Hi Brian,
I would like to discuss illegal entry into the U.S
and how people that have gone thru the legal process, feel.
My question is ..Do you, who went thru the paper work/ process to gain entry
feel that undocumented illegals should be granted permission to stay ? . or not ?
Interesting question - and thank you for asking rather than just assuming which is what too many people do - especially when they have a political bias they are trying to justify.
Let me give you a bit of background.
I have been working in the USA on and off for around 20 years. As a British resident that was perfectly legal and I paid tax on my US earnings in the UK. The rules are such that I could have spent as much or more time in the US as the UK, but since I was a UK resident - I paid tax there. I am in IT, so that was a lot of tax paid over the years.
In 2012 my brother (US citizen) applied for a working visa (H1B) for me as I had decided to live in the USA. That year the H1B cap was exhausted a couple of days before my application was filed - so my brother "wasted" about $3000 in legal fees.
In 2013 my brother tried again and this time, after a long battle with USCIS that cost over $10,000, my visa was approved in December of 2013. We moved to the USA in February of this year.
During the H1 application process my wife won a place ion the DV2014 Green Card lottery - so we knew that we would be able to adjust status onto the Green Card (LPR status) and we achieved that ion September 2014. That process cost around $5000 in filing fees, medicals and so on. We did not need or use a lawyer for that process - thanks to this forum. I was eligible to file for a Green Card on work based or Family based reasons - but both would have been a significantly longer process and more expensive.
So - my process has cost around $20k and was cheap and fast compared to many other examples. By the way, as an LPR, amongst other obligations, I have agreed to pay tax to the USA on worldwide income. For this year alone that means I will contribute over $100k in taxes to the US government, that would otherwise have been paid to the UK government. Since I live in California, my tax rate is comparable to the UK, and I get a lot less (Healthcare education and so on) for those tax dollars. I knew that coming in - so not complaining - just pointing that out.
Now - Obama recently used his powers in an executive action that does not represent an amnesty, but does allow (mainly) parents of "anchor babies" to stay in America without imminent fear of deportation. To many - that seems like a free ride whilst others, such as myself, have played by the rules, spent a lot of money and waited patiently. So - I probably have a right to be pissed about it - right? Well hang on a minute....
The anchor babies are US citizens (by virtue of the 14th amendment) - those kids are entitled to US protection, the same as you or any US citizen. Their parents WILL be entitled to Green Cards anyway - as soon as the child is 21 they will be able to sponsor their parents with no waiting period at all. They will also be able to sponsor their siblings who may not be citizens. All those family members sponsored WILL be entitled for citizenship. The only bar will be certain criminal acts - so for the vast majority it will only be be a matter of time.
So - the issue is about the children - they are citizens. They have rights and one of those should be the protection of their government and their family. So - if the government deport the families, they would be causing disadvantage to the US citizens. That is no way to treat the children and probably not the right way to treat their family either - who are, after all, going to be US citizens anyway. See my point?
So - enforce the borders by all means - I fully support that. But in terms of what the President did it was just common sense taking the 14th amendment into account and was not a free for all amnesty. While the parents are waiting for LPR status, they should be able to live normally, pay taxes, better themselves. That is the American dream, and as a future citizen I would rather they had rights and obligations while they are here waiting rather than being in the shadows, having to work in a black economy, drive an uninsured car and so on. Give them some fair rules and let them play by those rules - just like I do.