Unskilled workers don't have a path to permanent residency

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

My wife is here legally. Maybe I should have put the word "illegal" in front of the second reference to aliens. I thought my meaning would have been obvious.

No it was not.

You are aware, are you not, there are plenty of people who don't want aliens, legal or illegal, in this country?

[GabiandVi 34]

I'm curious as to why you think this way. Why should they be given visas to come pick lettuce? Moreover, why should picking lettuce put you on the road to residency and citizenship, in the first place? If they have "skills," as you say they do, let them apply and qualify for a H-1B. Which WILL eventually put them on the path to residency and citizenship. It is precisely THAT mentality that will never get them a tourist or student visa, to be honest. Because of that desperation and overwhelming desire to be in the U.S. that they would employ any means necessary to get/be here. It is why these strict immigration laws are in place. Just because you're hard-working/want to better your life/love the U.S. and would give your right arm to be here doesn't and shouldn't automatically entitle you to a visa/residency/citizenship. As is the case with any First World country--U.S. immigration is primarily family or employment based.

Actually, Canada did just this and I'm pretty sure they are first-world. They needed workers, skilled and unskilled, and so they opened immigration to unsponsored visas. Many of the people who took these jobs were as skilled as my husband's family members, but they were happy to come to sweep floors or work in fast food joints.

And I'm not even talking about unsponsored visas. I'm talking about employment based visas. Why would you forbid any possibility for employment visas for people who hold the values that America was built on and that make America strong? I don't see why you would let the lettuce rot in the fields rather than offer visas so that people could pick it legally. You don't have to make that decision now because we have plenty of people to pick it illegally. Does that sit well with you? It doesn't with me.

I'm not talking about having a quota or offering the visas when we have unemployed Americans. But if we needed unskilled workers, why wouldn't we offer the visas? We have granted UNSPONSORED visas in the past and the people who took them did all sorts of jobs, including unskilled jobs. Why shouldn't we offer sponsored visas for people willing to do manual labor if we needed them?

And on another note, I'm not suggesting there is anything we can do about it, but the people I'm talking about would do more to improve our country than a lot of native born citizens that I serve in my job.

[Heracles 417]

No it was not.

You are aware, are you not, there are plenty of people who don't want aliens, legal or illegal, in this country?

Yeah, not too fond of ending up some China or India equivalent myself.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Booyah!

[JohnSmith2007 353]

No it was not.

You are aware, are you not, there are plenty of people who don't want aliens, legal or illegal, in this country?

On an immigration message board? That is kind of funny. Yes, there are some that are zenophobic, they are missguided. I doubt if you will find very many of them here though unless they are trolls.

[Heracles 417]

Actually, Canada did just this and I'm pretty sure they are first-world. They needed workers, skilled and unskilled, and so they opened immigration to unsponsored visas. Many of the people who took these jobs were as skilled as my husband's family members, but they were happy to come to sweep floors or work in fast food joints.

Countries like Canada and Australia are where the US was at during the 1800's. Once a country hits 100, let alone 200 million, immigrants need to be carefully managed. Otherwise you develop a situation as in the case in a number of third world countries; where few are rich, middle class vanishes and the rest are competing for low paying jobs - if any.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Booyah!

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

On an immigration message board? That is kind of funny. Yes, there are some that are zenophobic, they are missguided. I doubt if you will find very many of them here though unless they are trolls.

One would think so.

I noticed a thread lately though pointing the number of greencards issued by USCIS in the last fews. The highlighted article decried these staggering numbers.

[sachinky 465]

How many times have your spouse's relatives or friends asked you how they can come to America? And what can you tell them? There is NO WAY to come legally unless you have an immediate family member to petition you or you have a special skill (in which case they are already educated and probably can do as well in their own country) or, if your country participates, you win the greencard lottery.

As to first part of your question, since, I'm the alien beneficiary, I'll answer this. None. Not once. My family and friends are not desperate to get to the U.S. They are quite happy with their lives in India. Sure, they'd love to come visit me and my husband and that's fine since both my parents hold 10 year tourist visas.

I don't see anything wrong with the options. You can come to the U.S. as a visitor (considering you meet the requirements), as a student to study, as a special skilled worker, on a worker exchange program. There are dependent visas. There's visas for large multinational corporations. Religious visas. Entertainment/Athletic visas. You can be petitioned by an immediate relative. You can win the diversity lottery. There's a whole list of visa categories ranging from A-Z. I don't understand why you seem to think that the U.S. should offer even more visa categories to basically those who 'just want to come here because they want to better their life.'

