06-12-2017, 07:07 AM
Eric1600 - then it is a real irony that Mexico has zero tolerance for those people in Mexico illegally.
This isn't about zero tolerance on immigration. The US allows tens of thousands of immigrants in each year - legally. This is about following the law. If you don't like the law, work to get it changed.
I've lived in multiple different countries, several are the poorest in the Northern hemisphere. I know how Mexico handles illegal immigration and I can personally tell you it isn't zero tolerance. They have in the past decade, due to pressure from the US, been more aggressive in trying to stop other central American citizens from crossing their southern border. And in general they also exploit them on farms and don't provide a path to citizenship either and illegal immigration there is a felony rather than a misdemeanor in the US. They used to just look the other way as long as they kept going to the US. I'm not sure why you'd want to compare their policies to the US because the US was founded on a different set of philosophies than Mexico, and many other nations when it comes to immigrants.
As I've been trying to point out that if you're poor, there's pretty much no path to legal immigration. I also posted a list of reasons why this is systemic problem that benefits those who lobby for this situation. However as the scale starts to tip more and more towards zero tolerance it will bite these people because the black market will dry up and we'll mostly be left with just the criminals rather than the hard working immigrants who are building better lives here.
Money isn't the only consideration - it would be unfortunate if it was.
I can tell you I've personally assisted about a dozen poor people in trying to get a work visa in the US and all of them were denied with no reason given and a suggestion to just apply again in a year. I have also applied for many H1-B visas for engineers (in my previous life) and never had any of them turned down.
I also have friends that acquired green cards and went on to become citizens. They were all ones with an American spouse (or a business that went H1-b to green card to citizen) who helped and supported them while they waited during their long trial period where they are not permitted to work or leave the country. Money makes all the difference from my personal experiences.
This isn't about zero tolerance on immigration. The US allows tens of thousands of immigrants in each year - legally. This is about following the law. If you don't like the law, work to get it changed.
I've lived in multiple different countries, several are the poorest in the Northern hemisphere. I know how Mexico handles illegal immigration and I can personally tell you it isn't zero tolerance. They have in the past decade, due to pressure from the US, been more aggressive in trying to stop other central American citizens from crossing their southern border. And in general they also exploit them on farms and don't provide a path to citizenship either and illegal immigration there is a felony rather than a misdemeanor in the US. They used to just look the other way as long as they kept going to the US. I'm not sure why you'd want to compare their policies to the US because the US was founded on a different set of philosophies than Mexico, and many other nations when it comes to immigrants.
As I've been trying to point out that if you're poor, there's pretty much no path to legal immigration. I also posted a list of reasons why this is systemic problem that benefits those who lobby for this situation. However as the scale starts to tip more and more towards zero tolerance it will bite these people because the black market will dry up and we'll mostly be left with just the criminals rather than the hard working immigrants who are building better lives here.
Money isn't the only consideration - it would be unfortunate if it was.
I can tell you I've personally assisted about a dozen poor people in trying to get a work visa in the US and all of them were denied with no reason given and a suggestion to just apply again in a year. I have also applied for many H1-B visas for engineers (in my previous life) and never had any of them turned down.
I also have friends that acquired green cards and went on to become citizens. They were all ones with an American spouse (or a business that went H1-b to green card to citizen) who helped and supported them while they waited during their long trial period where they are not permitted to work or leave the country. Money makes all the difference from my personal experiences.