Friday, November 18, 2011

Immigration Law is Baffling

Today's post is not really a classroom resource.  Rather it is an invitation to begin a conversation that can lead to learning.

As the son of an immigrant, I am embarrassed to admit that I know very little about immigration law and procedure. I only glean what I can from anectdotes reported by the press - and I rarely trust the press to accurately report a complex issue. Whenever an issue comes up in class regarding illegal immigration, I often get angry responses from students who feel that immigrants can readily choose between immigrating legally or illegally and, therefore, choosing to immigrate illegally should be punished. Not being particularly familiar with the process from a professional (legal) standpoint, I was under the belief that the legal immigration process could not be navigated unless one had significant education or funds to hire expensive lawyers, or both. Once again, I don't know if this is true or not - but that was the impression I had from reading news articles like this one. I am under the impression that illegal immigration is the only realistic option for anyone who is not a "person of means."  Am I right or wrong?   Hopefully, someone with knowledge or expertise in this area can post a clarifying comment.

This following video seems to support the assumption that legal immigration is not a realistic option for many people.



This video is more encouraging, but still - lawyer's fees are involved.

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