Is US Legal Immigration Becoming Too Difficult?

[lpetrich]

The Trump administration is making legal immigration harder, too - The Washington Post

While this shift has unfolded, the agency’s adjudications have become so backed up that the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing earlier this month to explore the causes and harmful consequences of its severe case processing delays.

...
During that span, the Trump administration has implemented a range of unwarranted policies and practices that directly lengthen processing times. Because of one of these policies, every employer-sponsored green card applicant must now appear for an in-person interview, even though there’s no practical justification for such interviews except in a small group of cases that appear to have higher potential to undermine public safety or the integrity of the immigration system.

Trump admin makes it harder for legal immigrants to gain citizenship

The Trump administration announces a plan to make it harder for immigrants who use public assistance to obtain a green card or citizenship.

Acting Director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli says the revised public charge inadmissibility law will ensure immigrants are “self-sufficient” instead of relying on public resources.

The National Immigration Law Center said on Monday it will sue the Trump administration over the new rule. New York State Attorney General Letitia James tweeted that she also plans to sue the Trump administration.

Seems like they want to keep *all* immigrants.

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Some anti-immigrant folks like to say: “We’re not against immigration, we’re against “illegal” immigration.”
If that were true, then we would make documented immigration easy & safe.
But each & every day, this administration is grinding legal, documented immigration to a halt. https://t.co/1YOimdaCK8" / Twitter
noting
Tanvi on Twitter: "USCIS proposes new fee for H1-B electronic petitions. https://t.co/PvjkfNpoyh" / Twitter
AOC hits the nail on the head.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "About 1/2 of all the cases I see at work are immigration related. Many are people who‘ve been on the path to citizenship for years.
Steps that are supposed to be ~30 days are taking up to a year. Some, like work authorizations, are so delayed they’re forcing people out of jobs." / Twitter
She herself had handled immigration cases when she was an intern for Teddy Kennedy.

A response: Elie Challita on Twitter: "@AOC It's getting so bad that the wait times for work visas are now longer than the duration of the visas: In some cases, H1B work visas expired before the recipient even received them. https://t.co/ougyecLxpo" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "If people were actually concerned about undocumented people, the clear solution would be to offer documentation. It’s safer & secure for everyone.
But there is no “law & order” in an immigration system of sheer chaos, where rules change every day for the sole goal of exclusion." / Twitter
That seems to be advocating open borders. I cannot support that, and I think that illegal immigrants ought to be deported, at least if they commit crimes.

 

[Jarhyn]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Some anti-immigrant folks like to say: “We’re not against immigration, we’re against “illegal” immigration.”
If that were true, then we would make documented immigration easy & safe.
But each & every day, this administration is grinding legal, documented immigration to a halt. https://t.co/1YOimdaCK8" / Twitter
noting
Tanvi on Twitter: "USCIS proposes new fee for H1-B electronic petitions. https://t.co/PvjkfNpoyh" / Twitter
AOC hits the nail on the head.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "About 1/2 of all the cases I see at work are immigration related. Many are people who‘ve been on the path to citizenship for years.
Steps that are supposed to be ~30 days are taking up to a year. Some, like work authorizations, are so delayed they’re forcing people out of jobs." / Twitter
She herself had handled immigration cases when she was an intern for Teddy Kennedy.

A response: Elie Challita on Twitter: "@AOC It's getting so bad that the wait times for work visas are now longer than the duration of the visas: In some cases, H1B work visas expired before the recipient even received them. https://t.co/ougyecLxpo" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "If people were actually concerned about undocumented people, the clear solution would be to offer documentation. It’s safer & secure for everyone.
But there is no “law & order” in an immigration system of sheer chaos, where rules change every day for the sole goal of exclusion." / Twitter
That seems to be advocating open borders. I cannot support that, and I think that illegal immigrants ought to be deported, at least if they commit crimes.

