Illegal by Design

Published April 04, 2009 @ 11:00AM PT

Joshua Holland of Alternet has written a first-hand account of his interaction with the maddening immigration bureaucracy. Unfortunately he learned the hard way that the system is so complicated and poorly managed that you can't rely on immigration officials themselves to understand it well enough to give you reliable advice. Immigration officers can dispense advice like Pez--it's no concern of theirs if someone they talk to ends up in immigration court, they face no liability for giving bad advice. It's a system that does work well for immigration lawyers in a sense, but it's such a frustrating experience for us as well that virtually every immigration lawyer in the country is pushing for sensible immigration reform. (Also, I've never been golfing with regional immigration officials, and if I ever did, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get invited back.)

Holland also writes convincingly about how flimsy distinctions between "legal" and "illegal" are in such a dysfunctional system.

Via.

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Comments (6)

This is sad, but true. Immigration is so "behind" or misinformed on its own policies. The advice that they dispense is unaccountable. Their free advice got my husband deported. The judge was made aware of their deceitful actions and in our case, INS got put on the stand. Their response? "I don't recall." "I can't remember, exactly." "We have so many cases, it's hard to tell exactly"... even though they knew my husband by name. There was nothing that could be done. Instead of giving him an opportunity to plead his case before an immigration judge... within days he was transported in shackles to the border....so that this kind of thing doesn't make surface. Its a shame.

Posted by Melissa R on 04/04/2009 @ 12:13PM PT
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We should take an immigration timeout.

Posted by Kurt Thialfad on 04/04/2009 @ 06:48PM PT
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Its hard to think back in history and see that this county is made of immigrates. That the only people that belong are the Native Americans and even they are secluded...Yes they have their casinos, but one should understand that they are the true legal citizen. Everyone in this county comes from immigrates from their past some from their present...Its sad that we are taught in school to fighting for liberty, and how important it was, and is ... Yet not everyone is equal unless you are "legal" (that's what some believe). Its like when African Americans first started to fight for their rights as well as women was a tough fight that was won. Hopefully with the right direction like African Americans and women immigrates will pass too...there is a lot to do and so many suffer, but in the end life is what matters. People hopefully will see that its not such a bad thing especially in this economy...More people working More SSN money and a better Consumer and goods services.

Posted by Silvia castellanos on 04/04/2009 @ 11:53PM PT
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It is unacceptable for you to justify the poor treatment of undocumented workers and deny them their Civil Rights just because they are not citizens of this country on paper. During the Civil Rights Era, blacks were more than discriminated against. Words can not begin to describe what our country did to them and we should look back at how we suppressed and crippled them for years and remind ourselves that we never want to treat any group horribly again irregardless to race, gender, sex, social economic factors or status. If employers are just pocketing profits then it makes sense to go after them and to push comprehensive immigration reform to pass and stop the magnet that brings people through our borders that gives them a slave labor force not protected by laws. As long as the millions of undocumented remain in an underground status employers will continues to find ways to cheat. If all workers were documented and our legal immigration system became reasonable the magnet (employers) would be easy to govern.

Posted by Mary Pranzatelli on 04/05/2009 @ 06:19PM PT
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"You have to realize that all these detainees are being held because they refuse to leave the country. In that sense, they are not being held against their will."

No. Actually, many of them would rather be deported and go home. No one actually enjoys their stay. It's our government that puts a price on their heads and awards DA's for how many months in jail they can dish out.

Posted by Melissa R on 04/06/2009 @ 10:36AM PT
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I do not deny anyone their civil or human rights nor do I condone inhumane treatment of anyone. But asking everyone to follow our laws has nothing to do with that.

Posted by Mark Lindley on 04/07/2009 @ 07:25AM PT
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David is an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, where he helps immigrants to the U.S. navigate the complex immigration legal system. Views he expresses at change.org are his alone and don't represent the views or opinions of his employer, Nationalities Service Center. The information contained on this site is intended for educational and advocacy purposes only.