some hope for illegal's in the states

SoBe

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=May&x=200705181450101CJsamohT6.423587e-02

looks like there might be some light at the end of the tunnel for all the illegal's in the states,but its gona be costly for them

EDIT:another link http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/immigration/

Kattyboy25

Hi SoBe,

I wouldn't call it light at the end of the tunnel, there are millions of people that will be applying for this Z visa. To qualify to apply they must return to their original countries. Now the problem, as we know, Embassies, Visa Centers in the States are quite inefficient at the moment, millions of people will leave the States in the first year of this visa becoming active and it'll take years to process all these visa, hence a lot of people will not be able to return to the US for years. It is a big risk for alot of people, and personally I am not sure what I think of this Z visa.

Ruu_Old

I read somewhere they were trying to push a $5,000 fine, could have been related to that and not for that actual visa type though.

SoBe

i know its gona be a long drawen out process for them 8 years plus,and very expensive but hopefully it will go through for them.

im still glad i decided to go the legal route though only another 3 months or so for me and i should hear word

Winning Hand

SoBe wrote:

i know its gona be a long drawen out process for them 8 years plus,and very expensive but hopefully it will go through for them.

Why? These people willfully broke the law of the land and expect special treatment. I have no sympathy for them and I strongly feel our politicians have no right getting involved in their plight.

SoBe

Winning Hand wrote:

Why? These people willfully broke the law of the land and expect special treatment. I have no sympathy for them and I strongly feel our politicians have no right getting involved in their plight.

they are getting no special treatment,it can very easily happen becoming illegal in the states,i know its through their choice it happens though and i dont condone their choice in any way.
i had this choice myself when i was there 2 years ago but chose to leave and go the legal route (fiance visa)

it it so easy to come in on a high horse and say they dont deserve this blah blah blah,but in reality if someone is working there and meets someone falls in love etc. its so easy to get caught out.a month leads to 2 months 2 months lead to a year very quickly next thing your there 2 or 3 years possibly with kids,living in fear of being caught,a simple thing like a speeding ticket can result in your being deported etc.10 year ban and the rest,is that fair to break up a happy family because they overstayed?

i hope you never find yourself in a position to make such a hard choice to leave someone in another country that you want to be with.
so please think on of the reasons these people have found themselves in the position they are in.

i do wish each and every one of them the best

Winning Hand

SoBe wrote:

it it so easy to come in on a high horse and say they dont deserve this blah blah blah,but in reality if someone is working there and meets someone falls in love etc. its so easy to get caught out.a month leads to 2 months 2 months lead to a year very quickly next thing your there 2 or 3 years possibly with kids,living in fear of being caught,a simple thing like a speeding ticket can result in your being deported etc.10 year ban and the rest,is that fair to break up a happy family because they overstayed?

i hope you never find yourself in a position to make such a hard choice to leave someone in another country that you want to be with.
so please think on of the reasons these people have found themselves in the position they are in.

i do wish each and every one of them the best

Nonsense! It takes a conscious decision to 'accidentially' overstay your welcome, whether it is for a month or two or three years. These people ignored the law and got away with it for a period of time. Now there is a clampdown in progress and they feel that because they have been there for so long they are automatically entitled to stay there. Our media constantly refers to them as 'undocumented', they are not undocumented, they are ILLEGAL and do not deserve the time and money of our politicians/government trying to influence any change in their status.

As for those who stayed long enough to have families and the question is it fair to break up families, at no point in time were these people prevented from returning to ireland with their families, in fact our government is quite accomodating to spouses and families of irish citizens.

As for you hoping I never find myself in such a situation I can tell you you are wrong. I met my wife in america 5 years ago while on a J1 visa. We played by the rules and did the long distance relationship for three years. I could not stay in america (professional reasons also) and she could not stay in Ireland during this time. We have now been married for two years and she is living with me in Ireland ever since. We plan on returning to america for a while in the not too distant future, all the while keeping it above board.

At any step in the relationship either one of us could of flouted the laws, however we did not because we are grown adults. By their actions, these illegial immigrants make it all the more difficult for those playing fair to get by.

2Scoops

It's not that difficult for an Irish citizen to get a legit visa anyway, is it? I certainly had no trouble getting one back in the day.

I support the 'undocumented' immigrant visa, though - just as long as it's fair to all groups. This $5000 thing smells like an attempt to block hispanics from getting them tbh. That plus all the forms, having to leave the country etc. Actually, if that's the case, it's a politically shrewd plan - ostensibly look sympathetic to the plight of immigrants while pacifying anti-immigrant hate groups.


EDIT: Eek! That link mentions that part of the trade off would mean the greencard lottery gets scrapped (which they've been looking at doing in an easily justifiable way since 9/11). Argh!

SoBe

looks like its falling through,the senate seems to be 27 votes short to pass it.

ill post a link when i get it


EDit: http://rte.ie/news/2007/0607/immigration.html

Ruu_Old

It was back on the agenda today. From rte.ie.

The US Senate has passed a crucial vote which brings back a contentious immigration reform bill for further debate.

The bill, which is backed by President George W Bush and a bi-partisan group of senators, could legalise an estimated 12m undocumented immigrants, including tens of thousands of Irish.

Today the vote won by 64 to 35, meaning it will now be debated again on the floor.

President Bush held a briefing early today for pro-reform activists in the White House.

The bill would create a new Z-type visa which would allow those illegally in the US to stay upon payment of a $5,000 fine and background checks.

A proposed amendment to force people to return to their home countries first to apply for the visa has been opposed by some immigrant groups.

The fate of the bill now lies in how disagreement on such amendments is resolved.