Horrible interview experience

[Sue You 17]

43 minutes ago, gabreigns said:

I am really sorry to hear about your elderly parent. No one should be treated that way.

 

I am not sure if language was the only issue here perhaps?

I remember during one of my interviews the interviewer mentioned that they were really concerned with chain migration and its effects on the medicaid and the social security system. In other words bringing the elderly from other countries and using the medicaid system will only overburden and break the system eventually. She mentioned that medicaid is for people who have paid in to the system over time and she is worried that she herself wont be able to get medicaid because of people who migrated here without paying in to the system and using up the existing limited pool of money making the entire system expensive and in the long run kill the system. Not to mention that politicians use these as their honeypots to get money out when they need it to balance state budgets.

 

So I see why the interviewer could be a biased against the elderly unless the applicants are willing to take care of them completely without hooking in to the ailing medicaid system.

 

Nevertheless it is a sad truth of our times. The blame lies on both sides and hopefully there can be a better way to solve it in the future.

The interviewer has to understand the situation that some people are here in. The interviewer needs to understand that we cant leave our old parent's behind.

Accent or language shouldn't be an excuse for dismissal.

 

I have heard of this happening with other people as well. Thanks for bringing this up.

[nbluDeby 5]

Quote

You have valid opinions.

Just like my interviewer did.

This is mandatory spending in the US budget: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expenditures_in_the_United_States_federal_budget#Mandatory_spending_and_entitlements 

This is immigration by category: https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/special-reports/legal-immigration#File_end (see table 1B in the attachment), specifically in Q1 of 2018 33,460 immigrant visas were granted to parents out of 263,988 total.

 

These are facts, not opinions.

The only thing that is an opinion here is that she deserves dignity, which I hope you agree with.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

The main part of the English test is the actual interview itself. If your MIL barely uses English, she won't be able to pass. It does seem unfair but there is no overcoming it. (Other than waiting until she can be exempted from the English requirement, of course.)

Edited September 7, 2018 by EM_Vandaveer

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

7 hours ago, Boiler said:

My Granny in her last few years could not remember the English for certain phrases, she had spoken English for nearly 90 years. When she went to school you could only speak English and she only learned to read and write in English.

Did she speak Welsh as well?

[Sue You 17]

8 minutes ago, nbluDeby said:

This is mandatory spending in the US budget: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expenditures_in_the_United_States_federal_budget#Mandatory_spending_and_entitlements 

This is immigration by category: https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/special-reports/legal-immigration#File_end (see table 1B in the attachment), specifically in Q1 of 2018 33,460 immigrant visas were granted to parents out of 263,988 total.

 

These are facts, not opinions.

The only thing that is an opinion here is that she deserves dignity, which I hope you agree with.

Well you are incorrect here. As an example.

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/10/637371714/first-ladys-parents-become-u-s-citizens-thanks-to-chain-migration

Also here is a paper by Center of immigration studies

https://cis.org/sites/default/files/2017-09/vaughan-chain-migration_1.pdf

About social security and other benefits.... The bitter truth, Well, you can deny it, but it’s happening anyway.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickwwatson/2018/06/18/social-security-is-running-dry-and-theres-only-one-politically-viable-option-to-save-it/#34d6d29451a4

[gabreigns 75]

 

10 minutes ago, nbluDeby said:

This is mandatory spending in the US budget: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expenditures_in_the_United_States_federal_budget#Mandatory_spending_and_entitlements 

This is immigration by category: https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/special-reports/legal-immigration#File_end (see table 1B in the attachment), specifically in Q1 of 2018 33,460 immigrant visas were granted to parents out of 263,988 total.

 

These are facts, not opinions.

The only thing that is an opinion here is that she deserves dignity, which I hope you agree with.

Sure they are facts....That is Q1 2018 and 33640 still a high number.... It all adds up to a far greater number over the years. Hence the valid concern  by the interviewer(playing devil's advocate).

Completely agree with you on any elderly folk being treated with dignity. Without a doubt.

 

[nbluDeby 5]

17 minutes ago, Sue You said:

Well you are incorrect here. As an example.

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/10/637371714/first-ladys-parents-become-u-s-citizens-thanks-to-chain-migration

Also here is a paper by Center of immigration studies

https://cis.org/sites/default/files/2017-09/vaughan-chain-migration_1.pdf

The paper you quoted suggests 132,961 out of 1,051,031 for the year 2015. That's incredibly close to the number I provided of 33k in Q1 2018.  And your example doesn't prove or disprove anything. This is data that can only be interpreted in aggregate. I skipped lunch yesterday, and yet most people had lunch, my experience is irrelevant.

