Immigration Reform
At my new job, I now have a lot of co-workers that are in the US on a green card trying to become US citizens, some that are trying to get their green cards, and others that have H1 visas that are just beginning their green card process, and have no flexibility in their employment status (because few employers want to take a H1 employee).
These people are not here illegally, nor do they sell drugs or bring other troubles with them. They are hard-working people, who are strangers in a strange land, but are here for the same opportunity that my European ancestors came for 200 years ago.[1]
Their stories are hard to believe — they need lawyers to help them get their green cards, they sometimes wait five to seven years to get their green cards. Then they want to be citizens, so they have to take a barrage of tests. A potential employer may just assume they have green card and offer them a position, and then it gets yanked away when they find out the person only has an H1 visa. It’s hard to think about immigration reform when there are many hard working people like my friends that just can’t get in. They want to be citizens, and they want to contribute to our society. And they have skills the US desperately needs to stay competitive in the global market. Yet we are locking them out.
This isn’t an easy choice, but I don’t think we serve in the best interest of our country to simply lock out people who want to get an honest day’s wage.
[1] Yes, there have been Hostetlers (or, really Hochstetlers) in the US since the late 1700’s. Hard to believe, huh?