Tuesday, September 16, 2008

it's not that simple

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2008,0916-flynn.pdf

i very rarely talk about work here, but this is one of the most accurate and straightforward depictions of the down-the-rabbit-hole world that i inhabit during my working hours, so i thought i needed to share. follow this link to reason magazine's humorous yet remarkably straightforward and accurate chart explaining exactly how difficult and complicated it is to obtain a greencard in the u.s. i hate it when the restrictionists say that they resent the "illegals" flouting the immigration laws because they always seem to imply that these individuals could easily get a greencard but just choose not to. the reality is exactly the opposite. it is actually very difficult to obtain a greencard in the u.s. and almost impossible to obtain one for an unskilled labor position, even if you have an employer who is willing to sponsor you. moreover, there are very few nonimmigrant (temporary) visa options for unskilled laborers either. the reason we have such a high number of undocumented people living in this country is there are no available options for them to legally immigrate.

our current immigration system is just plain broken. among the many deficiencies that make it the complex, arcane rube goldberg-like contraption that is described in the flowchart linked above, it does not provide a legal option for the workers who are needed to fill gaps in our labor market. and if you tell me that these workers are coming to steal americans' jobs, i'll ask you how many americans you think are lining up to work in the fields or clean toilets for a living (and then i'll block your ip address so you can never visit my blog again).

1 comment:

Deborah Eley De Bono said...

This is a great graphic way to explain the frustrations. I think I'd have it enlarged and put it on your wall.