Henry Cole Baxter

UWRT 1102

3/28/17

Assignment #3

The research question I chose to use is Should America make the

process of becoming a legal immigrant easier? I want to learn more about

and understand how it really works and if there should be changes made to

the process of becoming a legal immigrant. Many people do not truly

understand how difficult and tedious legal immigration into America really is

and I think that skews the way that people think about illegal immigrants.

There is a reason many immigrants come to this country illegally and it is

because the process is expensive, timely, and tedious. About 140,000

immigrants are granted permanent residency in the U.S. due to their

professional job skills out of 900,000 immigrants who apply each year. And

the 140,000 then have to go through the process of acquiring their green

card which often takes longer than 4 years and costs thousands of dollars.

Sources:

Ribitzky, Romy. "Path to U.S. Citizenship Costly, Tedious." ABC News. ABC
News Network, 03 July 1970. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

-This article explains how difficult it is to become a legal united states

citizen from multiple different perspectives. These perspectives include,

money, time, and risk. The cost for most immigration lawyers is anywhere
between 5000 to 7000 dollars for one single individual, not to mention the

extra fees required for any potential family members to accompany you.

Some cases can even cost close to 15000, to 20000 dollars. Not to mention

the time spent waiting and waiting for the whole process to be finished with

can really wear down on someone over a long period of time such as this.

One British lady even states that she called an immigration office in

Massachusetts and the man working told her that it was his job to make sure

she got sent home. This being said, this source seems to be on the side

opposing the legal system as it stands today and points out multiple flaws

within the organization.

"Why Don't They Just Get In Line?" American Immigration Council. N.p., 29
Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

-This source explains the answer to this question; Why dont they just

get in line? The real fact of the matter is that there is no line for them to

get in. This source states that immigration into the states on a temporary, or

permanent basis, is limited to three different routes. These routes are family,

employment, and humanitarian protection. Each of which comes with

different limitations and eligibility requirements. The majority of immigrants

do not have the necessary relationships to acquire this entry into the

country. Employment immigration requires the employer to specifically

request workers. Family immigration is limited to close family and has a limit

to how many immigrants can use this route. This source is from the American
immigration council and is credible. I agree with this source and think that it

explains the process and how truly difficult it is to become an immigrant in

this country today. This source shares the same opinion towards the process

as the last source did.

"4 Paths to Legal Status for Undocumented Immigrants." CitizenPath. N.p., 21

Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

-This source states that there are only four ways for someone who is

not associated with America to earn their citizenship. These paths are similar

to the routes stated in the second citation. In order to become a citizen of

America, an immigrant can earn a green card through marriage to a U.S.

citizen or an LPR. They can get the DREAMers green card through

employment with life act protection. They can file for asylum status. They

can also earn a U visa for victims of crime. Many of these ways were

explained in the past sources, but the one that has not been explained is the

DREAMers green card. This route is when a well educated immigrant has an

employer who wishes to sponsor him for a green card. This source explains

that the process of legalization is long and tedious but is not excessive. I

disagree with this article and think that the process should be at least

shortened or made cheaper.

"How the United States Immigration System Works." American Immigration

Council. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
 -This source states that the United States immigration system doesnt

really work. It is very unproductive and leads to more and more illegal

immigrants entering the country every day. The reason behind the reall

problem in America of having too many illegal immigrants all traces back to

this ridiculous vetting process to become a legal immigrant. About 1/10 of

the immigrants who apply are actually given an opportunity to begin the

process to become a citizen and the rest are left with hardly any options.

After more and more research, I am beginning to question the process that

we use as a country to help these immigrants become legal. It seems like

there are so many of them that the country doesnt really care whether they

really do become citizens or not.

"Immigration." How To Become A Legal Immigrant | Bartlett & Weigle Co.,

L.P.A. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

-This article explains the difference between an immigrant and a non-

immigrant. An immigrant is a non-American citizen coming to the U.S. with

plans to stay there permanently. In order to achieve that, they must receive

their immigration visa also known as the green card. After this, they are

able to live and work in the states as long as they dont commit anything

that would get them deported. This is why the whole process is also risky,

even once it has been completed. A non-immigrant is someone who is

allowed to come to the U.S. for a limited amount of time for certain purposes.

