Thread: Legal immigrants have their own battles to fight

Legal immigrants have their own battles to fight

By Araba Appiagyei-Dankah
Ink contributor
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
With the presidential elections looming, everyone is talking about hot-button issues such as education, health care, Social Security and, of course, illegal immigration.

Illegal immigration is a source of much division in the country. Human rights activists and many liberals say illegal immigrants should be assimilated into the country, while the majority of conservatives and protectionists say illegals should go home so that citizens don't have to lose their jobs and society does not have to bear their costs.


Provided

It took 12 years for Academic Magnet High School senior Keene Saavedra to get permanent residency status.

The media tell stories of illegal immigrants who hitchhiked to America, were separated from their families, had to take menial jobs to earn minimal wages and help their poverty-stricken families, struggled and were sent back home on the cusp of success. Many teen viewers know about the illegal immigrant Armida in the TV show "30 Days," who was rejected from a top-notch college, even with her stellar grades and recommendations.

While the debate on illegal immigration rages on, however, the story of another group hovers quietly under the radar.

Legal immigrants get minimal attention, although they have a long, upward battle to fight.

Most legal immigrants who come to America come for the same reasons that illegal aliens do: They want to make money, support their families and raise their children in a land with a great education system and lots of opportunities.

They choose to do it the right way, however, and are often penalized for it. Legal immigrants pay taxes, yet do not have the right to vote until they are legalized.

Some teenage legal immigrants have trouble when it comes time for college.

The stories of two Academic Magnet seniors, Keene Saavedra and Sally (Yupeng) Liu, are examples of what it means to do things the legal way.

Sally Liu is from China and has lived in the United States for more than six years.

Among other things, she is a straight-A student, a piano prodigy (she's gone to Juilliard summer camp for her piano skills), a research genius who has had articles published in official journals and has won science fairs, and she is fluently bilingual.

"She's one student who deserves whatever honors exist," her friend Sherwin Soltani says.

Sally, however, is not a shoo-in for the college of her choice. The paperwork for her permanent residency is still not complete, so she has to apply to college as an international applicant.

This means that she is automatically knocked out of most scholarships and her college applications are not need-blind; most colleges take international students based on both merit and ability to pay tuition if accepted. This hasn't stopped Sally from applying to top Ivy League schools with a hope of getting in.

"I'll just see what happens," she says. "I hope for the best."

Like Sally, Keene Saavedra is Asian. He has a mixed Chinese and Filipino background, and is one-half of a set of multitalented twins. His sister, Janelli, is also a senior at Academic Magnet.

"Keene ... puts a lot of effort into everything he does," pal Louis Wright says. "Success for him is not just getting the job done, but going above and beyond what the job requires."

Keene is currently the valedictorian of his class, participates in basketball and cross country, is an Eagle Scout and is a member of the AMHS Academic Team.

Because of his parents' dedication and a good bit of luck, he got his permanent residency status just in time for college applications after nearly 12 years of waiting.

Though the process was slow, Keene is not resentful.

"The only annoying thing is that I have to keep looking up my alien registration number when applying," he says.

With his permanent residency status established, he now has a better chance of getting into Columbia University, his top pick.

For students such as Keene, Sally and many other children of immigrants, these stories are not uncommon. The stress of college applications is multiplied tenfold if the box "U.S. Citizen" can't be checked on an application.

All of this, however, remains under the radar. Most Americans know nothing about the legal immigration process and are shocked when they find out how long it can take.

Andria Amaral, young-adult services manager at the Charleston County Public Library, was stunned to hear that one high school senior had to wait 16 years to get permanent residency status. She says she had no idea that the process could take so long, and wondered why she knew nothing about legal immigration but so much about illegal immigration.

So what do legal immigrants think of the whole controversy surrounding illegal ones?

Keene understands the plight of illegal aliens, but doesn't necessarily want them all to be granted amnesty.

"They should go through the same process as I had to go through and be allowed to work here by providing them with a grace period in which they can apply for a work visa and apply for citizenship legally," she says.

Sally agrees. "It's not fair for them to have it easier."

After all, legal and illegal immigrants left their home countries to pursue better lives, and only one of the two is following the laws of the United States of America.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/feb ... side31048/

This is precisely why I have been fighting the DREAM ACT in any form for the last two years....it is fundamentally unfair to every single American college student and in particular to those LEGAL permanent residents who have played by the rules. The DREAM Act would have placed illegal alien students in a better position than American students and LEGAL permanent residents like the ones mentioned in this story. I congratulate these two students and their families .....I know they appreciate what it means to be a citizen and why illegal immigration and the provision of short-cuts or special privileges to illegal aliens is absolutely wrong.

The story doesn't mention it but the green card waiting times are so long because of past amnesties for illegal aliens. This chart explains it: http://legalimmigrantsfirst.org/current ... ation.html