Since the year 2009 the Obama government has issued roughly over 5.5 million work permits to those who are not yet citizens of the United States of America. This has proved to be a number beyond the permission granted by the Congress. Critics of this measure state that the whole exercise reveals a parallel immigration system that downplays wages and snatches away jobs from the Americans. The whole issue has turned grave and has prompted members of the GOP to call for an investigation.
The Congress states that apart from the “parallel” 5.5 million odd cards issued it alone authorized 5 million green cards, apart from 3.5 million guest worker permits during the same period. GOP members argue that the entire exercise by the Obama administration had become a kind of “vehicle” for the President’s executive actions, in which deferred deportations were offered to millions of illegal residents in the country. The biggest number of people who have received this benefit has been the people entering the USA without being made subject to inspection. Such people were given “permanent” or “pre-permanent” work permits. According to the GOP this has led to a slow labor market, with family incomes falling. Criticism of this move has come in from all quarters, one of the arguments is that the authenticity of people receiving such work permits was not verified; this could prove to be very dangerous – critics state.
If a green card applicant is interested in obtaining a green card in order to reside in the United States then it is always good to know the rules and procedures. There are a lot of exceptions to the laws, the forms and documents could get complicated, there could be government delays and sometimes mix ups have also been said to occur. All these could have disastrous results – to prevent such consequences it is advisable to go in for an immigration lawyer. Most people who have gone in for an immigration lawyer are almost always happy that they have done so.
An immigration lawyer also helps the green card applicant in avoiding some commonly committed mistakes.
WHAT IS SO DIFFICULT ABOUT APPLYING FOR A GREEN CARD?
It has been the experience of most green card applicants that the U S immigration system comes across as “broken”. This is mostly because the law is not very easy to understand – it takes lawyers themselves, years and years to understand the intricacies and nitty-gritty of the basics, and of various visas, green cards and their benefits. Although the law itself has been written to benefit the green card applicants – by allowing them to re-unite with family members in the U S, or take resort to asylum as a protection from prosecution – it has also been written to protect the U S from entry by people who might be a drain on the country’s resources or present a health or security threat to U S society. If a green card applicant does not have an immigration lawyer he or she may spend hours travelling to the local immigration office and end up staring into the face of an officer who, all along had no access to your case and will simply tell the green card applicant that the case is still “pending”.
So it is always advisable for a green card applicant to go in for an immigration lawyer.
Immigrant reform supporters are reaching out to unauthorized immigrants in the country, asking them to stay calm and composed, continue to save their money, and keep their identity documents ready, even as President Obama’s expanded DACA plan has been blocked by the judicial system.
The executive action has been reportedly blocked as the critics felt that it would prove to be a heavy burden on the country’s already tightened budget, and it was also felt that the government had failed to secure the slack borders, leading to an increased rate of illegal immigration. The program to protect people who came to America when they were children from being deported was to have started this Wednesday, and in the month of May, parents of such children (U S Citizens or permanent residents) would have got similar protection too. The program would have impacted five million of the 11 million people who were residing in the United States illegally.
Many feel that the blocking of the executive action is a temporary barrier and will be soon lifted. DACA applicants were asked to be patient and not be discouraged. The DACA orders by the President and the recently blocked expansion mark a very important chapter in the history of immigration reform.
There has been a recent spurt in the number of immigrants who have been trying to enter the United States of America illegally from the Caribbean and other countries. People try to make their entry into the country by coming in from the seas, on small smuggler boats, and this trend is dangerously increasing.
The number of Cubans who are trying to reach the United States by sea is also attracting a lot of headlines. What’s more, the number of Haitians and other Caribbean islanders who are making such traversing journeys is also increasing alarmingly. Though US law grants legal permits for residency to Cubans who set foot on U S soil, any other immigrant from another country can be detained and sent back to the country of origin. It is said that Cuba and the United States of America are trying to set things right between the two countries, after more than 50 years.
According to recent data revealed around 5600 Haitians, 4000 Cubans and hundreds from other Caribbean countries were caught or chased away by the U S authorities in the fiscal year gone by. They were all illegal immigrants who were trying to enter the country. Many must have got away – either gone back or must have entered the country without getting caught. Many might have even died in the process.
It is a complex process of immigration made illegally, a desperate attempt to get away from poor countries – poverty, political torture etc. are some of the reasons why more and more Caribbean immigrants are trying to get away from their motherlands. Smugglers are also said to entice the islanders into making such hazardous journeys.
