How does systematic inequality take root?

This is not just another BLM post. This is an eye opener/lesson on how systematic inequality happens in the first place. I’m going to use SYSTEMATIC to indicate the barriers that are unnaturally imposed.

Q. Why are you writing this post?

Because I am one of the people facing systematic inequality.

Q. But why now?

Because many of my American friends just aren’t aware of how it comes to become a reality.

Q. Wait, doesn’t the BLM process show that people are aware of systematic inequality agains African Americans?

Yes. It shows people are aware. It shows people are frustrated. And that’s great. But what it doesn’t show is HOW systematic inequality takes roots in the first place.

Q. How can you be so sure?

Because there is no outrage on the current predicament of legal immigrants, where the seeds are being sown.

Q. Ok. ELI5, what’s going on with legal immigration?

I’m glad you asked. My answer comes in the wake of the recent H1B and L1 entry ban. Does this remind you of the Muslim ban in what seems like a hundred years ago? Well, it only got more pathetic since then.

On June 22, 2020, Trump made an executive proclamation (similar to executive order) banning entry to some H1B, H2B, L and J visa holders.

Q. What does this proclamation really do?

It simply orders US consulates in other countries to disallow granting of such visas until Dec 31, 2020

Q. That’s bad but not so much I suppose. Who the hell would want to come to the US right now anyway?

People who have had work authorization for many years are affected by this.(H1B visas are granted by consulates only if USCIS gives this work authorization in the first place by a complicated lottery system). These long timers in the US routinely need to visit US consulates abroad to renew their visas. Typically visas are granted every 3 years.

As an example, imagine a coworker or a friend who has been working (and paying taxes) for many years. They now have a house, spouse, kids or are pregnant and one of them traveled outside the country earlier this year and they don’t have a renewed visa. They would have to visit the consulate to get the new visa. Not only are all consulates shut because of Covid-19, even if they do open, these people will not be able to come back because there is a legal barrier SYSTEMATICALLY separating families. This causes job loss, monetary losses, mental stresses, relationship strains, healthcare issues and child growth issues.

Another example would be for folks already living in the US with plans to travel outside the country. Maybe they wish to support their elderly parents or take care of family needs. Maybe their single mother is suffering from dementia and losing health and property in their home countries. Or they just want a break and go home for a short time. They can’t do that because re-entry to the US is banned. Thus, SYSTEMATICALLY separating families and disallowing people from chasing their full potential.

Q. But James, this ban is only until Dec 31, 2020. They can get past it soon yeah?

My friend, you are being blind to the pattern of harassment of immigrants by this administration for the past 4 years. It started with a Muslim ban 4 years ago, escalated to family separation by ICE and locking children in cages, harassing LEGAL immigrants with ridiculous paperwork (even getting a drivers license is not certain) and now an entry/exit ban

Who knows what it’ll be next? Maybe they’ll extend such visa ban after Dec 31 again. Maybe no work authorization renewals after 6 years for H1b workers. Maybe they’ll harass more by asking to renew every year. Every time a H1B worker goes for renewal of work authorization, they face the risk of renewals being rejected. Dealing with mental stressors for such long periods of times is a hazard.

Q. If these folks have been in the US for such a long time and have American kids and houses, why aren’t they becoming citizens?

Because they first need to become Permanent Residents (Green card holders). Today, becoming a permanent resident can take more than 50 years depending on their country of origin. This is SYSTEMATICALLY stopping individuals from pursuing life and liberty.

And I wish I could say that they just need to survive for 50 years. No. They actually need to keep renewing work authorizations, keep getting visas at US consulates every 3 years, hoping nothing goes wrong. USCIS routinely asks for paperwork from 10–15 years ago every time these folks renew. Not having the paperwork means denial of work authorization, no more visa and no more living in this country. They will lose homes, jobs, kids education. This SYSTEMATICALLY forces them to not take risks and receive rewards. They are SCARED.

