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My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

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Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#181

Post by philwelch »

lutorm wrote: post #32
anonymous246 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "anyone can make it" part is true: lots of LEGAL immigrants and their children have done far better than their peers in their home countries (facetious example: Obama, but there are many many unknown people like that). For all it faults, America remains the most meritocratic country in the world. Discouraging ILLEGAL immigration should not lower America's standing in that respect.

America remains the most meritocratic country in the world This needs a citation. America-is-great chest pounding aside, the only reputable reference I remember seeing about this was from the Economist, who claimed that the correlation between your wealth and that of your parents is stronger in the US than in many European countries. So it seems that, at least measured in that way, the US is not a particularly good m…

Isn't that going to be mathematically more likely when there's more income disparity to begin with?

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#182

Post by coryl »

haberman wrote: post #65
nick-dap wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is living in limbo for a decade, with literally no single piece of paper identifying you as a human being is "cutting in line?" And why can't we tackle these problems at the same time? Why can't we even tackle these problems _one_ at a time? The Dream Act has been under review since 2001. It is a bill that can be voted on and passed in literally two days. Why not? ... I'll answer. Our impotent Congress, two year…

> How is living in limbo for a decade, with literally no single piece of paper identifying you as a human being is "cutting in line?" Because other kids who might have liked to live in the US and go to a top university didn't get to. You got what you wanted faster because your family broke the law. I still believe that children who are brought here illegally should get a lot more leniency because they weren't respons…

Because other kids who might have liked to live in the US and go to a top university didn't get to.

And some are lucky enough to simply be born in the US, and squander those opportunities anyway. I think its a bit funny to be citing "the law" as a grounds for which to argue this. It really has to go above and beyond what current laws are, into a moral and philosophical discussion of how people should treat each other. After all, in a time where there were no "laws", the settlers who landed in America pretty much raped the native population and took what they wanted. Where's their (the natives') justice? The entire south west coast (texas, arizona, california) was taken in wars from ACTUAL native mexicans. And now, a mexican can't walk across his ancestral land because of "immigration law". That seems kind of funny and wrong to me.

I would love if everyone could look up the Rawlsian "Veil of Ignorance" - its something similar to the concept of the "golden rule".

We're all human beings, this isn't just "ours", "theirs, and "yours".

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#183

Post by gdilla »

Go wait in line, Vargas. You ain't special. You think because we should feel sorry for you, that you deserve a greencard or legalization or whatever? Do you know the shit LEGAL immigrants have to go through to get and stay here? What makes you so damn special to skip the fucking line? I waited 7 fucking years for my greencard - all the while working and paying more taxes than you and any goddamn teabagger alive. I was stuck in h1B hell as a modern day indentured servant. I actually gave up and decided to go back home. I decided that America wasn't a place where hardworkers who followed the rules could make it. I told myself that as soon as I finished grad school, which I was putting myself through part time, I was out of here. Fuck this. Then it happened. Some fucked up debacle in 2007 at immigration where the waiting lists all became "current" for a month. I yelled at the company lawyer to get my shit done and ran around getting all my docs. 90 days later, I had a greencard. Things changed. I could do shit. I applied to techstars in Boulder in 2008 with my idea for syncing browsing sessions between desktop and mobile (I got rejected - David Cohen told me it was too easy to knock off and too hard to make money. He was right. I couldn't execute anyway, and then instapaper showed up like a month later anyway).

You think I have sympathy for you, Vargas? I married my wife, who was on H1B while I was on Greencard. She got laid off. Were we permitted to live together as a family in the USA? Nope. Even though she'd been here close to 10 years herself - doing grad school and then working. Yes, legally, and paying taxes all the long. You would think America would try to make it easy for english speaking, educated (in the US, no less), LEGAL immigrants who waited in line. Nope. Our son was even born in America. Proof to all the stupid republicans and teabaggers that there's no such thing as "anchor babies", not like we gave a fuck about that. Kids can't sponsor their parents till 21 years of age. So my wife and son had to go to Canada, to live with my parents, while I sorted shit out. I'm sponsoring her - but the waiting list is fucking what, 4 years long?!! Ya, the short wait times for sponsoring a spouse only applied to citizens. I have to wait till sept 2012 before I can apply for that. Jesus christ. America rocks. So now my wife visits on a vistor visa, with our American son, good for only 3 months at a time. Each time she's interrogated for an hour when she crosses the border because of this fucked up situation (US immigration are supposed to keep out visitors who they think are trying to live in america). She's been warned to not push it and not to come back too often. This is fucked up. I'm ready to fucking give up if it wasn't for all the shit we've been through to get here. I've always got my eye on potential opportunities back in Canada or abroad. I've got a good gig here that I actually like, but fuck, is it worth all the hurdles and bool shit of being separated from family and crossing borders every other weekend? Just to be LEGAL? My wife could have stayed here illegally. But we're not like that. We followed the fucking law and basically got fucked. So screw off vargas. No tears for you.

