Can We Fix This?

…please?

People who had been waiting to apply for permanent residency were thrilled in mid-June, when the U.S. Department of State announced that a backlog of applications had been cleared. The department said that all those who were in the country on work visas and had met the requirements for permanent residency could apply in July.

Hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants across the country, many of whom had been waiting years to become eligible for so-called green cards, rushed to get in their applications.

But on Monday, the State Department said its initial announcement was wrong, and that no applications would be accepted until at least October. It's still unknown how many will be accepted then.

Those who had spent thousands of dollars and countless hours preparing their applications were devastated. [source]

Several of my alien co-workers have to periodically do a bunch of paperwork and have medical exams and then wait angrily while the government drags its feet. But this is all absurd. These are great people and there's absolutely no reason they should have to check in with, or be checked on by, the government.

The official word on the current situation is that this year's employment-based visa cap has already been met.

I humbly suggest that there should be no cap, xenophobes and protectionists be damned. If my co-workers want to work in this country, it should be easy. If they want to become citizens, that should be easy too! I cannot fathom what alleged evil the INS USCIS is protecting me from by inconveniencing my friends.

I have been trying hard not to pay any attention to the 2008 election cycle yet (it's too early!) but I was prompted to write about this because I saw a segment on the news this morning with one of the candidates (Tom Tancredo, R-CO) talking about immigration. His position is that the United States should crack down on employers who hire illegals and also cut by three-quarters the number of allowed legal immigrants.

I do have sympathy for people who just wish the laws were enforced. But in this case the law is an ass, and Tancredo wants to make it worse! The law is the problem, not the people who break it.

I'm going to go on record in favor of amnesty. I know it's unfair to people who have been patiently enduring the legal immigration process, but trying to be "fair" by putting the current illegals through something unpleasant would not make the legals any better off. When you realize you've been harming people, the proper course of action is to stop. If you've been harming one person more than another, don't keep harming one of them until they're "even". Stop the harming altogether!

P.S., They took our jobs!