Title: Immigration Reform is needed NOW
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Blog Entry: Juan* and Maria* have been in this country for years. They came from different countries in South America, met and married here. Juan and Maria have jobs and pay taxes. Juan is a pastor and Maria works in a government job. Maria speaks perfect English with only a hint of an accent. Juan still struggles with the language, but is always trying to work on his English. Juan and Maria have adopted a little girl from Guatemala, saving her from an absolutely horrible home life—even by Guatemalan standards. They filled out all the paperwork to get her into the country… twice. They paid the filing fees for each piece of paper… twice. They have been told countless times that there’s “just one more form to fill out—promise!” They now have Estrella’s* passport, the rest of the paper work is filed and they’ve been waiting on her visa for over six months. The application is just sitting in a pile on someone’s desk ready for a simple “Approved” stamp. They are getting desperate. Juan and Maria did things the right and legal way and only want to bring home the little girl they have rescued from a life of third-world poverty. Esther* grew up in Quebec, Canada. She attended a British Columbia university, and then transferred to a school in Seattle, Washington on a student visa. She fell in love, dropped out of school, moved out of Washington and had a couple of children. She cannot marry her beau here in the US without a valid visa, but she made sure that her children had dual citizenship in both the US and Canada (something Canadian law allows). Esther lied on her job application (“Are you a US citizen? If not, do you have a valid work permit?”) and is now in a management position in a call center. Jane* is also a Canadian citizen, but carries her green card with her at all times. She has to show her green card, work visa and passport any time she has a job interview because she doesn’t want to lie on the application. Both her children also enjoy dual citizenship—but only so there is no issue when they visit family. My own ancestors came over just like everyone else’s. My English ancestors made the journey in the 1900s. Others came from Germany and France in the 1800s to escape religious persecution in their home countries. Still others came over on the land bridge from Asia thousands of years ago. North and South America were entirely populated with immigrants, so those who say that completely closing the borders is the right idea are, ultimately, un-American. Juan; with his dark complexion and halting, highly-accented English; is looked down upon among the native US population. Esther, the illegal immigrant, with her blonde hair and blue eyes is given a free pass. Jane, when her purse was stolen, spent six months replacing all her documentation, having to deal with the headache that is the INS and even faced deportation. Illegal immigration is a sticky issue, and doesn’t simply involve people who have dark skin and eyes. The problem of illegal immigration cannot simply be solved with more boots on the ground in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. “The border” also includes the states bordering Canada and any international airport. The first thing that needs to be done is to close all the borders temporarily—including those in airports. The next thing is to not hire more law enforcement, but more paper pushers to release the backlog of paperwork and investigators to track down those who are still here on expired visas (How many 9/11 hijackers were here on expired student visas?). Only after we fix the system can we attempt to send back the “undocumented” workers, aliens, or (if you’re a Florida state congresswoman) citizens. But first, we need to reward those who are quietly waiting, filling out paperwork, paying filing fees multiple times. And we need to allow a little three-year-old girl to come home with her American parents. * Names have been changed to protect the innocent, and those not so innocent. UPDATE: On August 19, 2008, "Maria" and "Estrella" returned home to Idaho, Estrella for the first time.
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