The question of immigration reform...

Now that the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing have been identified and one is dead, the other on the run, there are many people lighting up social media with comments and remarks demanding stricter immigration guidelines. I'm pretty sure those who simply state "They need back ground checks on all immigrants!" have no idea what the current immigration process entails. As the wife of a fairly recent LEGAL immigrant and the best friend of the wife of a former ILLEGAL immigrant, let me explain.

The United States does not make it easy to enter this country legally. That's why so many people are sneaking in, crossing borders in the dark of night, or getting student visas and then vanishing into the populace. My best friend is married to a man from Mexico. He's been here since he was a child but he was brought here under the guise of a "visit" to legal relatives and then simply never returned to Mexico when his parents did. You may ask why good parents would leave their child in an entire other country with distant relatives and the answer would be - because there is nothing for him in Mexico. Had he stayed in Mexico he would not have an education or a job. Effectively, he grew up here. When he met my friend they fell in love and got married. They had two children. It was then he realized that if he was ever deported he would never see his family again. Thus began their incredibly difficult journey through the Immigration system. Every year, he filed Income Tax forms just like all the legal citizens of the US, or at least, like the law abiding ones. Each time he did it threw a red flag up because his "Social Security" number did not actually exist. The IRS would alert his employer and he was let go. This happened three times, three years straight but it was a necessary evil because he had to show his intent was to become a law abiding, tax paying legal immigrant. They retained an attorney who advised this. Next, the US Immigration Service supplies about 10 forms that must be completed showing intent to stay, who will provide, where you will live, what you intend to do here and so on and so forth. When submitted there is a filing fee for each form. The fee is anywhere from $90 to $700 depending on which form it is. Then, you wait. There is no guarantee that while you are waiting you will not be deported. You just wait. Eventually, you get a letter stating that you have to go to a local Immigration office (depending on your case will determine which one - either Chicago or Milwaukee). At the appointment you are finger printed and photographed. They also take blood for testing. This begins the back ground check. In my friend's case, he was not only checked based on his activity while in the US but his prior activity in Mexico. Then, because he was here already and should not have been, he had to go back to Mexico to wait for an appointment at the embassy there. No one could give him a time line for how long he would wait. If there was one tiny missing piece in his paperwork he might have been made to wait years. There was a real possibility that his children would be teen agers or adults by the time he was allowed back in. Thankfully, everything was correct. He attended that meeting and was given approval to return legally but not before one more glitch. My friend had to get signed affidavits showing that she would be suffering a hardship if her husband was not allowed to return to the family. She had to have doctor's notes (Her health was bad at that time) and personal witness letters proving he was needed here. Finally, he came home and now has a "green card" to prove he is here legally. It was a long drawn out process with several back ground checks in the way.

In the case of my husband and I, it went somewhat different. Partially because he was not already here when we started the process and, I believe, partially because he was coming from a Scandinavian country and not one of the "hot button" countries like Mexico or the Middle East. We intended to get married so the first thing we did was retain an attorney to walk us through the steps to getting a "Fiance" visa. This visa allowed him to travel to the US with the full intent on marrying within 90 days of getting here. Which is what we did. Once married, we had to begin the shitstorm of Immigration paperwork to obtain a work permit and green card. This time we did it alone - no attorney. We filled out a ton of papers, got photos, affidavits from people who know us, gathered photographic evidence of our lives together, ticket stubs, stuff from vacations together, anything that showed we were indeed a married couple. That all had to be submitted, again with a hefty filing fee and then we waited. Eventually we got an appointment for the forensics - finger prints and blood work. Then we had an interview. We sat in a room of other anxious people being called in one by one to be questioned by an immigration interviewer. When it was our turn they called us together. Our file, sitting on the desk in front of the interviewer was enormous. He had every slip of paperwork we had ever filed even from before Alex came to the US. He looked stern and paged through it. He started asking us some simple questions - when is his birthday (to me), what is your address (to him) as a way to gage if we were really together. Then he saw that Alex was a musician (it was in the file) and asked him what his favorite band was. Alex told him Radiohead and the interviewer sat up and smiled and agreed and asked him what CD was their best and the two of them talked about Radiohead for about five minutes. After they were done, he stamped his approval on our file and that was that! I shudder to think what might have happened had Alex said his fave band was Motley Crue or something like that. After a while, Alex's green card arrived in the mail. But that wasn't the end of it. After two years, we had to refile what they call a "Change in Condition" form (and another $500+ filing fee). This form was to let the Immigration Service know that his intent was to stay in the US permanently. It was approved and he is now what is called a "resident permanent alien". Eventually, he may choose to become a US citizen but that will be up to him.

The point is this...it is not easy to enter the US legally. While there may be some reform that could be done, it's not that simple to just "come to the US" as some people think. The fact that the identified suspects in this bombing are here on student visa's is not a flaw in the immigration system. They are criminals, bottom line. But no back ground check is going to determine that either unless they have previously perpetrated a crime prior to entering the US. And in that case they would not be entering the US on a student visa! They may come in illegally somehow but they would not have been issued a visa. I do understand the frustration people feel when talking about immigration issues. The perception of illegals entering our country, taking jobs and getting benefits without doing it the right way is frustrating when so many citizens are without work or benefits. But I also cannot blame the individuals who try it because knowing the poverty and duress they're coming from I think I would try it to if I were them. I blame government. Even ours. So little time and money is used to find ways to assist the lower economic classes in any country - including the US. It's a telling sign that people choose to enter illegally to live in poverty here because our poverty level is still a higher standard of living than from whence they came. But it is also telling that our government turns a blind eye to the impoverished citizens of the US as well. So, why did these two bombers come here? Education? Maybe. Or maybe this was planned all along. We may never know. It's too bad that in the two years they were here they did not open their eyes to all that is truly good in the US. Because there is so much good here. I don't really understand the deep hatred that manifests itself in some cultures for the US. I think I can see why it might but if they really looked at the people here, the good people, they would have seen that we are bigger than our government, bigger than the politics of it all, and we, the people of the US - born citizens and legal immigrants - do generally embrace other cultures and religions.

