sounds like a higher barrier than any wall we could build

why can't the brown people just follow the legal process like my ancestors did, back when it didn't exist and you basically just had to show up and be white?

It took us from 1992 to about 2008, and we didn't even do it the straightforward way. My dad eventually ended up getting employment sponsorship from an extended family member after having been here on a tourist visa, but you can't even do it the way he did it anymore. His immigrant visa application from 1980 or so never went anywhere, and that was back when things were more permissive.

That infographic might be a bit out of date, since it goes back to 2008. That also happens to be around the time when they jacked up all of the application fees across the board at USCIS. I was lucky enough to submit my naturalization paperwork before the fee jumped up to $1,000.

But, yeah, "do it like my grandparents did!" is an argument I've been hearing all my life, though my all time favorite seems to be "why don't you stay in your country and fix things?". 99% of the people who trot that one out have moved away from the town they grew up in for a multitude of reasons. Y'know, instead of staying in their hometown and fixing what was wrong with it. "Well, I can't just magically bring job opportunities into Umptyscrunch, USA all by myself!" Yeah, TELL ME ABOUT IT.

Coming in at a close third on my list of favorites is the "you need to assimilate and be 100% American!", often said by someone with an idiotic Italian flag tattoo or who is proud of the two phrases they know in Irish Gaelic that they learned from their alcoholic grandpa or who gets all nostalgic about grandma's customs from the Old Country or who proudly calls themselves 1/4 German.

I'm 3/8 german.  I've always felt pretty neutral about it.

why can't the brown people just follow the legal process like my ancestors did, back when it didn't exist and you basically just had to show up and be white?

I negotiated INS for my wife and it was the must infuriating thing that I have ever gone through. I was removed from one office by an armed guard, got hung up on by Janet Reno twice, and finally got everything negotiated for me by Sen. Carl Levin's office. They rocked, but still had to instruct me on the proper way to do thingsthat worked in the end but was not entirely black letter law.

Holy hell, trying to do things by the books is nearly impossible.

I'm 3/8 german.  I've always felt pretty neutral about it.

Don't you mean Swiss?

I knew someone would think that's what I meant to say, but no

I knew someone would think that's what I meant to say, but no

:Nostradamus:

for real tho, meep, has anyone said you aren't 100% assimilated?

for real tho, meep, has anyone said you aren't 100% assimilated?

Not directly to me, but people have said such things in front of me using the general you. Like "you shouldn't come here and speak other languages" and shit like that. And my in laws were fond of that Teddy Roosevelt quote about how you need to be 100% American. Most people forget or don't realize I'm actually an immigrant so they feel free to say stupid offensive garbage about immigrants right to my face like I'm going to high five them for it or something.

you should at least learn to hablo ingles

for real tho, meep, has anyone said you aren't 100% assimilated?

Not directly to me, but people have said such things in front of me using the general you. Like "you shouldn't come here and speak other languages" and shit like that. And my in laws were fond of that Teddy Roosevelt quote about how you need to be 100% American. Most people forget or don't realize I'm actually an immigrant so they feel free to say stupid offensive garbage about immigrants right to my face like I'm going to high five them for it or something.

Just high five them in the face.....

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/employees-across-u-s-fired-after-joining-day-without-immigrants-n722991

More than 100 protesters across the country were fired from their jobs after skipping work to take part in last week's "Day Without Immigrants" demonstration.

Restaurants and day cares were among the businesses in states like Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma and New York where bosses fired workers after they didn't show up for work in order to protest.

In Nolensville, Tennessee, nearly 20 employees at Bradley Coatings, Incorporated -- a commercial painting company -- were laid off after participating in the nationwide strike on Thursday, NBC4 reported.

The company's attorney, Robert Peal, said in a statement obtained by the news station that all employees were told they risked termination if they skipped work on Thursday, but 18 did so anyway.

The attorney wrote: "Regretfully, and consistent with its prior communication to all its employees, BCI had no choice but to terminate these individuals. The reason these employees missed work -- to engage in peaceful demonstrations -- had nothing to do with BCI's decision to terminate them."

That same day in Florida, several staff members at Grace Community School in Bonita Springs told NBC2 they planned participate in Thursday's protest. Two employees claimed they were fired as a result, though the head of the school insists no one was terminated.