 

12 minutes ago, gabreigns said:

Sure they are facts....That is Q1 2018 and 33640 still a high number.... It all adds up to a far greater number over the years. Hence the valid concern  by the interviewer(playing devil's advocate).

You can't just look at a number out of context. 33 thousand people is 0.01% of the US population. It is a negligible number. More babies are born in this country in 4 days. More people die in this country in 5 days. 

 

The concern isn't valid. It's hurtful and insulting. Fearmongering against immigrants (especially on this forum!) makes us all worse off. 

Edited September 7, 2018 by nbluDeby

[Boiler 46,316]

15 minutes ago, EM_Vandaveer said:

Did she speak Welsh as well?

Not really, you could tell she was Welsh, she did for the first 5 years and then in the last few she could remember the Welsh phrase but not the English. I remember she got Croseo mixed up, well she never learned to read or write in Welsh.

 

My Grandfather who I think never spoke any Welsh had an accent so strong that many of my friends had a hard time understanding him. Amusingly he was born in Ludlow, just over the Border.

[Sue You 17]

3 minutes ago, nbluDeby said:

The paper you quoted suggests 132,961 out of 1,051,031 for the year 2015. That's incredibly close to the number I provided of 33k in Q1 2018.  And your example doesn't prove or disprove anything. This is data that can only be interpreted in aggregate. I skipped lunch yesterday, and yet most people had lunch, my experience is irrelevant.

 

You can't just look at a number out of context. 33 thousand people is 0.01% of the US population. It is a negligible number. More babies are born in this country in 4 days. More people die in this country in 5 days. 

 

The concern isn't valid. It's hurtful and insulting. Fearmongering against immigrants (especially on this forum!) makes us all worse off. 

Yeesh, You can interpret the facts any way you like. And make it fit your point of view. 

If some people mention their direct experiences and offer their point of view which is not aligned with yours it is not spreading fear. It is making every one aware of various situations everyone faces. We are all in the same boat and that is why we are on this forum. 

[ThomasNC1988 762]

I don't want to seem harsh as some people have but the point of the English test is to see if she can speak English, which you admit she can't, not to see if she studied the questions. Sounds like the CO acted correctly in this case. 

[ThomasNC1988 762]

17 minutes ago, ThomasNC1988 said:

I don't want to seem harsh as some people have but the point of the English test is to see if she can speak English, which you admit she can't, not to see if she studied the questions. Sounds like the CO acted correctly in this case. 

Of course it wouldn't be a CO but still 😆

[Ruark 4]

I appreciate all the responses, positive and negative.  A few points:

 

 - yes, my MIL has a "bucket list" of becoming an American citizen. It's a dream of hers, really, whether there is any practical reason or not.  She's only been here 5 years, and her husband died 2 years ago from cancer, so she's just been living with us since then.  She's a very simple, plain old lady, no formal education, very meek and timid and scared of just about everything here. 

 

 - I talked with a local immigration attorney who knows the officers at this location.  He said most of them were nice, but some of them weren't, and this particular woman "was the worst of them, very, very bad."  Apparently she has a reputation.  When my MIL came to her, she didn't smile, say "how are you," nothing. Just waved at her to follow her and strode to her office.  I did NOT go to the office with them.

 

 - Once in the office, not a word was said. She just pointed at a  chair, sat behind her desk, grabbed a piece of paper (apparently with civics questions on it) and started throwing questions at my MIL so fast she didn't even have time to answer some of them.  No greeting, no "small talk," no oath, nothing. The woman (and I can testify to this) talked VERY fast, and with a hispanic accent. She didn't even look up at my MIL when she asked the questions.  She had an angry facial expression during the entire interview.  On one occasion, my MIL asked politely, "can you repeated, please?" and the officer displayed an angry, frustrated expression. My MIL didn't try that again.  It was pointless, anyway; this woman was utterly IMPOSSIBLE for her to understand.

 

Some people seem to think that just because you "know English," you should be able to jabber like a TV sports announcer. 

 

When she finished, the officer simply stood up, walked to the door and held it open, said "2nd interview" and motioned for my MIL to leave.

