by Rev. Dave Dunn
Illegal Immigrant?
These days you can’t hear the word immigrant without hearing the word “illegal” in front of it. Which begs the question: How does one migrate legally to the United States?
Migration law is very complex yet generally speaking, unless you have highly specific skills that qualify you for employment-based migration, or you have an immediate family member (e.g. spouse, parent) who are citizens or you are designated as a refugee/asylee seeker from another country, the only way to legally migrate is by winning a lottery. (There are other ways to sponsor family members but the wait times are extraordinary. If a U.S. citizen wanted to sponsor a non-citizen sibling to migrate, the wait time is generally 15-20 years.)
Every year, the U.S. gives 55,000 people from around the world the opportunity to migrate to the United States. That represents 0.016% of our population. Many countries, however, do not even qualify for this lottery. At this time, citizens of these countries are ineligible:
- Asia: Bangladesh, China (mainland-born), India, Pakistan, South Korea,
Vietnam - Europe: United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland), Russia
- North America: Canada, Mexico
- South America & the Caribbean: Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Venezuela
- Africa: Nigeria
Any person who comes to the United States is allowed to apply for asylum (i.e. they fill out an asylum application). Once an asylum seeker completes their application they are permitted to remain in the country legally until their asylum hearing is adjudicated. (This could take a few years.)
David J. Bier of the Cato Institute recently estimated that around 3 percent of the people who tried to move permanently to the United States [taking into account all possible ways to do so (e.g. employment based migration, lottery, immediate relatives, family-based, etc.)] were able to do so legally. “Legal immigration is less like waiting in line and more like winning the lottery: It happens, but it is so rare that it is irrational to expect it in any individual case….trying the legal immigration system as an alternative to immigrating illegally is like playing Powerball as an alternative to saving for retirement.”
When thinking about your future, what if it was “illegal” to save your money?
What if the only “legal” way to save for retirement was to play the lottery? What
would you do?
Nurture our spirit. Strive for Justice. Transform the world.
Dave