Asked by a reporter why the cause was important, Brenda Botello, who quit on Friday because she was afraid of being fired, said: "Because we are Mexicans... We need to find another job."

At Ben's Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant & Caterers in Long Island, New York, 25 workers were fired Friday when they returned to work, according to Telemundo 47. Police escorted the workers from the restaurant -- most of whom were undocumented and have worked there for years.

Some social media users are calling on others to boycott the small businesses and restaurants that fired immigrant workers.     #BradleyCoatings just fired 18 workers for participated in #ADayWithoutImmigrants, stop buying this products
    -- J.C.Zarcus (@Zarcus) February 18, 2017

    Remember this name. You won't want to eat here. I Don't Care Bar and Grill in Catoosa, Oklahoma. https://t.co/8fLu33Vvu3
    -- diane wong (@dianewong) February 18, 2017

Local news outlets also reported that 21 employees were fired at a boat manufacturing company in South Carolina, 12 workers at an Oklahoma restaurant and 30 masonry workers in Denver. The Oklahoma restaurant I Don't Care Bar and Grill has already published a job posting looking to replace the fired cooks, NBC12 reported.

Last week's nationwide "Day Without Immigrants" protests were aimed at showcasing the impact immigrants have on the U.S. economy.

Pro-immigrant protests continued throughout the weekend, with a Free the People Immigration March in Los Angeles on Friday and President's Day Weekend March and Rally in support of immigrants and refugees in Dallas on Friday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/21/us/politics/dhs-immigration-trump.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Under the Obama administration, undocumented immigrants convicted of serious crimes were the priority for removal. Now, immigration agents, customs officers and border patrol agents have been directed to remove anyone convicted of any criminal offense.

That includes people convicted of fraud in any official matter before a governmental agency and people who "have abused any program related to receipt of public benefits."

The change in enforcement priorities will require a considerable increase in resources. With an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally, the government has long had to set narrower priorities, given the constraints on staffing and money.

In the so-called guidance documents released on Tuesday, the department is directed to begin the process of hiring 10,000 new immigration and customs agents, expanding the number of detention facilities and creating an office within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help families of those killed by undocumented immigrants. Mr. Trump had some of those relatives address his rallies in the campaign, and several were present when he signed an executive order on immigration last month at the Department of Homeland Security.

The directives would also instruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol, to begin reviving a program that recruits local police officers and sheriff's deputies to help with deportation, effectively making them de facto immigration agents. The effort, called the 287(g) program, was scaled back during the Obama administration.

The officials also made clear that nothing in the directives would change the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which provides work permits and deportation protection for the young people commonly referred to as Dreamers.

There was no mention of the National Guard thing, so that is good...

BLEH

Sounds like an unfunded mandate.

Sounds like an unfunded mandate.

https://thinkprogress.org/homeland-security-immigrant-crime-c6419040a020#.44mu187r0

"Accordingly, I am establishing the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office within the Office of the Director of ICE, which will create a programmatic liaison between ICE and the known victims of crimes committed by removable aliens," Kelly writes. "To that end, I direct the Director of ICE to immediately reallocate any and all resources that are currently used to advocate on behalf of illegal aliens to the new VOICE Office, and to immediately terminate the provision of such outreach or advocacy services to illegal aliens."

Not entirely unfunded, I guess.

Jesus Christ he's evil.

He is.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/visas-impact/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_visas-740a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/visas-impact/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_visas-740a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Nothing like watching a country shoot itself in the foot in slow motion.

My BIL once made some comment about how "do you think all these companies want to live somewhere else?", as if America is absolutely the BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD and will always be so no matter what we do to it.

lol, yeah, because companies think about where to "live".  they don't just pick the country with the weakest regulations and get a PO box there.

ty's family sounds extremely dumb/racist

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/visas-impact/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_visas-740a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

says the phd guy living in canada

Also it'll be great to have international students still come here for their PhDs but then leave to go use that knowledge somewhere else because H-1Bs!!!!!1111 . And if they gut the student visa programs, then I'm sure all of those spots will be filled by our vast pool of well-prepared and highly interested American students.

all white people would have gone to Harvard if not for affirmative action and foreign students