Proposed Restrictions on Parents/Family Members

[Yodrak 7]

mawilson,

Ahhhh - putting a price on brotherly love! So it's a question of priorities, not of possibilities.

Yodrak

Forever? Neither of you could visit the other?

Yodrak,

Not when a return ticket costs $2,500.

mawilson

[Yodrak 7]

Kez,

Well, you gave up your home and your life there to move here. If you did it once you can do it again, given sufficient motivation?

The circumstances of life change as time passes, and we adjust as necessary according to our individual priorities to make the best of things given those changing circumstances.

Yodrak

.... should I be expected to give up my home and my life here in the US to move back to my parents so that they can have the care that they should have and are not left to die alone????

Kez

[mawilson 2,133]

mawilson,

Ahhhh - putting a price on brotherly love! So it's a question of priorities, not of possibilities.

Yodrak

Yodrak,

Would you pursue a long-distance relationship with a woman from another country if there was

no possibility of ever bringing her here?

Why not? "Neither of you could visit the other?"

So yes, it is a question of priorities. The possibilities are not limitless either.

mawilson

[StupidJourney 0]

One thing that makes me annoyed is not only that my BIL or MIL or whoever couldn't come here to live if they needed to, BUT what would stop them or anyone else from just getting a tourist visa, not going back, and doing what they need to do to get enough points for residency like what will happen for the 12 MILLION illegal immigrants in our country now? It's rewarding those who didn't play by the rules by penalizing those who did.

Edited June 5, 2007 by sonicliz

[mawilson 2,133]

One thing that makes me annoyed is not only that my BIL or MIL or whoever couldn't come here to live if they needed to, BUT what would stop them or anyone else from just getting a tourist visa, not going back, and doing what they need to do to get enough points for residency like what will happen for the 12 MILLION illegal immigrants in our country now? It's rewarding those who didn't play by the rules by penalizing those who did.

A lifetime ban (if caught) would probably stop them. (One of the proposed changes in the new bill.)

[StupidJourney 0]

One thing that makes me annoyed is not only that my BIL or MIL or whoever couldn't come here to live if they needed to, BUT what would stop them or anyone else from just getting a tourist visa, not going back, and doing what they need to do to get enough points for residency like what will happen for the 12 MILLION illegal immigrants in our country now? It's rewarding those who didn't play by the rules by penalizing those who did.

A lifetime ban (if caught) would probably stop them. (One of the proposed changes in the new bill.)

Guess I need to do a little bit more reading!

[Boiler 43,799]

I am an only child and I hope to be able to sponsor my parents to move here once I am a citizen.... I could not just turn my back on my parents in their final days.... I would like them to be comfortable and have me around them all the time not just for 6 weeks twice a year...

Some of you have said that it should be down to the other family members to look after elderly parents but what if there is no other family.... should I beexpected to give up my home and my life here in the US to move back to my parents so that they can have the care that they should have and are not left to die alone????

Kez

We have that situation, but the US Health system (or lack of) prevents that anyway so a moot point.

Elderly parents would no doubt get a B2 so could do 6 months instead of 6 weeks, but Travel Insurance maybe another issue, on another board somebody in their 80's was quoted GBP100 - a day.

[Boiler 43,799]

mawilson,

Ahhhh - putting a price on brotherly love! So it's a question of priorities, not of possibilities.

Yodrak

Yodrak,

Would you pursue a long-distance relationship with a woman from another country if there was

no possibility of ever bringing her here?

Why not? "Neither of you could visit the other?"

So yes, it is a question of priorities. The possibilities are not limitless either.

mawilson

Or even the same country, not everybody has the capability to move from say the East Coast to the West Coast.

Just life.

[JaEnglishGirl 34]

Some of you have said that it should be down to the other family members to look after elderly parents but what if there is no other family.... should I beexpected to give up my home and my life here in the US to move back to my parents so that they can have the care that they should have and are not left to die alone????

Kez

When you CHOSE to emigrate to the US, that should have been factored in.

If you are indeed saying that this is your duty, then YES you should move back.

No-one is FORCED to move to the USA (as far as I know), so when you weigh up the pros and cons, this is something you have to factor in.

What gets to me, is the assumption that the US is in some way OBLIGATED to you merely because you married a US citizen!