These purposes include travel, school, temporary employment, and possibly

a business investment. Most immigrants go for the non-immigrant route

because it is easier but it is also a lot more risky. They go for this route

because of the time and work needed to acquire a real green card. I can

honestly say that if I was an immigrant I would probably go this route as well

seeing as the actual process to become a permanent resident is ridiculous.

Eschbach, Karl, and Mary Waters. "Immigration and Ethnic and Racial
Inequality in the United States." Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard.
Annual Reviews, 01 Jan. 1995. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.-peer reviewed

-Although many immigrants work for years and years to acquire their

visas, once they are permanent residents, they are still not always treated

as such. Many citizens and even the government look at these people

differently just because they were immigrants at one point and a lot of the

time, they are not shown the respect that they deserve. I agree with this to a

certain extent. Many immigrants do not get the respect they deserve from

plenty of people, but they are also shown respect by the other half who

actually understands what all they had to go through to get to the place that

they are at today.

Borjas, George. Immigration and the American worker, a review of the

academic literature. HKS. Harvard. April. 2013. -
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/gborjas/publications/popular/CIS2013.pdf

-The views of the traditional American blue collar worker has changed a

lot and that started with immigration. Many immigrants come to America for

work and to start a new life, and when they get here work is what they get. I

have more respect for the immigrant blue collar worker than I do for most

people who are already citizens because of a few reasons. Many of these
immigrants work the hardest and longest hours every day because people

who are already citizens are not willing to work the hard jobs and so that is

the majority of whats left for the immigrants. I know this first hand because I

have worked construction for a lot of my life. The majority of the guys I

worked with were legal and illegal immigrants from all over the world. These

guys are doing brute grunt work out in the hot sun all day and they

absolutely love it. I have talked to many of them about immigration and

become friends with many of them and this is what they have told me about

immigration. They have told me multiple times that the reason they are so

happy to do this hard work all day long is because the circumstances in their

home country makes that work look like nothing. I had one guy tell me once

that hes so happy to be here working because hes not being shot at in

Mexico anymore. That really changed my perspective on immigration and

makes me very upset with the way that this country handles its immigration

process by making it nearly impossible for a lot of these guys and girls to

become citizens.

U.S. Immigration Policy. Council on foreign relations. book

-This is a response to the present threats of overpopulation of illegal

immigrants such as these. The continued failure to devise and implement a

sound and sustainable immigration policy threatens to weaken Americas

economy, to jeopardize its diplomacy, and to imperil its national security.

The stakes are too high to fail, if the United States continues to mishandle

its immigration policy, it will damage one of the vital underpinnings of

American prosperity and security, and could condemn the country to a long,

slow decline in its status in the world. The U.S. immigration policy explains

that America has gained numerous benefits from opening the doors to

immigrants but the fact stands the the vetting process is excessive. I agree

with this statement and think that a new policy should be made. All these

people want is work and fair pay, and they will deliver if they are given the

chance. This source is credible and is pulling at the fact that the process is

way too long and hard and even has options or ways that the policy can be

upgraded. One idea is to reform the legal immigration system so that it

operates more efficiently, responds more accurately to labor market needs,

and enhances U.S. competitiveness.

Videosciencelab. "Best immigration video on youtube-Immigration, World

Poverty and Gumballs." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

-Now this is not necessarily a solid source but it is an explanation and

opinion of what immigration is and how it effects the country and the people

in the country. There are so many immigrants compared to the fraction of

them that get the opportunity to actually become citizens, the rest of them

have nowhere to go, so they come illegally. This explains the overflow of

immigrants and what happens to the rest of them. They come and take the

chance of being deported just to work and try to start a new life that they

dont have the chance to earn in their home country.

Staff, National Immigration Forum. "Policy Papers." National Immigration

Forum The Importance of Naturalization Good for Immigrants Good for
America Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
 -This article explains the positive effects of naturalization on this

country and on the immigrants themselves. As long as any immigrant

upholds American values, this only increases the success of this country as a

whole and the success of the individual themselves. According to the SBA,

immigrants are 30 percent more likely to start a business in the U.S. than

non-immigrants. Immigrant owned businesses also create new job

opportunities for other American workers. This source is against the present

immigration policies and states that immigration is good for the people as

well as the country. This is a credited and official source backed up with

statistics and facts. I agree that the current policy on immigration should be

updated and changed for the good of the immigrants and the good of the

country itself.