nearly 120 years, the Statue of Liberty has stood as a monument to American ideals, most notably its open-door policies toward the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Today, America's doors remain open, but only to about 675,000 immigrants a year. Thousands more are allowed in as refugees fleeing persecution.

But for millions of Mexicans, mostly poor, the door can seem shut forever; many more desire to live and work here than there are visas available.

Additionally, the process for obtaining a green card, a document designating an immigrant as a permanent resident, which is necessary to obtaining a Social Security card, is complicated and can take many years.

But they come anyway, ignoring U.S. laws and risking their lives in perilous border crossings.

Here, in a question-and-answer format, is a quick synopsis of U.S. immigration protocol and statistics from sources such as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy group dedicated to immigrant issues.

Q. What's the first step any immigrant must take to permanently reside and work in the U.S.?

A. Petition the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Usually the petition must be filed by a U.S. employer after completing a labor certification request from the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.

Q. Once the petition is filed, then what?

A. The State Department issues the applicant an immigrant visa number. In some cases, the person may enter the U.S. legally while waiting for the visa number, but this usually applies only to people with extraordinary ability, such as outstanding professors and researchers, and certain executives and managers.

Q. What does a person with no special skills do?

A. Such cases will be expedited if an employer can prove that worker's skills are in short supply and no one else will do the work.

Q. Does having a close relative who is a legal resident or U.S. citizen improve chances for residency?

A. Yes, especially if that relative is your spouse or parent. But there are caps on the number of visas available, creating long waiting lists. For instance, U.S. citizens who petition for unmarried children older than 21 from Mexico must wait as long as nine years to be reunited. A legal permanent resident who petitions for a spouse or minor child living in a foreign country may wait seven years.

Q. What is a low-skilled worker to do if he cannot get on the fast-track to enter the U.S.?

A. Wait for the State Department to issue you an immigrant visa number. But these numbers are available in limited quantities. So if you're from Mexico, a nation where there is a high demand for visas, the wait can be lengthy.

Q. How long?

A. Only 5,000 permanent visas are issued each year to unskilled workers from any country. So service-sector employers looking to petition for immigrant workers in restaurants, hotels and such face visa backlogs up to 10 years. It can be longer, if ever, for Mexican workers because of the volume of Mexicans looking to enter the United States.

Q. What are the chances of an illegal immigrant ever gaining legal permanent residency?

A. Slim to none. The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act created obstacles. Individuals unlawfully in the U.S. for more than 180 days but less than a year and who voluntarily depart may not re-enter lawfully for three years. If they've been in the U.S. unlawfully for a year or more, and depart voluntarily, the wait could be 10 years.

Its interesting to note the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform Act. This was one of the first, and still pretty much the only, legislative acts that has been somewhat effective in fighting the battle against illegal immigration. It came in the wake of the overwhelming passage of Proposition 187 (no benefits to illegals bill) in California. The politicians in Washington took heed of this at the time. It was a sign of the "rising anti-illegal immigration" bandwagon. ANd it was funny to see how quickly these hack politicians jumped on board (face it, most of them are worthless whores with no principals who will go any which way the wind blows, for a buck) (And I mean no disrespect to any professional sex-workers by comparing you to something as lowly as a politician, but you get my point).

Then, after 1996, the media started thumping the tub with this line of propaganda that there was supposedly this big "Latino backlash" in the wake of Proposition 187, and that any politician that didn't suck up to the "Latino vote" was in big trouble. So all the politicians jumped back the other way.

THe point is: I know everybody is impatient for action. But just watch how quickly these politicians all jump back on our bandwagon once they figure out which way the wind is blowing. ANd I can tell you, we are ALL blowing some fierce wind these days. Once a few heads start rolling, wait'll you see how we get thee politicians all in line. Thats why its IMPERITIVE that we make a big show of force and kill this McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill. And take a few prisoners in the process. As a warning.

It should take DECADES :