147 – just keep that number in the back of your mind for the time being – I’ll get back to it’s significance a little later on . … but for now, just file it away somewhere where we can find it when we need it.
For almost three years now, anti-immigrant forces have been ratcheting up their message of opposition to anything short of deportation and/or attrition for the approximately 12 mil unauthorized immigrants currently living and working in the US, coupled with increased militarization and “security” along the southern border as the only way to solve their self-defined “immigration crisis.” Armed with talking points crafted by Republican right-wing spinmeisters like Frank Luntz and zero-population-growth advocacy groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform and NumbersUSA, pundits, politicians and talking-heads have hit the airwaves with a constant barrage of misinformation and distortion.
By now we all know the drill.
They claim they don’t oppose immigration …just “illegal” immigration. There’s no need for sweeping comprehensive reforms …because we have perfectly good laws, it’s just that the government refuses to enforce them. It’s not about the immigrants themselves … but rather respect for the “rule of law.” And those who wish to enter this country “legally” have a clear path to do, so it’s only those wishing to skirt the law and “take advantage of our generosity” that are creating all the problems and need to be harshly dealt with … the mantras are repeated ad nauseam until ingrained into the collective American psyche.
But like all right-wing propaganda, this current fairy tale about immigration being the cause of all ills, and the need for a simple, quick fix, is based upon a foundation of lies and misdirection. It is only the newest in a long line of right-wing efforts to steer the American people in a direction that runs contrary to logic and their own best interests. From Colin Powell at the UN displaying cartoon pictures of mobile WMD labs, to Bush telling us why the “privatizing ” Social Security is good for working Americans, or Reagan explaining how giving huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans would cause wealth to “trickle down” to those lower on the economic ladder, the history of right-wing lies, deception, and failure goes back more than twenty-five years. And the current hysteria over invading hordes of disease-ridden, uneducated criminals, streaming over the southern border to steal our jobs and destroy our American way of life is no more based in reality than Mr Powell’s cartoons were.
But, I have neither the time nor inclination to attempt to debunk every ridiculous talking point, and to do so would require volumes that the average reader would soon tire of. But one talking point that can quickly and easily be put to rest is the one about the US having the most “generous Immigration policy in the world” providing a clear “legal” path for all “good immigrants” willing to take it. …this is simply a fallacy, a tall-tail like Washington and his cherry tree taught to impressionable children to instill pride and patriotism.
Essentially our current immigration is broken in two key aspects. The first being the laws themselves, the second being their enforcement and implementation.
A recent NYT article demonstrated the problems within the bureaucracy set up to administer immigration policy.
Immigration authorities are swamped in new bureaucratic backlogs resulting from an unanticipated flood last summer of applications for citizenship and for residence visas, officials said.
In July and August alone, the federal Citizenship and Immigration Services agency received 2.5 million applications, including petitions for naturalization as well as for the entire range of immigrant visas. That was more than double the total applications it received in the same two months in 2006, said a spokesman, Bill Wright.
In the 2007 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the agency received 1.4 million petitions from legal immigrants to become United States citizens, about double the number of naturalization petitions in the 2006 fiscal year, Mr. Wright said.
…
Immigration officials said it could take more than a year to decide many of the recent applications.
The processing backlogs are different from the visa backlogs that have burdened the United States immigration system for years. Because of annual limits on all green cards, immigrants from some countries like Mexico and the Philippines often have to wait decades for visas to become available. Now the agency has fallen behind on the bureaucratic work of logging in applications and deciding whether to grant visas or allow immigrants to become United States citizens
But this inefficiency is not a new phenomenon and the problems go beyond the procedural to include infrastructure problems like computer systems unable to communicate with each other.
Aging, incompatible systems and outdated processes have contributed to a backlog of approximately 1 million people waiting for a decision from the department’s Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau. Computer problems at its Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau caused a snafu in which student visa holders were jailed overnight or barred from entering the United States.
-snip-
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s systems have come in for particular criticism from outside analysts and government auditors, who say these are simply not up to the task of serving the public, especially when coupled with a continuing reliance on paper forms. In some cases, for instance, information typed into one computer must be manually retyped into a second or third.
“All filings are paper-based, which means that everything you submit has to be keyed into the computer, which of course opens up the additional possibility of error, slows the process down and prevents some processes from being automated,” said Crystal Williams, deputy director for programs at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
-snip-
One problem is that applications for different types of immigration status are saved in separate records. These aren’t interlinked, which means an application for a H1-B visa is not tied to the same person’s application for a green card–causing more paperwork and delays, until the two records can be matched by hand.
