Which Immigrants Deserve to Get In?
My somewhat torturous immigration story
As an immigrant with a story among thousands of stories, I have two disclaimers, two messages and one warning.
DISCLAIMER:
- I do NOT believe in open borders or in letting in everyone who applies for a visa.
- I do not support amnesty or a path to citizenship for everyone who manages to get to the US.
MY MESSAGE:
- The most deserving do not necessarily get in.
- Immigrants tend to appreciate and to breathe new life into society.
WARNING:
Beware of anyone who advances their immigration policy by fomenting fear of documented and undocumented immigrants.
We arrived in the US on July 1, 2000 looking for better opportunities for our son with special needs. There’s a whole alphabet of visas to you can apply to. My husband came with an L1 (Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager), which allowed him to work as a transferee of the company he worked for in Venezuela.
As his spouse, I had an L2 visa. I was a stay-at-home mom, caring for our two sons, ages 6 and 4. As a minor child of an L1 visa holder, our 4-year old also had an L2 visa. Our 6-year-old was an American citizen because he was born in the US while my husband and I had been in graduate school in California.
About a year and a half after arriving, we gathered the documents we needed to renew our L visas and filed them to the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service, now the USCIS -US Citizenship and Immigration Services). From what our lawyers told us, we were pretty confident the renewal would be approved.
It was not. Our petition was denied. No need to panic, said our immigration lawyer, Let’s appeal the decision. We appealed and…..the appeal of the renewal decision was denied. However, because our L visas were still valid for a few more months, we continued to legally reside and work in the US while we pondered our next move.
After the second denial, though not panicked, we were, shall we say, apprehensive. Our lawyer proposed that my husband apply to another visa, the H1 (for employees in a specialty occupation), which he presumably qualified for. And guess what? The H1 petition was… denied!
Did we give up? Goodness no! We appealed of course, and the appeal of the decision was… you guessed it: D-E-N-I-E-D.
You have to believe me here: we had no criminal record and we had never overstayed our visas. We spoke English fluently, paid our taxes, had good credit and graduate degrees. The business my husband ran was small, but it was solvent, had good prospects and paid taxes.
Perhaps it was because the renewal application was filed soon after September 11, our lawyer offered, and immigration officials were handing out denials across the board. By this time, though, our confidence (if not our money to pay the lawyer, thank goodness) had run out and we were pursuing other avenues.
Luckily, we had viable alternatives. I applied to graduate school to have the option of yet another type of visa (F1, visa for international students). We also considered moving back to Venezuela (our country of birth) or moving to Italy, as we are also Italian citizens.
Here’s the thing: at some point during these months and weeks, we had also applied to become US permanent residents (a.k.a. a “green card”). The lawyer had advised us to do so because folks with L1 visas could do so, and because, hey, you never know. However, his opinion was that the chances of getting permanent residence were very slim.
Wouldn’t you know it: even though the INS had denied us, multiple times, visas with expiration dates, it granted us permanent residence and a straightforward path to citizenship! Go figure.
Again, please believe me, the official reviewing our green card application did not miss something dark in our past.
It’s just that immigrating legally is a matter of money, persistence and luck as much as it is about meeting the qualifications of any of the immigrant visas.
I am a US citizen now, a grateful immigrant. I will never stop aching for and treasuring my country of birth, but I appreciate and love our adopted land immensely, and deeply care about the values of democracy and about the US Constitution. It may sound corny but I truly do.
I know, however, that many others deserve and need the status of American citizen way more than me. I am keenly aware that only some have the advantages of money, visa alternatives, legal representation and family support that I had when I went through the immigration process. Getting in is never just about “waiting in line” and doing things right.
Addendum:
There was a silver lining to our torturous immigration process. By the time we got our green cards, I had already submitted my graduate school application and been admitted. I was excited and also eager to leave the house, I must admit, so I decided to go for my Master of Arts in Early Childhood Special Education. I have been an educator for fourteen years now. I have a career I love, thanks, in part, to the INS.
