Tyson Nash, a former pro hockey player and current radio analyst for the Phoenix Coyotes, believes in doing things the right way.
He moved from Canada to the United States 15 years ago, when he was 20, in order to fulfill his dream of a sports career. He was not the biggest or the most talented hockey player, but he managed through grit and determination to play professionally into his 30s, including a stint with the Coyotes.
'This country has given me what I have," he told me. "I am very grateful to be here."
In 2001, Nash began the process to become a permanent resident of the U.S., to get what is commonly called a "green card."
During his time in this country, he has paid over a million and a half dollars in taxes. He has worked steadily and never been in trouble. He received the Coyotes' Man of the Year Award in 2004 for his involvement in the community. He has paid lawyers over $16,000 to help him go through the immigration process the "right way."
Thank you for this. I had a long post in the OT thread about this exact problem, but deleted it a couple of days ago since mods weren't too excited about having this debate here.
Yep, having been through the process, this article reflects exactly what it's like to come here legally. I was talking about the H1B visa lasting 6 years max. You alternative to stay long term is to have your employer sponsor you for a green card (what Nash did), but that takes years. And if you change jobs in the meantime, you're SOL.
But no-one in this country other than immigrants gives a rat's ass about these issues. All the focus is on illegal immigration.
Our immigration policy sucks. It is absurd that it would take that long in this era. Absurd and aggravating. How does the government justify a six year wait? Don't they have computers? Internet? Or are they still on dial up using a 300 baud modem?
And then to top it all off, they give away 50,000 green cards in a --cking lottery??? To people all over the world??? Wow. Just wow.
If a professional frigging athlete can spend $16k trying to do it by the book and still wind up getting screwed, it's no small wonder that so many do not perceive legal immigration to be a viable, desirable option.
The lottery system is a slap in the face for everyone else who has had to wait, and I can't believe it exists.
It's cool though, let's just build a fence and call it a day
This ties directly to the illegal immigration debate though, because it shows how difficult it is for even the most resourced individuals to gain citizenship. No wonder we have so many people trying to take a shortcut across the border. Fix the issue of legal immigration and some of your illegal immigration will decline. I'm not saying it's a golden bullet that cures all, but it's simple root cause analysis.
This ties directly to the illegal immigration debate though, because it shows how difficult it is for even the most resourced individuals to gain citizenship. No wonder we have so many people trying to take a shortcut across the border. Fix the issue of legal immigration and some of your illegal immigration will decline. I'm not saying it's a golden bullet that cures all, but it's simple root cause analysis.
I agree completely. If there's work for you here, you're self-sufficient, you pay taxes, and you're not a criminal it shouldn't be so difficult for you to come here.
I support the IDEA of an immigration law, but this one is kinda lame.
I HATE all the mexicans standing around begging for jobs, then, the real tax payers have to pay their medical bills through taxes. And when i go to school its the illegals that smoke weed in the bathrooms and pull knifes at school,
Not all mexicans are bad tho....
But anyway, the illegal immigration problam needs to be fixed. But diffrently.