So, I am not a supporter of "full" open borders; I think background checks are appropriate, I think people need to be able to pay for the process of documentation, and I think people should have a place to live and job lined up, sponsors, and the like for some time before full citizenship is offered. I say this to avoid the asinine accusation that I am for "open" borders.

That said, I'm curious what arguments are made against having borders as open as what I have just described, and allowing those here albeit currently illegally to engage attainment of citizenship on those lines?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

So, I am not a supporter of "full" open borders; I think background checks are appropriate, I think people need to be able to pay for the process of documentation, and I think people should have a place to live and job lined up, sponsors, and the like for some time before full citizenship is offered. I say this to avoid the asinine accusation that I am for "open" borders.

Reality: You can only apply for citizenship after having been here for some years. You don't have a job and a place to live lined up, you already have them! The day my wife got citizenship she took a half-day off work for the ceremony, then returned to life just as it had been.

Perhaps you're thinking of getting permanent residency--note that while you have such an application pending it's virtually impossible to visit the US. Lining up a job and a place to live will be quite difficult.

The only people that can get citizenship without already being here are adoptees--and they're too young for a job, their place to live is with whoever is adopting them. Again, a non-issue.

Also, note that there are no sponsors for citizenship. You do that yourself. (In fact, getting citizenship cancels any sponsorship agreements filed on your behalf.)

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

I'm with OC on this. It should be MUCH easier to get in documented. Its a big reason why you have so many illegal entrants. Legal immigration should be simple.

 

[Politesse]

The last few people I've spoken to who were of Mexican descent and attained full citizenship did so as the end point of... well, a VERY involved, expensive, and frequently illogical process that actively endangers those around you who aren't documented. NO one paid less than 15,000 USD in terms of the entire process, legal and lawyer fees, bail, etc. It took five years for one, twelve for another, and an interrupted sixteen for the third. Our process is not quick, transparent, or in any normal sense reasonable, especially if your skin is brown.

 

[TSwizzle]

The last few people I've spoken to who were of Mexican descent and attained full citizenship did so as the end point of... well, a VERY involved, expensive, and frequently illogical process that actively endangers those around you who aren't documented. NO one paid less than 15,000 USD in terms of the entire process, legal and lawyer fees, bail, etc. It took five years for one, twelve for another, and an interrupted sixteen for the third. Our process is not quick, transparent, or in any normal sense reasonable, especially if your skin is brown.

*yawn*

 

[Politesse]

The last few people I've spoken to who were of Mexican descent and attained full citizenship did so as the end point of... well, a VERY involved, expensive, and frequently illogical process that actively endangers those around you who aren't documented. NO one paid less than 15,000 USD in terms of the entire process, legal and lawyer fees, bail, etc. It took five years for one, twelve for another, and an interrupted sixteen for the third. Our process is not quick, transparent, or in any normal sense reasonable, especially if your skin is brown.

*yawn*

Dude, seriously? You're gonna pretend that isn't a thing?

 

[WAB]

I'm with OC on this. It should be MUCH easier to get in documented. Its a big reason why you have so many illegal entrants. Legal immigration should be simple.

Agreed.

 

[DBT]

Regardless of race, colour or creed, given high levels of immigration, how many people can the USA support in terms of ecology? By some estimates carrying capacity overshoot has already happened.

Quote:
''USA has a biocapacity of 3.6 Global Hectares (gha) per person and an ecological footprint of 8.4 gha per person. In other words, the country is consuming twice the resources that it produces. The shortfall is being met by imports (aka depriving others) and also by depleting its own reserves faster than they can be replaced. This is a condition known as ‘overshoot’ and is NOT sustainable. (These are figures for 2014. The overshoot has probably increased since then.)

If USA had to live within its carrying capacity, the current population would have to be reduced to: 328,000,000 x 3.6/8.4 = 147, 600,000 people.

If USA had to live within the world’s biocapacity level (which is 1.68 gha per person), then it could only support: 328,000,000 x 1.68/8.4 = 65,600,000 people.''