Edited June 3, 2010 by sachinky

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

As to first part of your question, since, I'm the alien beneficiary, I'll answer this. None. Not once. My family and friends are not desperate to get to the U.S. They are quite happy with their lives in India. Sure, they'd love to come visit me and my husband and that's fine since both my parents hold 10 year tourist visas.

I don't see anything wrong with the options. You can come to the U.S. as a visitor (considering you meet the requirements), as a student to study, as a special skilled worker, on a worker exchange program. You can be petitioned by an immediate relative. You can win the diversity lottery. There's a whole list of visa categories ranging from A-Z. I don't understand why you seem to think that the U.S. should offer even more visa categories to basically those who 'just want to come here because they want to better their life.'

Because they become taxpayers.

[Heracles 417]

One would think so.

I noticed a thread lately though pointing the number of greencards issued by USCIS in the last fews. The highlighted article decried these staggering numbers.

Spoken like a true idealist, rather than someone who thinks things through. Should America just allow the population to reach 500 to 750 million; with most of the growth coming from immigration? What and how will this impact the quality of living for Americans? What impact will it have on the American environment?

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Spoken like a true idealist, rather than someone who thinks things through. Should America just allow the population to reach 500 to 750 million; with most of the growth coming from immigration? What and how will this impact the quality of living for Americans? What impact will it have on the American environment?

I don't know why you worry about it, unless you are just bored. I understand you are the one moving back to Oz, right?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Just the opposite! Raising the minimum wage would encourage more under the table jobs and penalize the legal workers. Take a new legal immigrant who can't speak English. Has very little in the way of networking (let's face it, a ton of jobs are found because somebody you know knows somebody with an opening). Or somebody who isn't quite there mentally. These people tend to get low paying jobs. But raising the min wage discriminates against them. It locks them out of the job market.

If you want to pay $5 to have somebody tend to your flower garden, the only way you can do it is to hire an illegal or somebody willing to work for cash. The whole thing is illegal. Now what if they raised min wage to $12/hour? Well now that locks everybody who makes $8 out of the job market. They have to compete for the same job against people who are worth $12 already.

Look, there is no legal avenue for permanent residency for guest workers here in this country, yet H-2B visas do exist for unskilled labor while it does with their counterpart H-1B visas for skilled labor. By expanding the guest worker visa program to beyond agriculture and into other jobs such as dishwashers and housemaids, we would take away the incentive to go under the table, both for the workers and the employers. Having it need based and employer paid for would keep it above the table.

Edited June 3, 2010 by El Buscador

[Heracles 417]

Because they become taxpayers.

Try again.

What they become is a financial burden on a society, something illustrated time and time again.

I don't know why you worry about it, unless you are just bored. I understand you are the one moving back to Oz, right?

Not worried at all actually, I just like to catch out your never-ending BS. However, even I am having a hard time responding, due to the excessive volume of information coming from the buttocks.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Booyah!

[sachinky 465]

I'm not against a visa for unskilled workers but currently, there is no need for unskilled laborers, which is largely due to the fact that illegal aliens are working those positions.

Again, "hard-working" or "deserving" aren't really qualifications for visas. Sure, there are a lot of hardworking, dedicated people who'd love the chance to come to the U.S. and would probably be much better at a job than some lazy American bum but that doesn't mean that she/he should be entitled to a visa. That's just the way it is. Immigration isn't based on who is more deserving and who isn't.

[sachinky 465]

Because they become taxpayers.

Right, 'cause these 'unskilled workers' working as dish-washers and lawn-mowers will contributing a buttload in taxes.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Actually, Canada did just this and I'm pretty sure they are first-world. They needed workers, skilled and unskilled, and so they opened immigration to unsponsored visas. Many of the people who took these jobs were as skilled as my husband's family members, but they were happy to come to sweep floors or work in fast food joints.

And I'm not even talking about unsponsored visas. I'm talking about employment based visas. Why would you forbid any possibility for employment visas for people who hold the values that America was built on and that make America strong? I don't see why you would let the lettuce rot in the fields rather than offer visas so that people could pick it legally. You don't have to make that decision now because we have plenty of people to pick it illegally. Does that sit well with you? It doesn't with me.

I'm not talking about having a quota or offering the visas when we have unemployed Americans. But if we needed unskilled workers, why wouldn't we offer the visas? We have granted UNSPONSORED visas in the past and the people who took them did all sorts of jobs, including unskilled jobs. Why shouldn't we offer sponsored visas for people willing to do manual labor if we needed them?

And on another note, I'm not suggesting there is anything we can do about it, but the people I'm talking about would do more to improve our country than a lot of native born citizens that I serve in my job.

Up until the recent Recession, Ireland was also looking for foreign workers. It is a common issue among most nations. Go to Abu Dabai and you'll find a large number of Filipinos working there.