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Another thought: We are all discriminated against when our hard earned tax dollars go to programs to help people who should not even be here when it should be going towards helping citizens.
Imagine if instead of throwing piles of money at the illegal aliens we instead used it to help our struggling people. We could end homelessness.
We have more than enough of our own poor and veterans who are getting a raw deal, we do not need to give even one dime to illegals before our own are taken care of. If the liberals only had enough to feed their own children, would they take some of that food and give it to illegals, I would bet NOT.
Since liberals want them, liberals should have a special tax put on them to pay for them should any be allowed to stay here. Why should those of us who want them to go home, have to pay for any benefits or costs including to school their children, I pay enough property taxes for schools, I do not want even a dime of it used for illegal aliens.
I'd be Ok with an amnesty if a Dream Act person who was here before 14 YO AND with not even having a misdemeanor. The rest of the illegal aliens would need to leave the US. Period.
That sounds reasonable, may be 16 for me. My point was the op was talking about all the fees legal immigrants have to pay, what I am saying even if you grant them amnesty that process is identical to legal immigrants once the application gets approved, they have to pay at every step just like any other legal immigrant when you go from temporary to permanent and to citizen. Amnesty doesn't take you from illegal to citizen in one step.
That sounds reasonable, may be 16 for me. My point was the op was talking about all the fees legal immigrants have to pay, what I am saying even if you grant them amnesty that process is identical to legal immigrants once the application gets approved, they have to pay at every step just like any other legal immigrant when you go from temporary to permanent and to citizen. Amnesty doesn't take you from illegal to citizen in one step.
And how about they have to go back to their own countries to file for those visas, that is what legal immigrants have/had to do.
Illegals should also have to pay a fine for entering illegally on top of all the other fees.
Now on top of all that, there are many family members on waiting lists who are waiting to come in legally, so while I do not believe in any form of amnesty, if they are going to do it anyway, then illegals need to be put at the very end of the list of everyone else who has legally filed and is waiting to come in legally.
You realize that is what amnesty looks like, they will most likely get a temporary permanent residency card until the backgrounds are redone and then eventually a permanent residency that they would have to pay for, then after 5 years they could apply for citenzenship by following the same rules as any other legal immigrant. They are just not going to the them certificates of naturalization.
You are still discriminating against those that do it right. They never should have been here in the first place but you want to let them in for how long: 5 years plus the years they have already lived here. They broke the first rule when they or their parents first brought them here. Those that do it right do not have the advantage of living here without documentation.
It isn't only that; but many times the illegals are taking the jobs of those that did work within our laws - it is not fair.
By the way, supposedly there are 800,000 and according to PilgramsProgess thread (What the media won't tell you about DACA) they are between 15 and 32 years old. If we would take in those that are under 14 or under 16 how many would that be? Under 14 would be easy to answer with the figures we were given. I have a feeling that we would be talking about a very small group with the under 16 group you later mention. I would be interested in looking at the actual figures.
That sounds reasonable, may be 16 for me. My point was the op was talking about all the fees legal immigrants have to pay, what I am saying even if you grant them amnesty that process is identical to legal immigrants once the application gets approved, they have to pay at every step just like any other legal immigrant when you go from temporary to permanent and to citizen. Amnesty doesn't take you from illegal to citizen in one step.
I don't think that is true as we paid thousands to be in compliance by having to travel outside and back to US to have our I-94 in compliance, pay for all the drivers licenses to be in compliance and we can play a card game with the many drivers licenses our family got over the years.
Visa renewals, green card application fees, citizenship application fee etc.
By handing a green card to this group it just doesn't match what legal aliens go through.
On top of that the waiting times for legal aliens that are already delayed will be even more delayed.
One person I know is already waiting for 7 months for a simple green card replacement due to USCIS making an error in the date on the green card. It is ridiculous when USCIS issues a wrong green card and it is mentioned right away that they re-issuing takes so long. That green card came after an interview and traveling to a different state as the person just moved to another state, a month prior to getting the notice for the interview. Their lawyer was able to keep the interview in the original state otherwise the current state would have caused another six month delay to get an interview.
It seems that many feel sorry for illegal aliens and I understand that something needs to be done but it is very unfair if you know how many legal aliens that have visas and not one through marriage, deal with long time frames. Marriage visas and green cards usually go fast and that is not something to compare to what foreigners go through that don't apply for a green card through marriage.
