OFF TOPIC - pierced ears

Heather in NY wrote:

My case is nothing out of the ordinary.



I know, but it's only hearing it from the horse's mouth that will make
people sit up and take notice. If I were to say "this is the problem"
and explain exactly what you've said, I'd be accused of making things
up, because it can't possibly be that bad.

Want me to teach you enough Spanish that you can row up to Lucille's
house and claim you came over from Cuba?


--
Karen C - California
www.CFSfacts.org where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
Myths, with research cites: http://www.aacfs.org/images/pdfs/myths.pdf

Finished 10/21/07 - Floral Elegance Collection "Crocus"

WIP: The Teacher (gift to the library), Bethany Angel,
Flowers of Hawaii (Jeanette Crews) for ME!!!
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel

Editor/Proofreader www.IntlProofingConsortium.com
Design page http://www.KarenMCampbell.com/designs.html

Heather -

Thank you for that excellent post. That's very close to the situation my
neighbors are in, who moved here from Canada to take a very prestigious
job in a scientific field. The wife was unable to work for years (she's
an RN), and they couldn't even allow the children to visit family in
Canada without *both* parents present for fear they wouldn't be allowed
back in the country. So little flexibility in travel. It's been very
frustrating for them.

Sue


--
Susan Hartman/Dirty Linen
The Magazine of Folk and World Music
www.dirtylinen.com

"Karen C in California" wrote in message
...
Heather in NY wrote:

My case is nothing out of the ordinary.


I know, but it's only hearing it from the horse's mouth that will make
people sit up and take notice. If I were to say "this is the problem" and
explain exactly what you've said, I'd be accused of making things up,
because it can't possibly be that bad.

Want me to teach you enough Spanish that you can row up to Lucille's house
and claim you came over from Cuba?



Since I'm about 10 miles from the Indian River and a lot further from the
Ocean, it would be difficult to row. lol

What those poor folks do is get out of the boats and swim to shore,
generally under cover of darkness. I'm not certain of the exact way the law
is written, but I know they need to actually make it to land or they will be
sent back. Very sad because lots of them are killed and/or hurt very badly.

I guess when you're desperate you'll take dangerous chances like that.
--

Heather in NY wrote:
On Dec 3, 4:02 am, Karen C in California wrote:

snip
And the big scandal over H1B visas -- most of them were going to
multi-zillion dollar companies, which were laying off the American
citizen doing the job in order to bring an Indian over on an H1B to work
for a fraction of the salary. Theoretically, an H1B should be used
because you can't find a qualified American, not because you want to pad
your already-obscene profits by undercutting the standard wage in the
industry. Does Bill Gates not have enough money, that they've got to
resort to firing Americans and bringing in the equivalent of slave labor?

I heard one politician recently commenting that the going rate for a
project was $15/hour, so illegals coming into the profession hadn't
caused the pay to go down. Oh yeah? 20+ years ago, my husband was paid
$32/hour for the same work, which means, in terms of buying power, the
influx of illegals has the wage down to about 1/4 what it used to be.




And because of these bad apples, many of the rest of us are stuck in
unbelievable straits. There certainly is a significant problem with
illegal immigration here in the US. I do not contest that. But a
large part of that is that the *LEGAL* immigration system is
significantly broken.

I'm a well educated Canadian physicist. I moved down here under H1B
in January 2000 to take a job I love, and am very good at. In a very
specific sub-branch of physics. There is only one university here in
the US doing research in my area at all. There certainly are not an
abundance of Americans that I'm taking work from. There are not
enough people in the field by a long shot anywhere in North America.
Being Canadian, we don't qualify for a number of possible routes to
permanent residency, including the diversity lottery. So be it, we
accept that. My husband and I are both good, law abiding people, and
have jumped through hoops for immigration you can't begin to imagine.
We have now been here for eight years. Eight.

It took us 7.5 years to get to the point where we were finally allowed
to *apply* for our greencards this past July. And they're expecting
at least a further 2 years from now before we actually receive them.
All in all, that will be 10 years from when we left Canada to come her
legally before we can become permanent residents here. And a further
five years (with a minimum two year processing wait after filing)
before we can file for citizenship.

And in that time, up until this past September, 7 years and 9 months
after we *LEGALLY* moved to the US, my husband has been unable to
work. Not unwilling, just unable. Because of the laws concerning
H1B, and the fact that his college degree wasn't in a science
discipline. US Immigration does not allow the spouses or children of
H1B holders to work. You have to wait until you are actually
permitted to file for your greencard, and then you qualifiy for
certain immigration "benefits" including the "benefit" of paying a
total of $760/year to be able to legally work. And that's assuming
you actually get what you paid for in the first place. My first EAD
(work authorization) never came. They're sent regular USPS with no
tracking. Immigration's response when you ask about not receiving it
is to say wait 45 days, then they'll start an investigation. And 12
hours later send you a letter telling you, sorry, you didn't get it,
refile and pay us the same fee again and we'll send you another
one!

