I Married An Illegal Immigrant: Account Of How Screwed Up This Country's Rules For Foreigners Are

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/immigration/133880/i_married_an_illegal_immigrant%3A_a_first-hand_account_of_how_screwed_up_this_country%27s_rules_for_foreigners_are

I Married an Illegal Immigrant: A First-Hand Account of How Screwed Up This Country's Rules for Foreigners Are
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted March 30, 2009.

The one argument in the immigration debate with absolutely no merit is that the system is fine.

Immigration is an issue that always spurs heated debates. There are some decent arguments floating around, some kooky ones and one that reveals that the person making it is utterly clueless about the issue. That argument, in a nutshell, is that the system's fine.

- snip -

But the system's not broken, according to these folks. That's just a liberal talking point bandied about by those with a perverse desire to actually fix it. (This is closely related to the even more ridiculous assertion that the government doesn't do much to enforce the immigration laws. It does -- much more than enough, in fact, given the nature of the offense in question.)

Now, there is a significant group of people who would never, ever suggest that our immigration system is anything less than dysfunctional. That group consists of anyone who has ever had any opportunity to interact with it in any way whatsoever.

Although I am a U.S. citizen -- belonging to a fourth-generation immigrant family -- I count myself among that group. What I learned through the experience is that the difference between a "legal" and "illegal" immigrant often comes down to whether one can afford a decent, well-connected lawyer.

Here's my tale:

When I was very young, I fell in love with a woman. She had the misfortune of being born in another country, but we didn't let that stand in our way, and eventually we married. (And, for the record, it was by no means a sham marriage -- we had lived together for three years before tying the knot.)

We had lived in Germany for a while -- where my application for permanent residency was processed with typical Teutonic efficiency. Then we moved to New York and ran into the U.S. immigration system, a black hole of an agency staffed by incompetent, gray-faced bureaucrats whose performances would have shamed the DMV.

- snip -

Eventually, my (now ex-) wife was granted a temporary permit to work while her application was being processed. She was, officially, a "legal" immigrant, one of the ones that Lou Dobbs supposedly loves.

Then we made a huge error, at least as it relates to the immigration system: We moved to Florida (I know, how rude of us?).

We paid a fee to have our file transferred and were assured that the application process would continue smoothly in the sure hands of the Miami field office (this was back when CIS was INS, and not part of Homeland Security). Only the file never arrived. It was transferred, but to Maine. And then somewhere else (I forget where -- I think it landed somewhere in the Pacific Northwest).

Months passed. we were repeatedly told that the file was being tracked and would appear in the Sunshine State any day now. The authorities renewed my sweetie's 'temporary' authorization, and she remained, thankfully, "legal."

Until the day cruise.

MORE

[silverojo]

1. It goes without saying that ALL govt. programs are effed up

It's sad when people trying to enter this country legally get caught up in bureaucratic red tape, but trust me...these horror stories happen to people dealing with everything from the IRS to their local welfare office. Of course, it shouldn't be happening, but sadly, it does.

Still, the author stretches logic by implying that his (now ex-)wife, who did everything in her power to come here legally, can be compared to people who deliberately come here illegally. One got screwed over by the system; the other is screwing over the system. Big difference.

"Reform" doesn't mean we should just open our doors to those who abuse our system. "Reform" means we should do our best to help people like this unfortunate woman, so that they can come here without their records being lost or otherwise screwed up.

Using the latter as an excuse to allow the former is just the usual pro-illegal stance of twisting logic to justify DELIBERATE illegal activity.

[Jeep789]

2. The majority of the abuse is done by the employers

Stop that and you can stop wasting your life hating people who are simply trying to make a living, just like you and I.

Edited to add: And although it may seem like all government programs are fucked up, you haven't seen anything until you privatize them and find out how they will fuck you up.

[paulsby]

4. illogical

he never said he "hated" anybody.

being against illegal immigration doesn't mean one "hates" anybody.

you are using a fallacy, the disapproval of illegal immigration = 'hate' for illegal immigrants, to avoid an actual discussion (lord forbid) of the underlying issues.

[moriah]

3. I was married to an immigrant.

He was never technically "illegal" -- but it certainly took forever to get his TPR Green Card to us. They mailed it to the wrong address. And even though the Post Office sent it back to them as undeliverable, they wouldn't forward it to our correct address -- if it didn't arrive it could have been intercepted. Even though they had it.

It took several calls to our Senator, but it finally showed up.

It seems like moving is the worst thing we can do -- we also had an issue with our file getting lost when we moved from Arkansas to New York. His original card had expired, but he had received a stamp in his passport when we had the in-person interview. That, too, was about to expire, and no new card had been sent. And I found out that INS people will simply not deal with someone speaking with an accent. My (now ex) husband spent three days trying to get things straightened out with them at the office in NY. No good.

I flew down to Arkansas, went to the original office we interviewed at, and they said they still had a copy of his file in his archives. They said that they could dig it out and fax it to the office in New York, but the office in New York would have to call them directly to give them the fax number, and needed to call a "private" number. So I flew back to New York, and went with him downtown to the office.

It was truly amazing -- once they got someone speaking with an American accent talking to them (even if it was a Southern accent), they started being nice all of the sudden. "Nice" being relatively speaking -- they still gave us a hassle, saying the number the Arkansas office had given me "might be someone's home number".

"So someone's home number is going to fax YOU paperwork with all your stamps and signatures, instead of the other way around? Surely you guys have some secret codes you can use to authenticate each other, or you could... oh, I don't know... call them????" I'd had enough, and my red hair started showing.... they finally called, and got the paperwork, and stamped his passport. His renewed Green Card arrived a few weeks later.

It might have been cheaper to hire an attorney.