In fact, visas like H1B don’t allow the visa holders to even start businesses or do something outside their field of expertise. How many times has tech changed in the last 30 years?

Even after they become Permanent Residents, it takes 5 years for them to become citizens. In those 55 years, they are more likely to die than become citizens.

This is what no one understands. This whole legal process is QUASI-SLAVERY.

Q. Come on now James. They aren’t slaves. They can always leave the country.

Yes. And to do that they need to uproot their lives and restart in another country that they probably don’t even remember any more. You are asking these folks to just quit and go somewhere else. This may be easier said than done. Ask someone who relocated from another state to yours. Is it easy to go back again? Of course, if they leave, they SYSTEMATICALLY lost stability, careers, schools, friends, network, everything that Black people have been saying since civil war era. This is QUASI-SLAVERY. Abolished by law but systematically imposed.

Q. They really shouldn’t come on visas such as H1B then. Why don’t they come on other visas like normal people

What other visas? The bar for O-1, EB-1 is so high that no one can practically qualify. Even if they do, they often qualify only after working on H1B for many years. Are you aware of any other visas?

Q. But they don’t even create jobs. Why should be let them in? Especially in times like these?

I’m not going to explain the benefits of skilled immigrants. The US has the most superior tech for a reason and I will let you Google the benefits of this.

But to give you the SYSTEMATIC reason why they don’t create jobs: It’s because the visa LEGALLY DISALLOWS them from starting businesses.

Q. I’m sure there are some folks who would still consider coming here

Yes. They are called suckers. There will always be suckers who will fall for the trap despite the warnings. Another set of people who would come are the desperate where their life in home country is so bad that they will choose slavery here instead.

The voices of grieving legal immigrants is louder than ever now though. They are spreading this knowledge everywhere and letting others know that America cannot be relied upon. This may seem distant but a lot of American businesses, schools and societies are suffering already because of lack of skilled immigrants or potential immigrants of the future.

Thus, no EDUCATED young blood would waste their lives fighting SYSTEMATIC barriers if they can. They should take their energies and potential elsewhere. Maybe to another welcoming country where they can study without fear of deportation or start a business in their own country. No EDUCATED folks will ever come here. Skilled immigration is dead.

Q. I think I understand what SYSTEMATIC inequalities mean. I can do so much, so freely while these folks are trapped in a treadmill.

I don’t want such SYSTEMATIC inequalities from taking root. What can I, a US citizen, do to change this?

1. Vote Trump out. In the past 4 years, his racist associates running DHS and USCIS have been responsible for escalating SYSTEMATIC inequalities, legally. This is not unlike Hitler’s regime before they actually executed Holocaust. Hitler was democratically elected and his associates SYSTEMATICALLY marginalized Jews in the beginning. By the middle of WW2, they lost all wits and started burning Jews. America is getting very very close. Maybe the administration won’t burn immigrants but they haven’t stopped putting children in cages
2. Spread the voice of immigrants. Support AILA, lawyers. Speak up against this injustice. Call your representatives to say you will not vote them in if this is not fixed. Spread voice among reporters who will actually report on this all the time like they do for asylees
3. If you are truly a revolutionary, actively disown the government and protest against these policies. They are making America a poor, regressive country. It’s your country. Do you really want to be the citizen of a country that has such policies in the 21st century?
4. In the long term, call your representatives to ask what they are doing to support legal immigrants and remove SYSTEMATIC barriers. Are they so incompetent that they cannot create a simple system of immigration? Simple, not to be conflated with open borders. If they say they can’t, vote them out.

Q. Gosh James, these are going to take time

Yup. The damage is done. America is not the land of immigrants any longer and rest assured that more educated immigrants are never going come here and subject their families to these SYSTEMATIC barriers.

But every small bit counts, so do your bit for the future. Share this message if you think this voice needs to be heard. Good luck and I hope America comes out of this darkness and truly becomes great again. And this time, not just of the red hat kind.