Getting in Line: Much Easier Said Than Done, MINDSETTER™ Molina Flynn

Thursday, August 02, 2018

Joseph Molina Flynn, MINDSETTER™

The immigration debate is a never-ending saga. On one side, immigration advocates believe barriers to legal immigration should be reduced to make it easier for individuals to gain lawful entry into the United States and for those who are already in the United States to obtain status. On the other side are those who believe that barriers to surreptitious border crossings should be increased as should penalties for doing so and that those who are already in the United States without status should not have a way to pursue legal status. The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the immigration system needs a major overhaul.

The latter group often encourages people to “get in line.” In application, getting in line is sometimes an impossible undertaking. Citizens of the United States are able to lawfully grant certain relatives a legal path to immigrate to the United States: children (under and over 21), spouses, fiancées, parents, brothers, and sisters. For some which fit the immigration definition of immediate relatives—parents, spouses, and children under 21—the process is rather streamlined. Getting a spouse to immigrate from another country will usually take between a year and eighteen (18) months. For brothers and sisters, the wait is approximately 15 years. Intending immigrants from certain countries with historically high levels of immigration—Mexico, Philippines, India, and China—face even longer waits.

The delayed waits are the direct result of limitations the United States places on the issuance of immigrant visas. But what if leaving the country of one’s origin is often not a voluntary choice? People from countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras face levels of violence which cause them to flee their countries in fear for their lives. The United States affords such people the opportunity to seek asylum. Asylum is a path to legal status for those who can prove that they meet the legal definition of a refugee. That is to say they can prove that they have been persecuted or have a reasonable fear of future persecution based on race, religion, national origin, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

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When the choice is life or death, waiting in line twenty years for a visa to become available is no choice at all. Of the individuals who make the dangerous trek to the United States through Central America, many intend to seek asylum. This includes many of the children who have recently been separated from their parents while in immigration detention. The way the United States treats these individuals upon arrival ignores this reality. Adults are placed in detention centers known as iceboxes for their extremely cold temperatures to entice them to voluntarily agree to be deported. Children (no matter the age) are placed in cages and separated from their parents. Sometimes they are released to the care of relatives in the United States, many times they are forced to represent themselves in immigration court and are ultimately deported.

The diatribe around the immigration debate needs to change. The way people are treated and talked about says a lot about who the United States is as a country. This discussion does not center around a group of animals or “bad hombres.” The individuals at the epicenter of this hotly-debated issue are human beings who have many times stared death in the face. A shift in the language to account for the dignity and humanity of the people being discussed is paramount.

Joseph Molina Flynn is a family & immigration attorney with offices in Boston & Providence. He is the current president of the RI Latino Pac and the RI Latino Civic Fund. 

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