Becoming Legal
EVERY TIME YOU TURN ON THE NEWS – OUTRAGE… ON BOTH SIDES… THE DIVIDING FACTOR: IMMIGRATION… SOMETHING – THIS WOMAN IS ALL TOO FAMILIAR WITH…
Yo llege aqui hace 11 anos, como todos, cruzando el rio,
this illegal immigrant — WE’LL CALL HER CARMEN – remembers how SHE CROSSED THE RIO GRANDE WITH HER SON 11 YEARS AGO…
cruza uno el rio, para tener un mejor porvenir aqui
THE REASON – she says – TO HAVE A BETTER LIFE.
el quiere estudiar para doctor
carmen says HER SON WANTS TO BE A DOCTOR – the high school graduate placed in the top ten of his class … BUT INSTEAD – THEY BOTH live…
estar en las sombras, (no poder salir, no poder trabajar)
… IN THE SHADOWS. They CAN HARDLY GO OUT or WORK… BUT CARMEN is trying to fix that… WHEN SHE CAME TO THE STATES – SHE MARRIED A PERMANENT RESIDENT – WHO’S NOW A NATURALIZED U-S CITIZEN… AND THEY FILED FOR HER RESIDENCY IN 2004….
Es muy largo, (a veces pierde uno las esperanzas)
AFTER six LONG years, carmen IS GETTING CLOSE TO HER INTERVIEW with the immigration officer… BUT THERE’S A PROBLEM – CARMEN will be asked whether she’s BEEN BREAKING THE LAW. admitting the truth could cost her her permit.
the consular officer is going to have to deny it and usually a bar is placed, a 10-year bar
SO NOW, immigration attorney susana visconti says CARMEN HAS TWO OPTIONS:
not do anything, stay here and live in a closet until we have immigration reform, if we we ever have it or take the risk
THE RISK – OF telling THE TRUTH – AND SEPARATING HER FAMILY – SHE and her husband now have TWO YOUNG CHILDREN – BOTH AMERICAN CITIZENS – WHO WOULD HAVE TO give up opportunities in their country or their mother for ten years.
que me van a aventar para Mexico, es lo mas duro
THE HARDEST THING – carmen SAYS – knowing she may be BEING THROWN BACK TO MEXICO…
People who are in this situation, who broke the law, entered the country illegally and stayed here but who have found a solution and there’s a way to fix it, so they can be legal and they can contribute to this community and also to this country by working, paying taxes, but they can’t because there’s no more legal avenue to do this
(STANDUP) “filing for legal residency through a family member isn’t your only option, of course there are employment avenues, but if you think it get easier, shorter, less expensive to do it through an employer, think again.”
THINK OF A BOARD GAME. PLAYER ONE IS A PROFESSIONAL – WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IF HE WANTS TO GET TO THE FINISH LINE – GAIN LEGAL RESIDENCY — HIS FIRST CHANCE (show shot of monopoly square that says ‘chance’) – A temporary WORK VISA, good for up to six years.
it is very difficult and time-consuming to do this
THE GOVERNMENT ONLY ISSUES 65-thousand OF THESE A YEAR. (show monopoly money, freeze frame, and type requisites on screen) THE COST: A HEFTY 25 TO 35-HUNDRED BUCKS – without an attorney. A company must agree to sponsor the immigrant and prove there are no AMERICAN WORKERS TO DO THE JOB…
it makes the company prove, have they recruited, show us proof that you have recruited US workers, show us the turn-around, it’s not going to be simple
if THE LABOR DEPARTMENT APPROVES the APPLICATION – THEY SEND IT TO IMMIGRATION – WHERE the residency request CAN SIT FOR ten YEARS because of backlogs in the processing system.
AND WHAT ABOUT IMMIGRANTS CONSIDERED UNSKILLED, SUCH AS FARM WORKERS?
it’s extremely difficult to get a visa to bring in an unskilled worker
BEFORE THE WORKER SETS FOOT IN THE COUNTRY, EMPLOYERS HAVE TO GET A LABOR DEPARTMENT CERTIFICATE FOR EACH EMPLOYEE – they’re around 2-thousand DOLLARS… per YEAR!
so many companies are disheartened because they think ‘okay, we’re dishing out 15-thousand dollars to bring in 8 workers to work from march until november and then they have to go and we have to do it again?!’
I remember having a prospective client come in and he had a ranch in Las Cruces and he says ‘it’s not worth it, I mean the government makes it so difficult to try and do it legally’
HENCE THE demand for UNDOCUMENTED FARM LABORERS who also keep wages low.
a lot of big industry wants to keep it the way it is because they are in an advantage, because if you have to make it legal, you have to pay a certain rate and it’s kind of comfortable not to pay a certain rate
the permits for unskilled workers are good only for one season, SO THE ONLY CHANCE OF STAYING IN THE COUNTRY permanently… (show monopoly square with chance) Asking A LEGAL FAMILY MEMBER to sponsor them.
(monopoly money) THE FILING FEE IS MORE THAN 13-HUNDRED DOLLARS – not counting attorney’s fees – and the current wait time can be as long as 14 years. (show blocked or xd out monopoly path)
YEARS IMMIGRANTS CAN BE SPEND IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY OR HERE, SEARCHING FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM.
yo si quisiera trabajar, yo no pido ayudas aqui ni nada
IN CARMEN’S CASE – YEARNING FOR WORK – NOT HANDOUTS. MG ABC- 7.
