What Will
Happen to the Legal Immigrants?
By Arif Kazmi, PE,
PhD
President, Arizona Asian American Association
Chandler, AZ
From newspaper columns to the talk on the streets,
the subject of immigration seems to address 'illegal
immigration' and 'undocumented workers'. Hardly
anyone talks about the immigrants who have legally
entered the USA, but have been waiting for years
and years to obtain permanent status, get a green
card and ultimately become citizens of the USA.
Some say that stories of legal immigrants are
just not newsworthy, especially when compared
to the dramatic stories of immigrants who scale
walls narrowly escaping the border guards to enter
the USA.
For your information there are an estimated five
million or more legal immigrants in the USA who
have patiently followed the rules, hired legal
counsel and waded through a bureaucratic nightmare
of lost paperwork, resubmissions and starting
back at the end of a line to obtain their permanent
status. If the current citizens of the USA had
to work within the immigration process, there
would be an uproar and demands for reformation
from here to Washington, DC.
I personally know families who have been legal
immigrants for many years, but are unable to take
part in basic human activities such as working
to provide for their families, obtaining insurance,
owning property and other ways of contributing
to society. When questioned, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service claims the years of delay
and lost files is due to a backlog in the INS
office. I have to believe this is true; I have
observed that the INS asks and checks and rechecks
the paperwork of applicants again and again. This
constant re-treading of ground is a waste of time
that only increases the delay and backlog.
The process to legally enter the USA is in itself
arduous: a potential immigrant is interviewed
numerous times, finger printed, sometimes required
to submit DNA, taken through a thorough FBI back
ground check and profiled to satisfy the Homeland
Security rules.
Once he has been through that thorough vetting,
should not obtaining permanent residency be welcoming
and nearly paperless? I believe a person who enters
the USA legally and having gone through such a
thorough background check should be able to live
like you and me live in the USA.
I request your newspaper editors, readers and
law makers to pay special attention to the frustration
of legal immigrants, and collectively resolve
the problems within the immigration process.
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