We have the same issues here in Austria, it always feels backwards when somebody well integrated gets kicked out "because the law is the law". It's also one of the main tools for populist politicians to mine for votes ("Fear!"). Although it might seem to be a complicated issue in the end it's not. It's just plain stupid.
Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
31–40 of 184 posts
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#32I'm American. My wife is Argentine. We live in Argentina in large part because when we wanted to marry in 2006, we couldn't get her a permanent visa to live in the USA.
Her fiancee visa was in fact quickly approved, pending an interview at the US consulate in Buenos Aires. We waited and waited, called, had our lawyers call, and the response was always "when the consulate is ready to make an appointment, they will call you." They never called, leaving us in limbo for over a year and saddled with thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Eventually we grew tired of the uncertainty. I moved to Argentina, we got married, and we've lived here ever since.
Argentina is not perfect. But the legal status of foreign residents here is much clearer than in the USA. As the husband of a citizen, permanent residency was automatic provided I didn't have a criminal record in my home country (I don't). I am allowed to vote in municipal elections. And, now as the father of an Argentine citizen, citizenship is also automatic if I want it.
You might think that Argentina can afford to be generous with immigrants because it has nowhere near the load of foreign residents that the USA does, and to an extent that's certainly true. But on the other hand, Argentina has fairly large immigrant communities (from Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia and China), more social welfare services (basic healthcare is free here), and a lot less financial resources than the USA.
Having now lived somewhere else and been on the "other side" of the immigration issue, I feel indignant and outraged when I read about how my country treats non-citizen residents.
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> eradicating every bit of what was left of this dream. I have never, ever seen a phrase so absolutely and totally full of hyperbole on this site.
Why? That's his feeling, it is whatever he writes. Whether it is full of hyperbole or not is not knowable, he'd have to admit to that himself or you'd have to scan his brain.
The sentence was a bit tongue in cheek, something that seems to have completely escaped those piling on with their indignant downvotes, as a way of exercising their frustration with the poor state of US immigration policy. "There, downvoted! Now I've done my part to make the world a better place!".
The US has had problems going back to when it was founded, and slaves - black people, mostly - were counted as 3/5ths of a human being. That's a sight worse than the stupid airport scanners, or many other modern stupidities in my book. There are plenty of other things to dislike about the place, too, that are not recent.
But plenty of things to like, and every other country has plenty of negatives too, if you look closely.
I disagree with plenty of things in the US, but I'm not so fond of sweeping statements.
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#34From the Case Summary:
"Atanas Entchev (“Entchev”) entered the United States in August 1991 as a
nonimmigrant exchange visitor on a J-1 visa. His wife, Mayia Entcheva, and son, Enislav Entchev, entered the United States in 1992 and 1993, respectively. They were authorized to remain in the United States until July 30, 1993. Before their authorization expired, the petitioners applied for asylum. Entchev argued persecution based on his political beliefs in opposition to the Communist party, which ruled Bulgaria until 1989."
So they applied for asylum on political grounds in 1993, because the Communist party was dethroned 4 years earlier. Well...
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
He wasn't a legal immigrant. His status never changed.
From the post, that is not clear. It opens with "After living legally in the United States for over 20 years [...]" From the case file, however, it seems like they entered with a J-1 visa and before their authorization to stay expired, they applied for asylum.
Perhaps by "living legally" he meant he'd never been in trouble with the law? That he was a productive member of society?
I don't necessarily agree with the immigration laws in the U.S., but I think you have to live within the laws a country has instated.
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#36Shame is that this guy is most probably Bulgarian and he holds the burgundy passport, which enables him to do his trade almost all over Europe (except for Belarus, Moldova, etc) without having to deal with any bureaucracy or the 'you dirty outsider' attitude.
I really don't get it what so many people see in the US.
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#37This seems extremely harsh to me. And also stupid not to value this man's contribution to the U.S.
In 2004 I arrived in Spain as an American and found a programming job at the international division of a sizable U.S. company. But everything was under the table, and that company did not want to sponsor a visa for me. But even when I was illegal in Spain I still had access to better free health care than the uninsured do in the U.S.
