Immigration

Last semester I took a course in immigration and naturalization. Although I am by no means competent to advise a person in matters of this sort since I am not yet an attorney, I did learn a lot about how our immigration system works. With all the talk about guest workers from Mexico, perhaps you may find this information helpful.

Basically, an alien who wishes to become a legal permanent resident ("LPR") of the United States must fit into one of three basic categories. He must receive either a family visa, an employment visa, or a diversity visa.

To qualify for a family visa, the alien must have at least one qualifying family member who is a United States citzen or LPR. Not counting immediate relatives, there are five different types of qualifying family members. I won't go into the differences between the particular categories except to note that an alien's wait time is a function of what category he is placed. While there is no wait for immediate relatives (i.e. spouses and minor children) of citizens or LPR's to obtain their "green card," all other types of relatives must wait in line before they can move to the United States.

To obtain an employment visa, the alien must have a job offer from a US employer. This would seem simple enough except that the alien must also have a labor certification from the state employment board for the jurisdiction where he intends to work. If the employment board believes that there is not a shortage of American workers in that field, the alien is out of luck. But if the employment board agrees that the alien would fill a desperately needed position, then the alien must wait to enter the United States, the wait time being a function of what category he is placed.

To obtain a diversity visa, the alien must be from a country that has been underrepresented in previous distributions of "green cards." If he is from such a country, the State Department holds a drawing. If his number is picked, he can move to the United States. Otherwise, he has to get an employment or family visa.

Notice that I have left out of the equation asylum seekers and refugees. Although they, too, are given a pass to enter the United States, they are not technically classified as LPR's because their statuses may change if the circumstances back home change. (At least that is how I remember it from class.)

I mentioned wait times. According to the April 2006 Visa Bulletin, an alien from Mexico must wait anywhere from seven to fourteen years to get a family visa. An alien from the Phillipines must wait anywhere from four to -- get this -- twenty-three years to obtain a family visa. Wait times are substantially better for employment visas. Most categories have no wait time at all. But for those that do, the alien may have to wait as long as five years.

Now, let's pretend that you are an uneducated migrant worker from Mexico who is living in dire poverty. There are no jobs for you in Northern Mexico. You must provide for your family. So what do you do?

The average wage in Mexico is 45.24 Pesos per day, which currently equals only four U.S. dollars. (Source: http://www.mexperience.com). You hear that just north of the Rio Grande, American employers are obligated by law to pay their workers more than $5.15 an hour (or ten times the average wage in Mexico.) On top of this outlandish wage, you will get free health care and education, paid for by the American taxpayer.

Being the legal eagle that you are, you go to the American Consulate and ask to get a visa. Sorry, you don't have a relative in the U.S. (Even if you did, it would mean a seven year wait.) And while there might be some employers willing to hire you, getting a labor certification would be quite a hassle. And don't even think about getting a diversity visa--Mexico is out of that loop altogether.

So you look at your impoverished family, and you look at the border where--just across the river--prosperity awaits. You count your costs; you weigh your options. Then you make a run for the border. (Apologies to Taco Bell.)

After getting past the border patrol and Minutemen, after surviving a swim across the river, or as the case may be, a long hike through the desert, you finally make it to a small manufacturing facility where the owner offers you a job. Since he knows you are desperate, he offers you something slightly below minimum wage. Since he knows that you won't report him, and since he knows that $2.00 an hour is much better than the $4.00 a day you were getting back home, he has a lot of leverage over you. So you take the job.

After a few weeks, you find that the working conditions are not that great. Safety issues are prevailent. Your living conditions aren't much better. You have to share an "apartment" with twenty of your closest friends.

When it is all said and done, you have become a slave. If you go home, you will starve. If you stay, the owner will put you through hell.

They say that 11 million illegal immigrants are in the United States. Assuming that to be the case, what if all 11 million illegals were given a free pass--amnesty if you will. On the one hand, that would certainly allieviate some of the pressures that these people are facing. Without the fear of reprisal, these poor Mexicans could report safety and labor concerns to the government.

But on the other hand, would it be fair to the legal immigrants who have waited for their green cards--some as long as twenty years? The Filipino woman who has spent decades praying for God to let her into the States, waiting for her priority date to finally appear on the Visa Bulletin--is it fair for her to allow an illegal alien from Mexico to stay in the U.S. even though he evaded the law for years? Of course not!

If we are to grant amnesty to the Mexican workers who skipped into America wrongfully, then we must open the borders for every person from any country to enter the United States. That would be the only fair thing to do. Of course, if we did that, our population would balloon overnight, and our financial, political, and social resources would be overextended.

Completely opening our borders would destroy our way of life. And amnesty for one group would--in fairness--necessiate amnesty for all groups, which would, for all practical purposes, yeild to a completely open border. Thus, amnesty can never work.

Tommorow, Lord willing, I will address solutions. But for now, its nighty night.