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Friday, December 12, 2014

Forgive Me When I Cry (I Have Legal Status, the World is Mine)

Soon after the President announced his executive action on undocumented immigrants, I came across a thoughtful open letter addressed to the President and seeking answers on behalf of the real forgotten class, viz. legal immigrants. Titled "Mr. President, What About Me?", the letter swoops straight to the question that constantly burns in the minds of legal immigrants. The US system seems oftentimes tilted against those who wait patiently in line, forgotten and ignored while those who throng in without following the rules seem to hog all the attention.

On reflection, though, I realized that the author had made several mistakes, likely in ignorance. It does reflect on the Byzantine immigration laws that even reasonably intelligent persons have little chance of navigating the system without retaining specialized counsel. But one must remember that the American system, most notably its tax laws, treat citizens with the same lack of empathy or reasonableness. The opacity of the immigration system aside, Ms. Godinho has really far fewer complaints than she realizes. She bemoans the ten years spent in the US without reaching the end of the road on citizenship. But for a Portuguese citizen like her, the lines are typically far shorter. Of course, i do not know under which category she applied, but employment based categories tend to be current for everyone except applicants from China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. In other words, she would normally qualify for a permanent residency visa soon after applying. If the process has dragged out longer, it is undoubtedly an indictment of the system's complexity but it would seem that the complexity rather that the actual law has stymied her.

She also mentions the familiar complain that non-permanent immigrants have to periodically visit US consulates outside the territorial borders to obtain a visa stamp. But her use of the term "self-deport" is misleading, even unnecessarily inflammatory. While an undoubted hassle, the requirement is not really that onerous, and till recently, there was an option to obtain the necessary stamp in Washington D.C. rather than travel out the country. That option, like many other conveniences, was swept aside after the terror attacks on the Twin Towers in 2011. However, it is still not necessary to travel outside the US to get the stamp. Rather it is necessary to get one's visa stamp only if one has traveled outside and wishes to return. I have sometimes gone several years without an updated stamp, and get that addressed only when I'm next traveling internationally.

She also mentions the burden on being tied to the employer who initially sponsored her residency visa application. But if she feels so constrained, it maybe out of a misunderstanding of the rules. Not only does she have the option of concurrently remaining on a work visa which can be transferred from one employer to the next, but after clearing all the checks she may apply for a temporary document that would release her from her dependence on an employer.

To be sure, the points I've addressed are still a burden of some magnitude, and I, like any other legal immigrant would welcome any action that eased my path to permanent residency and lifted the Damocles sword of deportation. But that is perhaps the most important point to address in her appeal. The President has actually taken some steps to ease the path for legal immigrants as well. This was a far less publicized aspect of his action, since legal immigrants do not stir emotions in the same way as those who are less welcome, but it exists and we may well see some positive developments in the days ahead. Even if those presidential actions do not yield benefits for me personally, I would be no worse off than I was before, and in reality still better off than those who were granted this so called amnesty.

The fact is, and this is where I strongly disagree with Ms. Godinho, we legal immigrants have always been much better off than those who  are undocumented. We face hassles and irritation in our daily life while seeking the American Dream; those who hike across the southern border face physical hardships and dangers we could scarcely imagine. While we come here to pursue the life we dream of, the undocumented visitors have only the most backbreaking and menial jobs open to them. That magic page in our passport that grants us leave to live here also opens doors to us that remain firmly shut in the face of those lacking it. My wages are regulated against unfair depression, while undocumented residents must work for a pittance and have no recourse. Once it is proved that my skills are unavailable from any US citizen, my employer is required to pay me according to the worth so proved and I can seek a better market for my skills if I'm unhappy with my remuneration; an undocumented worker has no such freedom and all too often they fall victim to unscrupulous employers.

But above and beyond mere dross, my legal status empowers me in a way that an undocumented resident could only dream of having. I can live in any residential community I desire, while they are forced into inferior quarters where landlords ask no questions. They could certainly never hope to own a house, since no bank would be able to extend them credit. More importantly, I am protected by US law and its enforcement services, while the undocumented must skulk in the shadows and avoid all contact with the police, even when they are the victims. That is the cruelest aspect of their life, for the people sworn to protect and heal them are enemies to be avoided on account of the dark secret they bear. When my home was burglarized or when my car was rear-ended, I had not a moment's qualms in calling the police for assistance. Imagine however a life in which even serious injury must be borne in silence, for it is impossible for an undocumented resident to seek aid without risking all they have struggled to achieve. The children of legal visitors are automatically citizens of this country; though the children of undocumented residents enjoy the same status, they are sometimes unable to avail of their rights without endangering the residency of their parents.

My confidence stems from that little slip of paper that bestows upon me the right to live freely here, albeit for a limited time. But in that time, I enjoy all the freedom and rights of my American neighbors, save the right to flip burgers at McDonald's (or other menial low-wage tasks) or waste my vote in a highly partisan political experience. I live, secure in the knowledge that I am on a path of permanent residency here, long and meaningless as it may seem; my undocumented counterparts know that they may never enjoy full status, not even if they live their entire lives here. I may live here, with dignity. That respect may never come to those in the shadows and that, in short, is why I fully support the President's action and do not feel that I have been forgotten. True, I may have been forgotten, but it is because the trials I face in my path are mere irritations and discomforts and barely worth mentioning, while the millions of undocumented residents daily live in fear and hardship. This executive action, while merely a start, at least bestows upon them some security in life and permits them to stand tall and live with the respect and dignity that should be the right of any man or woman, more especially those who live in the USA, no matter how they got here.





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