Fast forward to 2008, I was still living in Spain and had done some great work for a unrelated startup that was purchased by a much larger U.S. company. I was still in Spain illegally, but this major U.S. company on finding out my status was willing to help me out in any way to become legal here.
Spain has something called "Social Normalization for Exceptional Circumstances" which means if you have been in the country for three years illegally and have a company sponsor you, they will give you a work visa. You also have to be integrated in the community and speak the local languages well. So in 2008, this major U.S. company paid a lawyer and helped me through that process, something that I am exceptionally grateful for. During the time I worked for this company, my work helped bring in millions of Euros of contracts to the international division of this company in Spain.
Now in 2011 I still live in Spain, have the freedom to change jobs or work for myself, and after 7 more years I could become a citizen here, on the condition that I am always working and living in Spain during those years. That means 15 years from illegal to full citizen. I doubt I will stay that long, and don't actually plan on becoming a Spanish citizen, but knowing that if I had a family here and have that option is amazing. Now I am happily working for a Spanish university research group, fully legal.
And I have to say, I think it is disgusting to take a man, and especially his son who has lived in the U.S. since the age of two and treat them like criminals when the father has been actively contributing to the U.S. economy in one of the areas that the U.S. excels at. To criminalize this contribution is to spit in the face of all those immigrants who became American and made America what it is today.
And it is also denying the basic human rights of this individual.This clearly violates Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Article 15.
* (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
* (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Edit: As noted in the comments below, actually this does not violate Article 15 at all. I still stick with my conclusion though.
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#38An interesting factoid. There is no legal way for anyone to just come to US and make it their home country. Say someone from Africa or South America. They can't simply save enough money, get on a plane, land at JFK and then after 10 years or whatever time become citizens. They would have to be persecuted in a terrible way before being granted asylum, have to marry a US citizen, find a company that would hire them. I…
That goes for lots of countries. They want you to apply from the outside. In Canada for instance that can get really funny, where applying from within Canada for a European is only possible by applying in the United States (Buffalo, for instance). Within Canada there is no office that can deal with your application.
It is not an inside vs outside, it is that they have no legal way to simply apply and get accepted, just because you want to live here. And that is fascinating in light of this being a nation of immigrants.
You'd have to fit into one of the categories -- gifted, company wants to hire you, married a citizen, have lots of money & investing in US, ...
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why? That's his feeling, it is whatever he writes. Whether it is full of hyperbole or not is not knowable, he'd have to admit to that himself or you'd have to scan his brain.
The sentence was a bit tongue in cheek, something that seems to have completely escaped those piling on with their indignant downvotes, as a way of exercising their frustration with the poor state of US immigration policy. "There, downvoted! Now I've done my part to make the world a better place!". The US has had problems going back to when it was founded, and slaves - black people, mostly - were counted as 3/5ths of…
Fair enough. The reasons why it rubbed me a bit are (1) I know you're an American living abroad, so at least you've seen both sides of the fence, and (2) I used to think much like the OP and today I won't even go to the USA for business any more. They've managed to eradicate a good part of my respect for the country as a whole as well, and one of the main issues is the way new arrivals are treated by immigration.
How the government treats people that are at its mercy is a pretty good indicator for the state of affairs, and in this respect the USA is not looking too good, to put it mildly.
Re: Immigrant entrepreneur arrested to meet quotas
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> eradicating every bit of what was left of this dream. I have never, ever seen a phrase so absolutely and totally full of hyperbole on this site.
Why? That's his feeling, it is whatever he writes. Whether it is full of hyperbole or not is not knowable, he'd have to admit to that himself or you'd have to scan his brain.
I agree it was worded a bit harshly but on the other hand, that dream I had honestly is gone. So it's not hyperbolic, just maybe not worded perfectly I admit.
Some people may understand my initial comment as bashing against the USA. I want to clearly state that I didn't mean that at all. The last sentence was to express that I'm sad to see such things happen and I'll be the first to cheer if the USA can restore what it used to be and I believe it has everything it takes to achieve that.