With President Bush promoting his immigration reform plan, people start talking about whether the government has in effect been encouraging foreigers coming in this country illegally. While people has noted how fewer and fewer businesses hiring illegal immigrants have been fined, and how less and less money has been used to control the US-Mexico border to curb the flushing in of illegal immigrants, what they failed to point out is that how the government is encouraging illegal immigrants by discouraging legal immigrants. Take, a typical employment-based GC applicant, for example. If he filed his LC application within the few months after April 2001 (deadline for 245i, some sort of amnesty of illegal immigrants), he would get his LC cleared in anywhere between 12 and 24 months. He should have just or about to file his I-140/I-485 by now. In the current processing speed, when would he get his GC eventually? 2, 3 or 4 years? - your guess is as good as mine... Through all these years, he should struggle to stick with one employer to maintain his status (some employers could take advantage of this situation and literally make your life miserable), make sure not to get promoted to management level (which would change his nature of occupation), not switch to a new area or start his own business, pay taxes.... Now what have the illegal immigrants been doing at the same time? Trying to find an employer who wouldn't care about his status so he could underpay him, worried about making ends meet, not getting sick, and not getting attention from police or INS... which group suffer more? Honestly it is hard to say. What makes the difference is that politicians are "concerned about" these illegal immigrants while no one cares about you - legal means victimized?
