Immigration: Is America’s system flawed or are there shrouded ulterior motives?
Regardless of one’s opinions and beliefs it should be well known and widely accepted that America’s immigration system is not efficient nor practical whatsoever. It is a slow, underdeveloped process that poses no other benefit for immigrants than ultimately receiving the arduously worked for citizenship. A great example can be read in editor Aviva Chomsky’s article, “The root cause of Central American migration? The United States.” Where Chomsky states that “President Biden’s proposals contain humanitarian measures: a path to legal status for the undocumented individuals in the United States, rebuilding the asylum process and bolstering legal paths for Central American migration. Yet, they also blend in anti-immigrant hard-line sentiment, epitomized by Vice President Harris’s recent admonition to Central Americans: ‘Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border.’” So it appears that on one hand the government is attempting to facilitate the process for illegal immigrants to obtain their citizenship while on the other end striking fear into the hearts of countless immigrants by reiterating America will stand by its immigration policies and laws stringently and to not come. With this said I wondered, if I were an Immigrant, how would I possibly go about the process understandably and practically? And unfortunately, from personal experience and from various other anecdotes, it seems merely impossible.
According to an Immigration help source it takes, on average, 18 to 24 months to complete the naturalization process and become a U.S. citizen. I can attest to this as I distinctly remember my parents going through the grueling and tedious process of daily preparation and stress and it taking years for them to successfully become a legal US citizen. This naturalization process consists of 5 steps.
Step 1: Filing Form N-400 (14+ months)
They want everyone to complete the legal citizenship process, yet the process is not handled quickly or efficiently simply prolonging immigrants attaining a legal status On average, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a government agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will take over 14 months to process your Form N-400 application alone.
Step 2: Biometrics (+0 months)
This entails fingerprints and such. And by any power forbid forgetting any documentation because if so it could result in significant delays in getting this “simple task” completed. Seems simple though it never fails to forget one sliver of documentation that the office will delay you significantly for.
Step 3: Citizenship Interview & Test (+4 months)
Just scheduling these interviews could take months let alone completing the process. Yet there is no other process forcing immigrants to go through this grueling task to potentially facilitate the process.
Step 4: Application Decision (+0 to 4 months)
Just waiting for your decision could take nearly half a year
Step 5: Oath of Allegiance (+0 to 2 months)
Now to conclude the citizenship process an Oath of allegiance is required and what many may think should only take a few hours at most could take months to solidify this oath simply due to scheduling affairs.
Notice any strange patterns? Not one step is easily completed, nor does it consist of feasible and practical processes and wait times. Most of the process and the length of time it takes to acquire a citizenship is hardly reliant upon the immigrant. One could do everything correctly and provide all the correct forms on the first appointments and it could still take years to successfully complete the process. It’s almost as if the process is created to be so difficult as to filter the majority of immigrants out whether or not they pose to be beneficial to America or not. Land of the free right? Land of opportunity where dreams are to be made? Well, how could these dreams be followed through upon if the process to simply become a part of this wonderful country is damn near impossible. Here’s a quote by James Truslow Adams in defining the American dreams from his “Epic of America”. “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. (It is not) “… a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
o. — James Truslow Adams, defining the American Dream in Epic of America, 1931.
With all of this said and given the potential resolutions, the fact of the matter is that the reality of our situation is saddening and deeply discouraging. The fact that America has such a false representation of a great reputation and image is problematic to say the least and is one issue that must be resolved and reconsidered itself. However, to even reach such an improvement the abundance of other issues within this “glorious” country must be improved and looked upon first.
What resolutions could you brainstorm that would be beneficial in improving America’s immigration system? How could Biden facilitate the citizenship process to allow immigrants to become legal citizens successfully and practically? Do you believe the system should stay as is or does it require immediate attention? If so, why? Do you believe America’s immigration system has failed to receive improvements due to lack of awareness or simply due to the faults of the government? Do you believe the lack of practicality and feasibility throughout the immigration system is part of the broader image going as far as being affiliated with the matrix and its control?