But even if Congress were willing to expend the necessary funds to upgrade systems and supply the manpower needed to expedite the millions of applications already in the queue and awaiting processing, the major flaws in immigration policy would still exists.
Flaws codified into law that almost ensure that for the vast majority of would-be immigrants there is simply no legal path to take.
Here is where that number – 147 – comes into play, and why I asked that it be kept in the back of the mind.
I few weeks ago the annual Yearbook of immigration statistics from the Department of Homeland security came out listing every green card, work visa, tourist visa etc. issued for the past year. It’s about as dry and boring a report as one could managed to muddle through …but it supplies invaluable insight into what is really going on with the dysfunctional immigration system.
In 2006 the government issued a little over 1.2 million green cards to new immigrants to live in the US legally. Additionally, 1.7 million more non-immigrant visas were issued to temporary workers and their family members to work in the US. (1/2 million more than the number of green cards issued to new permanent residents – a troubling statistic unto itself as it reflects the increasing tendency to move immigration for a permanent state whereby people join a new society, to a temporary state based on the importation of a disposable workforce).
So at face value it appears that there is amble opportunity for those wishing to enter the country permanently to do so legally. But as Mark Twain said there are three kinds of lies “lies, damn lies, and statistics” ..and in this case one must delve into the numbers to see what story they really tell.
Of the 1.2 million green cards issued last year, 581,106 of those went to wives, children and parents of current US citizens. And additional 222,225 went to various other family members of citizens and legal residents, for a total of 2/3 of all green cards going to someone who already had a US citizen or resident relative.
Additionally, out of the 1.2 million green cards issued, only 447,016 were “new arrivals”, the vast majority … 819,248 were already living in the US legally with a temporary status of one sort or another and simply readjusted their status last year to permanent status. And while these two categories obviously overlap, simple analysis shows that the true number of new immigrants without US citizen relatives is in fact quite low.
The next largest category of immigrants after the “family based” status were those who entered as “employment based immigrants”. 159,081 immigrants were awarded green cards last year to legally work in the US. ( 12.6% of all immigrants). The vast majority of them being immigrants with high skills, “specialty skills” “extraordinary skills” or “advanced degrees”.
This is codified into the system.
The yearly cap on unskilled workers is placed at a 5000 maximum. This despite the fact that according to the Dept. of Labor, the US economy produces between 400,000 and 500,000 new low-skilled jobs a year and the vast majority of the nearly ½ mil unauthorized workers who enter the country each year find work in these unskilled sectors.
But as unrealistic as the 5000 cap appears, the situation is actually far worse.
Last year the total number of unskilled workers allowed into the US legally was roughly half the official cap: 2513. Out of nearly 3 million people allowed to enter the country either as temporary workers or stay as legal residents, only 2513 were unskilled workers.
But here comes that number I asked you to keep in the back of your mind ….remember it …147?…
Of the 2513 unskilled workers allotted green cards last year, 2366 were already here living and working in the US. They simply “readjusted” their status to permanent residents (most likely from some temporary worker status) …that leaves 147
147 new un-skilled workers without US citizen or legal resident family already here were allowed to enter the US last year legally and receive green cards.
147 out of 1,266,264.
147 …so tell me again how there is a legal path for all who are willing to work and wait patiently.
How long is one expected to wait… because if the ½ a million who enter each year through improper channels were to go home and wait patiently for their turn, it would take over 3000 years before they would get that chance when only 147 are allowed in each a year.
But the rhetoric will most likely continue, despite all factual evidence to the contrary. Lou Dobbs will nightly inform his minion that only the shiftless and slovenly disregard the law. O’Rielly will bluster away how he “respects and supports” those who “do it the right way” and Rush will whine that reform isn’t fair to all those “waiting in line”…But disingenuous blowhards and misleading experts cannot change the truth, or hide the facts. The current immigration laws, and the systems in place to enforce them, are woefully inadequate and all the wall building, workplace raids, deporting and incarcerating will not change that fact…and until they are addressed rationally and reasonably the “immigration crisis” will never end.
Thanks for this essay Duke.
It put a needed light on the exclusion process that affects unskilled workers, which our present immigration laws seemed based upon. We have come a long way from the ethos of the Statue of Liberty, which suggests that we welcome the poor. No more, apparently.
I believe that what you are also describing is a vacuum created by our present laws, a deficiency of unskilled workers, that entices foreigners to enter the US illegally in their search for work. The jobs are there waiting to be filled. Why not.
“I believe that what you are also describing is a vacuum created by our present laws, a deficiency of unskilled workers, that entices foreigners to enter the US illegally in their search for work. The jobs are there waiting to be filled.”