And the best part? They don't actually start any security checks
until you get to the point of actually filing for the greencard. Yes,
you read that correctly, we have not undergone any security checks for
immigration until we've actually lived in the country for almost eight
years. And for many people, those security checks can take years to
process. I fully expect to get stuck for a while in security
clearance because I (should) have a security file because I had a
security clearance back home in Canada.

That is a tremendous amount of time to be living in legal limbo, and
under some very dificult restrictions. For example, we still don't
own a home. And won't any time before getting our permanent
residency. I work on Long Island, an area with one of the most
expensive housing costs in the nation. But to buy a house without
permanent residence, you are required, by law, to have a minimum 25%
downpayment. On Long Island. With one income. Good frelling luck!
My husband wants to go back to school to get a second degree.
Spending the years when he can't work at school sound like a great
plan, don't they? Until you discover that we don't qualify as state
residents for any of the state schools (never mind the fact I pay full
taxes, and medicare and social security, which I'm specifically banned
from collecting, but legally required to pay into). So we'd have to
pay triple tuition (or more depending on the school) as foreign
students. Once again, on one income...

I love my job here and my life here, but the immigration system is
broken. Extremely broken. And it needs to be fixed, and the actual
immigration laws already enacted need to be enforced before you can
ever expect to have any hope at doing anything about illegal
immigration. I'd like to be able to honestly say this is just the
rantings of some rare exception. But the sad fact is, it's not. My
case is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it's so ordinary that
we should 'breeze through' the final processing stage in about two
years...

Getting off my soapbox now,
Heather in NY

Heather, I left your post in full!! Here is an old-timers story.

How times have really changed! I am from England.In 1961 I was
24,single, and at the peak of my training as a medical technologist(it
took 7 years, no college degree, but night school, professional
examinations and qualifications.), specialising in hematology and Clin Chem.

For the excitement of an adventure I applied for a job as head of
hematology in a hospital in Pittsfield MA. It was a one-year contract. I
also taught in the Med Tech school there.

When I went to the US Embassy in London to do the paperwork, it was
ridiculously easy. I felt a bit insulted at the questionaire ( do you
plan to kill the pres, do you plan to be a prostitute etc), but after it
was explained to me that would be the grounds of deporting someone,
lying. Apparently the Pathologist at the hospital in Mass had filled out
paperwork saying that US training at that time was inferior to UK ( he
was right back then) and no-one with my training could be found here.

I was surpised to be given an immigrant visa, and a green card, although
I had no plans to stay in the USA. I was told it was easier that way.

As it turned out, I met and married my first husband, became an American
citizen in 1968...... and am still here. Voting too!!!!!

Gillian

Florida

Susan Hartman wrote:
Heather -

Thank you for that excellent post. That's very close to the situation my
neighbors are in, who moved here from Canada to take a very prestigious
job in a scientific field. The wife was unable to work for years (she's
an RN), and they couldn't even allow the children to visit family in
Canada without *both* parents present for fear they wouldn't be allowed
back in the country. So little flexibility in travel. It's been very
frustrating for them.

Sue


It is sad, Sue.. It was so easy eons back.. see my reply to Heather!(
Heather also being my middle name!)

Gillian

Lucille wrote:

"Karen C in California" wrote

Want me to teach you enough Spanish that you can row up to Lucille's house
and claim you came over from Cuba?




Since I'm about 10 miles from the Indian River and a lot further from the
Ocean, it would be difficult to row. lol


OK, then Heather can call you from her cell phone while she's rowing and
you can drive down to the water to pick her up as she arrives. You can
back her up to the authorities that she came from Cuba. (Pssst,
Heather, there actually is a town of Cuba in western New York. Start
your journey there so you won't be lying. VBG)


--
Karen C - California
www.CFSfacts.org where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
Myths, with research cites: http://www.aacfs.org/images/pdfs/myths.pdf

Finished 10/21/07 - Floral Elegance Collection "Crocus"

WIP: The Teacher (gift to the library), Bethany Angel,
Flowers of Hawaii (Jeanette Crews) for ME!!!
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel

Editor/Proofreader www.IntlProofingConsortium.com
Design page http://www.KarenMCampbell.com/designs.html

Thanks everyone for the kind words of support. It felt good to type
it all out and get it down "on paper" for people to see. It has not
been an easy process, not in the least, but the truth is that is could
always be worse. We have an apartment in a (mostly) safe
neighbourhood and have managed to keep our heads above water
financially. I can't tell you how much it means for Brian to be able
to start working finally. He may be only working part time to start
and get back into it, but it feels like we're suddenly rich! (And I'm
getting extra spoiled since we're sharing one car, and he works next
to an AC Moore, who conveniently send me coupons every week by
email.) The process is broken and they expect people to make
tremendous sacrifices in order to follow it. And as long as there are
people like us willing to do so, I don't see any hope of it getting
fixed anytime soon. But the truth is, we do have a better life here,
and I've a much more fulfilling career than we would have had at home.

Heather in NY