 

 - My MIL *CAN* pass all three tests, and answer the N400 questions.  That wasn't the issue.  The issue was that she was not ABLE to take and pass the tests because of the officer's behavior.  If she had JUST been a LITTLE more polite and a little more patient, my MIL would have passed with flying colors.

 

And again, a major issue here is her age.  It is virtually impossible for an 80 year old woman to learn to read, write and speak English from scratch, no matter what she does.

 

- FWIW, having a translator present is an option only if they've lived here 15 years.  My MIL won't even be alive 10 years from now.

 

Talking to an immigration attorney Monday who has a reputation for being aggressive and being a fighter when it comes to dealing with the U.S. government.  Hopefully he will be able to contribute something.

 

Thanks again for your comments.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Ruark

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1 hour ago, Sue You said:

The interviewer has to understand the situation that some people are here in. The interviewer needs to understand that we cant leave our old parent's behind.

Accent or language shouldn't be an excuse for dismissal.

 

I have heard of this happening with other people as well. Thanks for bringing this up.

While I have sympathy for the old lady in the thread, and in general with people who want to bring their parents, no, the interviewer does not need “to understand that we cant leave our old parent's behind”. Immigration is a privilege, not a right, and when someone chooses to immigrate to the US , they need to understand that part of what they have freely chosen to do of their own will, is to leave family behind. Luckily, the US differs from many other countries in enabling people to in fact bring their parents and allow them to naturalize, subject to a few conditions, including being able to speak in English.  These are all known in advance and should not be a surprise to anyone seeking the privilege, not the right, not uscis “needs to understand” of immigration and naturalization. 

 

That little rant over, OP, I hope your MIL gets a more patient interviewer next time, but I again suggest as have many others that she will certainly improve her chances by being made to speak English regularly. The way it has been explained to me is that part of the English test is not just the simple reading and writing but the ability to converse during the interview as a whole. Maybe your MIL was really nervous and that impeded her ability to relax and converse, again, more practice can only help. 

[gabreigns 75]

40 minutes ago, Ruark said:

I appreciate all the responses, positive and negative.  A few points:

 

 - yes, my MIL has a "bucket list" of becoming an American citizen. It's a dream of hers, really, whether there is any practical reason or not.  She's only been here 5 years, and her husband died 2 years ago from cancer, so she's just been living with us since then.  She's a very simple, plain old lady, no formal education, very meek and timid and scared of just about everything here. 

 

 - I talked with a local immigration attorney who knows the officers at this location.  He said most of them were nice, but some of them weren't, and this particular woman "was the worst of them, very, very bad."  Apparently she has a reputation.  When my MIL came to her, she didn't smile, say "how are you," nothing. Just waved at her to follow her and strode to her office.  I did NOT go to the office with them.

 

 - Once in the office, not a word was said. She just pointed at a  chair, sat behind her desk, grabbed a piece of paper (apparently with civics questions on it) and started throwing questions at my MIL so fast she didn't even have time to answer some of them.  No greeting, no "small talk," no oath, nothing. The woman (and I can testify to this) talked VERY fast, and with a hispanic accent. She didn't even look up at my MIL when she asked the questions.  She had an angry facial expression during the entire interview.  On one occasion, my MIL asked politely, "can you repeated, please?" and the officer displayed an angry, frustrated expression. My MIL didn't try that again.  It was pointless, anyway; this woman was utterly IMPOSSIBLE for her to understand.

 

Some people seem to think that just because you "know English," you should be able to jabber like a TV sports announcer. 

 

When she finished, the officer simply stood up, walked to the door and held it open, said "2nd interview" and motioned for my MIL to leave.

 

 - My MIL *CAN* pass all three tests, and answer the N400 questions.  That wasn't the issue.  The issue was that she was not ABLE to take and pass the tests because of the officer's behavior.  If she had JUST been a LITTLE more polite and a little more patient, my MIL would have passed with flying colors.

 

And again, a major issue here is her age.  It is virtually impossible for an 80 year old woman to learn to read, write and speak English from scratch, no matter what she does.

 

- FWIW, having a translator present is an option only if they've lived here 15 years.  My MIL won't even be alive 10 years from now.

 

Talking to an immigration attorney Monday who has a reputation for being aggressive and being a fighter when it comes to dealing with the U.S. government.  Hopefully he will be able to contribute something.

 

Thanks again for your comments.

Hang in there! Wish you the best.

[Prawninator 138]

Good luck, OP! And give your MIL lots of hugs.