Obama talks about immagration changes... what do you think of this?

[f&c 50]

Wow, I was unaware of that. are y'all sure of this?

It wouldn't make sense to do something illegal and hope for amnesty just to save on fees. Along with almost certain penalty fees, there would likely be a more difficult path for citizenship.

[aussie_jason 195]

Amnesty just means that if you are here illegally it will be forgiven if you pay an extra penalty, they will never make it free for anyone. AOS should currently cost you $1490 plus the cost of your medical for the I-693, it shouldn't be thousands of dollars unless you are counting fees from a fiancee visa but then your cost for the AOS would be lower.

[angeldaemon13 42]

Amnesty does not equal free stuff.

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

• required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status;
• made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit unauthorized immigrants;
• legalized certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants, and;
• legalized illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided there continuously with the penalty of a fine, back taxes due, and admission of guilt; candidates were required to prove that they were not guilty of crimes, that they were in the country before January 1, 1982, and that they possessed minimal knowledge about U.S. history, government, and the English language.

(This was to help with immigration problems in 1980's. Wanted to show you (OP) Amnesty is and was not free. )

to OP, talks of reform have been an issue for years. even if it is tackled in 2014, they want it done in sections, piece by piece not a complete package. In regards to illegals, they are still coming up with ideas as this part of US demographics show that illegals do help the economy and it would be detrimental to kicking them out. BUT no one has said it would be a blanket clause and all is well and safe.

Some ideas have a merit-based idea. Some fall under provisional waivers. The fact one entered illegally ,no matter what is passed, if any, there will be some form of payment/repercussion for entering illegally. The majority of the US do feel that because one entered illegally, there are no rights alloted to said person, because laws were broken. No matter where, what, How, Why. illegal=broke the law. How can a form of government "reward" those who "broke the law".

I am not stating my feelings, just portraying sides to the issue for your thoughts.

Here is a link to an article regarding immigration Reform: http://cis.org/immigration-reform-amnesty-illegal-aliens-and-their-employers

Edited January 27, 2014 by angeldaemon13

[Gosia & Tito 199]

OK. I read the TOS and to my knowledge this question is ok.

I have heard lately a lot of talk about Obama, and congress, doing immigration reform.

I need to start the process to adjust status of my baby but I had a thought and wanted to get some thoughts on this.

Does anyone have any accurate knowledge of what the reforms are supposed to be and do you think its possible

he will grant immunity to everyone here now without legal status?

just a thought.....

I have been hearing about reform since 1995 at least.

What the current reforms are is in flux; no one really knows what will end up in the bill proposed.

Possible? Everything is possible; but I wouldn't give it much of a chance.

Will he grant immunity ? Yes/No. He's been saying all along that there would be a path, even a multi-year one but no details. From that to get immunity to all cases, very much doubt it.

[JRF 117]

Unless he does so by executive order (which as a senator he opposed but as a president he has actively used) his ability to do anything is constrained by Congress (the whole separation of duties thing).

Thus, although the President may "want" a certain version of immigration reform it is up to Congress to send him a bill he can approve.

[NickD 203]

Nothing engraved in stone yet, PBS news had a segment on this. Namely for kids that were brought here illegally, and in a sense, these kids didn't commit any crimes. Will have to be hard working kids, good grades in school, positively crime free and would take virtually years to obtain an :LPR status, then citizenship.

Nothing was said about the USCIS, but feel they will be involved with their usual stiff fees. Wouldn't hold my breathe on this subject.

Find it strange that when illegals come here and have kids, that are US citizens. Supreme court decided this based on the 14th amendment.

"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Was originally adopted in 1868 to protect African Americans that were brought here as salves and not treated as US citizens. But somehow also applies to people that came here illegally and have children, but only for the children.

If you meet that very special person that was born in a different country, have a nice home and a good income, can't just bring that person here, have to go through immigration and be treated like you were some kind of criminal. If that person becomes a LPR and a citizen, still not like a citizen that was born here. Even though this is what the USCIS tells you.

If the DOS has an agreement with your home country and you want to visit your parents there, cannot do this. You have to maintain your citizenship in that country, even though you took an oath against this to get a passport from that country to visit your parents. Its the law.

Key factor is your place of birth, works against if you are naturalized, but works for you your parents are here illegally. I do feel some kind or reform is necessary.

[jeffnmerry 2]

Why would paying a fine for this criminal activity be any different than any other crime? Coming to the USA without a visa is illegal making the person a criminal. People only need to follow the laws and learn English.

[Classicrider 3]

Obama might have his pen and able to make phone calls but there is no way there will be amnesty without some form of penalty attached to it. The larger majority of the country does not like the whole idea of people who broke laws getting a free ride. As oythers have said... don't make plans on this happening.

BTW: why do you need amnesty?

[Robby999 1,024]

Has anyone viewed the current processing times at Vermont and California for I-130's? Looks like they are processing permanent resident filing for spouses or child under 21 in about 5 months, whereas the USC filing for a spouse, parent or child under 21 is taking twice as long at 9-10 months? Any clue as to why this is happening?

[jeffnmerry 2]

Our application was at the Vermont office and then sent to Nebraska. They have had it since March 29. It took 300 days to get approved. 10 months.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Anyone guilty of illegal activity should be banned for life that includes people that violate the law to enter the US

[Avery Cates 1,141]

OK. I read the TOS and to my knowledge this question is ok.

I have heard lately a lot of talk about Obama, and congress, doing immigration reform.

I need to start the process to adjust status of my baby but I had a thought and wanted to get some thoughts on this.

Does anyone have any accurate knowledge of what the reforms are supposed to be and do you think its possible

he will grant immunity to everyone here now without legal status?

just a thought.....

Why would he?

If anything should be changed it should be that ridiculous law that just because you're born here you're a citizen. You should have to be born by parents of legal status. That would also fix the problem of "separating families," as they can all go back to their country of residence together. Heck, they can do that now. Problem solved.

The US isn't an Oprah show. And you get a green card! And you get a green card! AND YOU GET A GREEN CARD!

Any sort of "legalization" of illegal children should be accompanied by a fee of no less than $10,000.

[Teddy B 17,252]

In many cases you are correct they are here illegally. In my case there is nothing illegal at all but I could benefit GREATLY if amnesty was granted if it covered married spouses by saving me thousands of dollars in fees.

my spouse, nor I have done nothing illegal so there are exceptions to the rule.

Still curious what you would need amnesty from if you have done nothing illegal?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Why would paying a fine for this criminal activity be any different than any other crime? Coming to the USA without a visa is illegal making the person a criminal. People only need to follow the laws and learn English.

Actually, according to US law, this is not a crime as such.

[jeffnmerry 2]

Actually, according to US law, this is not a crime as such.

If coming to the USA illegaly is not a crime, why would it be illegal? Usually the illegal person has used a lot more of the tax payers money than the fine. The fines should really be a lot more.