According to the Department of Homeland Security Immigration Website (USCIS), undocumented Mexican individuals come to our country by illegally crossing the border or by initially having a visa and staying after the visa has expired. In most cases if an undocumented individual would like to apply for a green card, they must do so while residing in Mexico which is what keeps many undocumented people from applying. There are approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. It’s interesting that immigration law takes place within the U.S. Department of Justice instead of the U.S. judicial system because deportation is seen as an administrative correction and not a criminal punishment. Because of this, undocumented immigrants …show more content…
You are also responsible to pay taxes, obey all laws, and if you are a male between the ages of 18 and 25 you must register with the Selective Service. Your wait time for a visa can be anywhere from three to twenty years or longer depending on the circumstances and the number of visas available each year (USCIS).
There are 226,000 family sponsored visas, 140,000 employment based visas available each year. There is no limit for immediate family members such as spouses and children younger than 21. Due to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the number of Mexican immigrant visas can only equal 7 percent of the total permanent residents or green cards issued each year. The backlog for permanent resident applications in pending status is approximately 1.4 million (Smith).
Mexican immigrants are excluded from the Diversity Lottery which grants immigrant visas to 50,000 winners each year. The lottery was designed to help increase the number of immigrations from underrepresented countries like Nigeria, Iran, and Ukraine. The countries qualified to apply for the lottery change each year (USCIS).
After having a green card or immigrant visa for 3-5 years, depending on circumstance, one can apply for citizenship. The main reasons to apply for citizenship would be the right to vote in elections, bringing family members to the U.S., eligibility for Federal jobs, and becoming an elected official (USCIS).
California in an effort to help undocumented immigrants has
According to Politifact.com, it takes up to 25 years to obtain a citizenship. Shows picture. And this guy has spent 27 years waiting to get a residency approval. ii. Another reason that they came here illegally is because the legal process does not guarantee an approval.
According to the article "How the United States Immigration System Works," the INA, or Immigration and Naturalization Act, only allows for 675,000 permanent immigrants worldwide per year ("How the United States Immigration System Works" 1). This article continues to explain that, in order to qualify for citizenship, an immigrant must have held a green card for at least five years, must be eighteen years or older, and must demonstrate residency and good moral character; in addition, an applicant must pass an English and U.S. history and civics exams, and he/she must pay a fee ("How the United States Immigration System Works" 29). Civil law really stacks the odds against immigrants, but these harsh laws should ultimately inspire us to seek change, rather than discourage
3. What are the requirements for Form N-400 1. The individual should be a legal Permanent resident in the United States for at least 5 years. 2. If married legally to a U.S. Citizen the individual needs to be a legal Permanent resident for 3 years to be eligible to apply for US citizenship. 3. For the above mentioned period, the
30+ years old and been a U.S. citizen for at least 9 years. Lastly in Article II Section 1, the Constitution
Lawful Permanent Residence is anyone who maintains CPR status can obtain lawful permanent residence or a green card by satisfying one of these requirements higher education, military service and they must complete at least two years and for the military have an honorable discharge. Lastly work to demonstrate over a total of three years. (Dream Act…Policies,2017). The last and finally step is Naturalization in which they can now obtain their citizenship.
They passed the Naturalization Act, which raised the number of years required to pass the U.S. citizenship test from 5 to 14
Although the visa is intended to employ temporary workers, the H-1B visa is often used as a conduit to permanent residency and many H-1B workers are already in the United States when they apply for their visa. Over the years, visa caps have varied, FY 1999 – 115,000, FY 2001 – 195,000, and 65,000 FY 2004 (Dahms & Trow, 2005). Consistently over the past years, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the statutory H-1B caps within the first week of the filing period. Of the 124,000 plus petitions the USCIS receives, the petitions are placed in a computer-generated random selection process (lottery) to select the petitions to reach the cap of 65,000.
When I first read about the national origins quota I was appalled that the government showed bias toward the different nationalities. They preferred educated Western Europeans, I cannot say I fully agree with this level of censorship, however now I can see how keeping this quota would be beneficial to America. Immigrants with education are an asset to American society; however non educated immigrants can become a liability. The article shares that in 1965, the U.S. House voiced a concern for the unforeseen number of Latin Americans who might enter the
the number of aliens of any nationality admitted to the U.S. in a year could not
Have proof of residence in the United States for at least five consecutive years since their date of arrival.
Another important requirement is that applicants for naturalization must be able to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language. The only people who are exempt from that are those who have been residing permanently in the U.S. for over 15 years and are 55 years of age or older, have been residing 20 years and 50 years of age or older, or have a physical or mental disability which impairs them from learning English. An applicant must also demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the history and the form of government of the United States. To demonstrate this knowledge and understanding the applicant must take a U.S. History test which consists of approximately 25
The first step into becoming a citizen is to determine whether or not are eligible to become a U.S. citizen. You do that by reviewing the naturalization eligibility worksheet. Basically, this work sheet provides you with questions to help you decide if you are eligible to apply for citizenship. According to the worksheet, you must be at least 18 years old, have been living in the united states for at least 3-5 years, have traveled outside of the US for more than a year, stayed in the state that you are applying to be a citizen in for the last 3 months, know basic English, know U.S history and e.t. This is important because it helps you
In 1942, the United States and Mexico created the Laborer Program which encouraged Mexicans to migrate to the US for employment as contract workers. Pay for their service was poor and involved working under harsh conditions. Consequently, after World War I, the US government began deporting them for a second time, sending over 4 million immigrants back to Mexico (Library of Congress, 2015). Following the Recession, a weakened job market in the United States in 2009, a decline in their birth rates, and the improvement of the Mexican economy, the number of Mexican immigrants that migrated into North America began to decline (Zong & Batalova, 2016). As per the data recorded in 2014, Mexican immigrants make up roughly 28 percent of the immigrant population located throughout the United States of America (Zong & Batalova, 2016).
The framework for American immigration policy began around the 1750-1820 period through the incorporation of colonial legacy with existing state and federal policy (Zolberg, 2009). The United States legislation has excluded whole nations and regions from migrating due to internal and external factors. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Page Act of 1875 restricted Chinese female immigration. In 1917 and 1924, quota systems were adopted to prohibit considerably “undesirable and “inferior” ethnic groups and races. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, between 400,000 and 1 million Mexican laborers and their families were deported under the “repatriation” programs. Approximately
After six years under conditional permanent residency with a “good moral character,” (Duncan A.19") they can then apply for their permanent resident status and then eventually become U.S citizens. It is reasonable that after meeting such strict requirements and attending American schools for so long, they should be able to become U.S citizens.