Busting IMMIGRATION Myths IV
As we close out our month long push of busting
commonly held myths
regarding immigration issues we hope you get out to
celebrate May Day
and the various rallys and event for immigrant
justice, worker justice
and human rights. We also want to encourage
you to push for immigration
reform, just border policies, and human
rights for all in the next 100 days
of the Obama Administration.
MYTH
Immigrants could come legally to the
United States, but they
choose not to.
MYTH
BUSTED
The
process for immigrants to legally come into the United States is a
complex, complicated system and will take an extended amount of time.
The
State Department Visa Bulletin for May 2009 gives a picture of how
the
process operates, and how immigrants have been affected previously.
There are Family Sponsored Preferences, Employment Based Preferences,
and an Diversity Immigrant Category, with a series of numbered
preferences
within each category. (There is little room in this system for
non-traditional
family relationship.) There are also charts available
for different areas of the
world with number of visas available. An
example would be with a request in
the Family Sponsored Preferences as
there are large backlogs. In some
categories requests from '92 are being worked on and from '96 for
others. The
U.S.
State Department advises that due to the limited number of employment
visas available each year, it is likely that there is a lengthy waiting
period
depending on the type of job, and the country and birth of the
applicant.
When 8th Day Center declared
Sanctuary, a statement was released on Migration.
The reasons why one migrates is often because of immediate need, many
of
which make legal entry difficult. Some migration is
Conflict Induced -- forced
to leave due to armed conflict, civil war, violence and persecution.
Other
migration is Development Induced â€" forced to move due to
projects or
policies
as dams,roads, airports etc. Another cause is Disaster Induced --
forced to move
due to natural disaster, global climate change, or
human made disasters.
In addition, the flow of migrants typically
occurs from poor, highly indebted
countries into wealthy countries. Persons
fleeing from poverty, leaving dependents
behind often believe they do
not have sufficient safety, finances,and time for
naturalization
processes.
Sources:
HTTP://WWW.VISALAW.COM - (Immigration
Bulletin Section)
8th Day's declaration of sanctuary:
http://8thdaycenter.org/aboutus/Migration.pdf
ACTIONS