[Kez/JWolf 6]

The USA owes me nothing and I moved to the USA because my disabled husband could not move to the UK.... if and when my parents join us here it will be at their own expense and they will pay for all their costs involved with living here so no they wont be a burden on the USA...

And at the time I made my decision to move here there was no limit on Parents wanting to immigrate so I made my decision based on that information....

Kez

[Caladan 19]

Like rebeccajo, I'd like to see some evidence that allowing family migration as we do now leads to chain migration of immigrants that end up being a drain on public resources. I think I'm against restricting it for the following reason. If there aren't a large number of family chains, then there's no particular reason to bother restricting it.

If there are a large number, I would offer this reason for not restricting immigration. If I understand the process correctly, you have to be a citizen to apply for non-spousal family members. This is a powerful incentive to become a citizen if you want to take care of your family back home. If it's a large number, then that would suggest there's a lot of people who view that as a benefit of citizenship.

Now take away that benefit. Now we have intelligent, point-system approved green card holders, who now have no interest in obtaining citizenship. In fact, their option, if they're the one in the U.S., is pretty much to leave and go home to take care of family. Wouldn't we be better off encouraging legal immigrants with education to assimilate rather than keeping them on as permanent residents with one foot here, one foot in their ow country?

[Boiler 43,799]

Assimilation has nothing to do with Citizenship. Its just a piece of paper. You are still who you are.

There are many benefits to Citizenship, tax and the dangers of PR status (losing/deportation) come to mind.

Interesting that USCIS consider chain migration as number 1 reason to obtain Citizenship.

[Nena 0]

My parents, brother and sister, even friends would not like to live in the US. They are not rich, but are happy and satisfied where they are. Especially my parents, I can't see them here! They like to visit once in a while, but at their age they would never be able to adjust! It would be too much of a culture shock. We travelled quite a bit and lived in different places though, throughout my childhood, but it was a different situation then, and French was spoken in most of the places where we stayed (my father had to move around a lot because of his work in construction). Another thing is that they live in Western Europe (France), thus have less economic reasons to want to come and live in America, as compared to people from poorer nations.

[Nena 0]

I also wanted to add that, no doubt that this is a tough, almost insoluble issue. I am clearly pro-immigrant, always have been. On the other hand, when you see that the "law is an ###", as in this case, surely more humanity is needed? The US is one of the few developed nations in the world (Switzerland would be another example) that offers no merit-based opportunity for immigration. The only way to get in is either to be related to someone already there, or to get a job with a US employer ahead of time (and even this offers only a temporary right to remain, maxed at 7 years). Therefore, the only solution is to stop overloading immigration through family channels, AND provide some type of rationalization, both for the ones already here and those who would like to come in future. This must be objective and merit-based, and hopefully show some humanity i.e. not make them all second-class citizens. Anything else just smacks of "I'm in, now shut the gates!"

US citizens who scaremonger that "everyone wants to come here" are simply misled. All developed countries are dealing with major immigration headaches, this is just the result of globalization (favoring the already-strong) and wealth disparities. They all need to find a way to deal with it, and locking the gates for all will not work.

[Boiler 43,799]

I also wanted to add that, no doubt that this is a tough, almost insoluble issue. I am clearly pro-immigrant, always have been. On the other hand, when you see that the "law is an ###", as in this case, surely more humanity is needed? The US is one of the few developed nations in the world (Switzerland would be another example) that offers no merit-based opportunity for immigration. The only way to get in is either to be related to someone already there, or to get a job with a US employer ahead of time (and even this offers only a temporary right to remain, maxed at 7 years). Therefore, the only solution is to stop overloading immigration through family channels, AND provide some type of rationalization, both for the ones already here and those who would like to come in future. This must be objective and merit-based, and hopefully show some humanity i.e. not make them all second-class citizens. Anything else just smacks of "I'm in, now shut the gates!"

US citizens who scaremonger that "everyone wants to come here" are simply misled. All developed countries are dealing with major immigration headaches, this is just the result of globalization (favoring the already-strong) and wealth disparities. They all need to find a way to deal with it, and locking the gates for all will not work.

Locking the gates?

6 to 10,000 a night according to an interview with a Border Patrol Officer I head this morning on the radio.

Merit base GC's are there but the numbers seeking them are so great that most go the temporary route and adjust from that.