Immigration

Discussing all things political in NW Arkansas and beyond.
Post Reply
User avatar
Dardedar
Site Admin
Posts: 8191
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:18 pm
Designate the number of cents in half a dollar: 0
Location: Fayetteville
Contact:

Immigration

Post by Dardedar »

DAR
I think a lot of people have a misperception that it is easy to lawfully immigrate to the US or get a work/tourist visa.

This article/letter was in The Morning News, 4/14, pg 10/A. Perhaps of interest.

***
"Immigration Laws Are Discouraging

On April 8, 2006, my husband, the Rev. Leo J. Michael, Rector of St. Gabriels' Episcopal Church in Springdale, (was to be) consecrated a bishop in the United Episcopal Church of North America.

But his 83-year old mother... will be at home in Bangalore, India, because the United States government will not allow her to come. And a representative of Sen. Blanche Lincoln's office says that, while they tried their best to help and while they don't agree with the United States Consulates denial of her tourist visa, they have no control or influence over the ridiculousness of this situation.

Apparently, no one else does, according to several phone calls to government offices, including Rep. John Boozman's office, which tried to help but also had no success.

Thakela Michael, along with the Rev. Michael's brother and brother-in-law, had been invited and sponsored by our national church to take part in this important ceremony. Tickets were purchased. All required paperwork was in impeccable order.

The United States officer on duty at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai denied their tourist visas after a six-hour wait.
But not before they questioned Thakela Michael. "Who is becoming a bishop?" the officer asked.

She answered proudly, "My son." Then the officer said, "You don't need to go." Michaels said the officer literally flung the passport at her.

The "official" reason for the denial, according to the United States officer at the consulate, was that they could not provide enought proof that they would return back to India (under section 214B).

My husband's mom is a diabetic. Her docter is in India. She has several other children and grandchildren in India, not to mention her monthly persion check that she must collect herself.

She only wanted to see her son consecrated as a bishop and then go back home.

All three family members had return tickets. My husband's brother is almost 60, a business owner in India and married. The brother-in-law has a wife, children and a good job in India. They are all quite happy and settled in India.

This scenario is not an unfamiliar one for our family. A few months earlier the U.S. Consulate in Chennai denied my husband's niece a student visa. The reason the American officer gave her: "It's cheaper for you to go to school in India. You don't need to go."

This young woman said she saw about 300 people pass through the office that day before her and only a few were granted their visas. $200 per head (nonrefundable visa appointment fees) multiplied by 300 people makes a good catch for the day for our government.

...snip...

Anyway... a mom is saddened that our government won't allow her to come to America to see her son be made a bishiop."
--Holly Michael, Springdale"
***
Barbara Fitzpatrick
Posts: 2232
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:55 am
Designate the number of cents in half a dollar: 0

Post by Barbara Fitzpatrick »

I tried to add a comment to the nwa site, but it kept giving me the timed-out message. Not only is it difficult to get into America - especially if you're brown - but I really am getting tired of the assumption that anyone who isn't a US citizen is an illegal alien.

Betsy's comment (about Tyson bussing in illegals) was a case in point - Tyson not only bussed in aliens, they FLEW in the first couple of batches (on the corporate jets) until the busses could get here - but they Tyson people went down to the border with a truckload of work permits/visas. Remember we live in a country with a bought government (maybe not as bad as elsewhere, but the disease is the same, even if the symptoms are lighter) - Tyson asked for visas and got them. And it wasn't just the money. The Tyson workers weren't asking for raises when the mass replacement of Arkansans with Mexicans happened - they were asking for USDA and OSHA compliance (health inspections and safety guidelines). The Mexicans were desparate enough to work for less money than Arkansans (but about 6 times what they were making in Mexico) in situations that, while dangerous by our standards, were a piece of cake by theirs.

The illegal alien thing is exactly what some others have pointed out - a not-particularly-pressing problem being used to distract from real problems: the debt/deficit, trade imbalance, global warming, Iraq, Iran, Medicare...
Barbara Fitzpatrick
Post Reply