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#184

Post by geezer »

reddweb wrote: post #104
geezer wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If law is unjust, you change the law. It has happened in American plenty of times. Hell, America was founded in part because an unjust law was imposed on us.

unjust to whom? lets open borders ? vargas, when he was smuggled into this country, was not "special case" at that time. This is a typical, hallmark fraud case. The coyote, fake passport, fake student visa, fake greencard the list goes on. you want the Law to be just in above case? i am just saying there needs to be punishment and accountability. Believe me, the US immigration law is lot better, just and clever than…

Unjust to ordinary Americans as well as the immigrants, while favoring businesses. If there was a legal avenue to bring in enough individuals for farm work and other manual labor, there would be far fewer illegals living in the shadows and wages would be higher.

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#185

Post by andrewcooke »

lutorm wrote: post #32
anonymous246 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "anyone can make it" part is true: lots of LEGAL immigrants and their children have done far better than their peers in their home countries (facetious example: Obama, but there are many many unknown people like that). For all it faults, America remains the most meritocratic country in the world. Discouraging ILLEGAL immigration should not lower America's standing in that respect.

America remains the most meritocratic country in the world This needs a citation. America-is-great chest pounding aside, the only reputable reference I remember seeing about this was from the Economist, who claimed that the correlation between your wealth and that of your parents is stronger in the US than in many European countries. So it seems that, at least measured in that way, the US is not a particularly good m…

There's some (refuting) evidence here: http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/why/evidence/social-mobility

"It looks as if the American Dream is far more likely to remain a dream for Americans than it is for people living in Scandinavian countries. Greater inequalities of outcome seem to make it easier for rich parents to pass on their advantages. While income differences have widened in Britain and the USA, social mobility has slowed."

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#186

Post by philwelch »

anigbrowl wrote: post #151
lupatus wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those downvoting this comment, why? Do you disagree that nations are basically large families? Am I in the wrong to want to hypothetically seek out my biological family or nation of origin? Or, do you disagree with my viewpoint and want me to shut up?

Did not downvote, but absolutely disagree. Ethnic nationalism has a bad track record, to put it mildly.

It's a not-insignificant marker of nationality for nations which have experienced diasporas. The citizenship laws of both Israel and the Republic of Ireland grant citizenship on a fairly liberal basis, based upon Jewish or Irish descent.

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#187

Post by InclinedPlane »

haberman wrote: post #28

I have no beef with this guy who was basically forced into breaking the law before he could have responsibility for his actions. But overall I just feel that the compassion about immigration is misplaced. I don't understand why all the pro-immigration people say "look at these poor undocumented immigrants -- we should make life better for them." I think the people we should have compassion for are the people who are…

We can have compassion for both. More importantly, we shouldn't restrict our policy decisions based on avoiding making people upset.

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#188

Post by rajdevar »

Many people who commented here have never attended an interview in a US consulate. It is a 3 step process and it is not an easy one.Some times the process can last more than 5 hours .it was one of the nervous moments of my life. To get a visa extension every 2 years I need to provide a letter from my employer ,tax documents and the last 3 pay stubs. Although, I have every document my visa could be rejected for no reason or sent for an audit or RFI(Request for more Info).This process can take around 2-3 months with re- submissions and RFIs.The Visa extension process became more rigorous in Obama's administration. The bar has been set really high which is good.some of my friends did not get an extension and so they had to leave the country .The petition fee has been hiked to $5000 from $1800 with an extra $1500 for the attorney's fee.Very few employers are willing to sponsor a work permit ,Hardly any one is willing sponsor a GC in this economy.Even if they are willing ,the backlog is almost 6 years.so if I apply now there is a chance I might get a GC in 2017.The bottom line is, I don't support illegal immigration of any kind.Immigration should be based on qualification .Although,what kind qualification is debatable .Thats a different story.If you guys are empathetic to illegal immigrants go look at the US consulates across the world where thousands of people stand every day to get an "Approved" stamp on their passports.

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#189

Post by geezer »

gdilla wrote: post #183

Go wait in line, Vargas. You ain't special. You think because we should feel sorry for you, that you deserve a greencard or legalization or whatever? Do you know the shit LEGAL immigrants have to go through to get and stay here? What makes you so damn special to skip the fucking line? I waited 7 fucking years for my greencard - all the while working and paying more taxes than you and any goddamn teabagger alive. I wa…

So you want Vargas to suffer due to unjust and unfair laws because you have been suffering from the same unjust laws. I guess misery loves company!

Re: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

#190

Post by rubashov »

haberman wrote: post #28

I have no beef with this guy who was basically forced into breaking the law before he could have responsibility for his actions. But overall I just feel that the compassion about immigration is misplaced. I don't understand why all the pro-immigration people say "look at these poor undocumented immigrants -- we should make life better for them." I think the people we should have compassion for are the people who are…

"look at these poor undocumented immigrants -- we should make life better for them."

What I really don't get is how incapable the bleeding hearts are of understanding that immigration hurts the weakest Americans. Wages are driven down. See that crew of criminal alien hispanic landscapers? See the unemployed American blacks in your city? Think really hard and try to connect the dots...

This dynamic applies well farther up the economic food chain.

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