When will we all have enough of the hate?

Stunned...

I just sitting here, listening to tonight's news, and I am stunned. I cannot think of a time when our government has disappointed me more. If you've been following the news, our governor, Scott Walker, has been trying to "balance the state budget" with a bill that effectively strips public workers of their right to collective bargaining. Call it what you will, it is a blatant attempt to bust the unions in Wisconsin and an attack on the working class and the Democratic party. Scott Walker is an idiot.

Our 14 Democratic State Senators have fled the state in an attempt to get the Republicans to negotiate. They remain in Illinois right now.

Today, the Republican Majority, called a session without a public notice (which is the LAW) and voted on a reformed bill - one that took out all of the actual financial aspect and only addressed the collective bargaining issue. They passed this bill. This, after Gov. Walker spending the last two week LYING about the reasoning behind the bill and trying to get us all to think it was always about the budget. Sickening. Absolutely sickening.

Now I am a bright woman. I know that sometimes in order to keep state spending in tow there has to be some concessions made and even some programs changed or even cut. But I also don't think it is the snow plow driver or school teacher's right to collective bargaining that is messing up the budget. The unions offered to make the suggested financial concessions but Walker would not have it.

I am stunned. This is also happening in other states right now. In Indiana, Democratic senators have also gone into hiding in an attempt to stop a quick vote and a hope there can be some negotiation. It's happening in Ohio, Iowa, and other union friendly states. This is an attack on the middle class in America. It is our own government starting a class war. And doing it in the name of "budget reform".

I am proud of Sen. Bob Wirch and Rep. Peter Barca who are my representative. Sen. Wirch is somewhere in Illinois right now. Rep. Barca stood up during the vote and was shouted down by the Senate Majority Leader. If you haven't seen the video of that moment do look it up. It is a brave and angry man in the face of total governmental disregard.

Time will tell how this plays out. I can tell you there are recall petitions being swung on both sides but overwhelmingly, I have heard only that everyone is outraged by the actions of our governor and these Republican leaders who do not seem to want to listen to the thousands of people who have been protesting at our state capitol for a month now. Apparently, the voice of the people means nothing when you are in the hallowed majority. Well, shame on them. Shame. Recalls are coming and true Democracy will be back.

And so it goes....

I've been home from work for the past two days nursing my aching sciatic nerve back to some reasonable facsimile of health again. In the meantime, I've had lots of time to watch what's happening at our state capitol.

What's happening is...well...more of the same. Governor Scott Walker has dug his heels in and is not making any attempt at a resolution. The Democratic senators are still in hiding in Illinois. They're doing their best to keep working via phone and internet but they're holding strong and standing their ground. I,for one, am very proud of them.

Last night, the Gov gave a press conference alluding to the fact that he is ready (almost giddily eager) to start laying off state workers and other public workers. Again, like killing off one hostage at a time until he gets what he wants. Jerk...

The Democratic members of the state assembly did their level best to deter a vote. They stayed up for days and offered debate. But a vote was taken and, as expected since our current state government is overwhelmingly Republican, it passed. Still, they did their best. Even walked out to the Gov's office at one point, demanding to speak to him, but to no avail. He wouldn't let them. Jerk...

Daily, for the past two weeks, thousands of people have been peacefully marching on Madison. Today, the Gov wants to shut down the capitol making is impossible for the protesters to get inside. Police and firefighters are begging him to allow the protesters in for as long as this take. He's not listening. Jerk...

Today, a large group of protesters from Disability Rights WI have converged in Madison wanting to speak to the Gov. There is a portion of this bill that will directly effect those people with disabilities who receive Medicaid insurance coverage. If passed, this bill will change their lives by limiting the already limited health and mental health services they can receive. This bill has a far reaching scope that will negatively impact both the middle and lower economic classes. Oh, by the way, the Gov wouldn't meet with the disabled protesters either. JERK!

This bill is not just about the budget.
This bill is not just about the unions.
This bill is not just about giving those who have more.
This bill is about one JERK being the poster boy for a Republican movement to cut the Democrats off at the knees. Its about calling it a "financial" crisis - pointing at those who have been able get a little bit more than others - and crying "Unfair!" without really coming up with any good solution. Taking away pensions, collective bargaining and whatnot doesn't make it fair. It makes us all settle for poverty standards. "If I can't have it, neither can you!" seems to the battle cry. What I can't understand is why those people aren't screaming at our government saying, "WE'RE THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! FIGURE OUT A WAY WE CAN ALL HAVE SOME!!" We let our government off so easy. There should be no poverty in the US. There should be no child having his only decent meal at school. Parents should earn enough to feed their kids. People shouldn't have to settle for whatever doctor takes their insurance, if at all. People should have choice. Other countries have done this. Why can't we?

As long as there are JERKS like Scott Walker around, we will never have anything fair in Wisconsin.