You realize that is what amnesty looks like, they will most likely get a temporary permanent residency card until the backgrounds are redone and then eventually a permanent residency that they would have to pay for, then after 5 years they could apply for citenzenship by following the same rules as any other legal immigrant. They are just not going to the them certificates of naturalization.
No, they wouldn't be following the same rules as legal immigrants unless they went back home and applied to come here legally. The process doesn't begin on our soil it begins in their homelands and that is what legal immigrants do. Not the same thing at all. Not only that but we have annual quotas for legal immigration. Legalizing additional millions of illegals already here would negate those sane quotas.
No, they wouldn't be following the same rules as legal immigrants unless they went back home and applied to come here legally. The process doesn't begin on our soil it begins in their homelands and that is what legal immigrants do. Not the same thing at all. Not only that but we have annual quotas for legal immigration. Legalizing additional millions of illegals already here would negate those sane quotas.
This.
The endless forms to fill out. Your resident history, your educational history, your family history, your criminal history, your health history, your financial history. The physicals. The finger prints. The criminal background checks. Multiple times traveling across the state for personal interviews. The waiting in lines. The endless waits on hold on the phone. The refiling of forms the feds lost. The money sent. The more money sent (sometimes you weren't even sure what you were sending money for and you couldn't get in touch with a real person without being on hold on the phone for three hours, so you just sent the damn money).
Over and over - more forms, more money, more interviews with condescending and barely interested staff, more waiting. For years.
All to satisfy the US government that we weren't criminals, that we weren't bringing any nasty diseases into the country, that we could financially care for ourselves, that we wouldn't be a financial burden to either our adopted country or its citizens, that we had the education and professional skills necessary to become contributing members of our new country, and that we weren't terrorists and had never engaged in either prostitution or genocide.
This for the green card. And 15 years later (after having worked steadily in non-profits and municipal government and after having raised two children - one with a masters degree and one who is a military veteran with two tours in Iraq under his belt) most of it again to become a US citizen. The process was the same but the wait was shorter. And I know more about how this country works (thanks to the civics test) than probably any 99 out of 100 native born citizens you could stop on the street.
I followed the rules. Actually - I followed the law. The laws of this country. So did others in this thread. So are millions of other people currently spread out across the world who are going through the same legal process. Filling out forms. Digging through papers. Sending in checks. Waiting in lines. Waiting for the cumbersome US federal government to get to their name. Waiting their turn.
I don't give one care in the world about cute little acronyms like DACA, or cute little names like Dreamers, or attempts at heart wrenching stories about breaking families apart, or euphemisms like "undocumented immigrants", or chants in the streets (they're pretty damn noisy for supposedly living "in the shadows").
NONE of that changes what it is. Individuals made a choice to enter this country illegally. We have a choice to enforce our laws or disregard our laws. Those are our two choices - enforce or not enforce. No amount of heart-tugging stories changes that fact.
As for me - I'm glad I did it the right and legal way. Actually there was never a choice in the matter - I'm someone who respects the law, respects the nation I adopted, and respects its people. Breaking the law never even occurred to me. I never had to look over my shoulder and never had to worry about remembering all the mountain of lies I would have to tell in order to live, be educated and work in this country illegally.
But............after everything I went through to get here (and after watching all the craziness over illegals now), there's a small part of me that can't shake a sentence out of my head.
Rules are for chumps.
I don't believe that sentence. But it's a symptom of the recognition of everything I went through to get here. And everything that illegals DON'T have to go through to get here. Just.......sneak in and don't go back. Too easy.
The problem with trying to enforce our laws is that so many have a vested interest in allowing illegals to stay. Some want cheap labor, some want relatives and friends to go to the front of the line, and then we have those paid to keep the status quo. Of course none care about the fact that these illegals all broke our laws.
No, they wouldn't be following the same rules as legal immigrants unless they went back home and applied to come here legally. The process doesn't begin on our soil it begins in their homelands and that is what legal immigrants do. Not the same thing at all. Not only that but we have annual quotas for legal immigration. Legalizing additional millions of illegals already here would negate those sane quotas.
Not necessarily true. Overstays who are immediate relatives can adjust status in country.
Not necessarily true. Overstays who are immediate relatives can adjust status in country.
I was referring to border jumpers.
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