This is one of the reasons last years “Grand Compromise” comprehensive bill was such a mistake.
One of the concessions made to move the “bipartisan” bill forward was a switch from a “family based” to a “merit based” system that would reward things like higher education and English proficiency. And while at first glance, it makes sense that we should favor those immigrants who could “add the most” to both the economy and society, what in fact would have happened is that the traditional demographic of “your tired, your poor…” , those taking those low-skilled jobs created each year, would be shut out entirely. Instead the current immigrant demographic would be replaced with one dominated by “ready-made” workers more likely to actually compete directly in the job market with the majority of US workers. …you do the math.
Without letting in low-skilled workers,that sector of the economy could remain dominated by unauthorized immigrants who remain easily exploited. And then the majority of green cards that now go to family members could be shifted to import a workforce that could help business keep labor costs down in the middle sectors.
It’s all about economic manipulation when it comes down to it. The powers that be look at immigration as a means to control labor the same way they use foreign and economic policy to control markets. …it’s not about the humanity…those people Ema Lazarus spoke of overb 100 years ago.
many thanks for seperating out those numbers. it puts a new light on things.
not surprisingly otherwise darkened by the vador’s in the DC circle ; )
peace
It’s funny, I first got into this issue because of the humanity of it …the border deaths, the exploitation, the bigotry, the impossible hoops one must jump through, etc. But the more I delve into it, the more I come to realize just how intentional many of these things that first appalled me really are.
When you say “darkened by the vador’s in the DC circle”, you have no idea just how true that is. From fanning the flames of racism, to intentionally misleading the public in order to maintain a system set up expressely for the exploitation of labor….it’s all been done with an intenet and total disregard for both the American people and those who come here as immigrants, either legally or unauthorized….but then again why should this be any different than everything else coming out of Washington.
“because of the humanity of it.”
People struggling to overcome poverty, in many cases, just to maintain a basic subsistence for their families, and risking their lives to do so. These are often just courageous youngsters willing to do menial, backbreaking work for low wages for la familia. Just immigrants.
I too thank you for this post!
The thing about immigration is the vast majority of Americans are descended from people who immigrated at a time when it was a heck of a lot easier, either because there was zero or almost no paperwork or because they were forcibly abducted.
Therefore most Americans have never had to involve themselves in the process and therefore pundits can say just about anything they want and be believed.
I’ve been on both sides of this issue – in the U.S. I dealt with someone very close to me who had to go through the tangle of visas and work permits and the like.
And on the other end, I AM currently an immigrant and now me I’m the foreigner, the alien, the outsider. It’s an incredibly intimidating experience for ME and I’m both from a “high status” country and have money and I’m a very tough individual. I cannot even fathom how others deal with it.
Personally if I were able, I would drop all barriers to allowing people to live and work where they wish, not just in the United States but worldwide. Hey it’s a fantasy 😉
What’s always amazing to me is the Americans I meet overseas (the expatriates, not temporary tourists) always seem to be intelligent, creative, resourceful individuals whose drive and brains would definitely benefit the U.S. if they had remained home.
So why did these people emigrate? And why often to countries that cannot hold a candle to the “shining city on the hill”, the all-perfect, all amazing United States?
I am genuinely curious how many Americans would emigrate elsewhere if they knew how to do it (not just the paperwork but how to get jobs, etc). I’m also curious what the political effect would be on the U.S.A to see all those people adding their human resources to some OTHER country.
Pax
Thanks Soj
It’s amazing how those who have been through the system, know someone who has, or have dealt with the immigration policies of other nations, have such a different perspective on this issue than the majority of Americans. And your right about them willingly accepting whatever the pundits (and I’d add politicians) tell them about it….no matter how blatantly false.
Thanks Duke, for all the work you applied here for getting to the bottom of the issue.
I, AND OTHER HERE, seem to get the actuality of the issue in and of the reality of immigration to this country. I truly appreciate that we can do better. The reality has no place in the rhetoric of politicians, over all.
Again, much praise to you for getting to the bottom of this. Might I suggest we save the $$ used to front a war to front the let it work that really needs to be done here in the grand old US of A. Hugs
“The reality has no place in the rhetoric of politicians, over all.”
you’ve got that one right…I sit and listen to these politicians or blow-hards like Dobbs, and I’m utterly dumbfounded at the level deception going on. They don’t just twist the truth…they simply make stuff up from thin air.
nice to see you posting here again, excellent post
thanks,
Nice to see everyone again 🙂
Notice the unemployment rate barely budges with the housing slowdown. The same immigrants who supported the housing boom with the sweat off their backs are now expected to just disappear completely. Mighty decent of us.