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if you aren’t educating yourself abt this country’s *broken* legal immigration system so the immigrants in yr life no longer have to explain what it feels like to be disposable/used/gaslit by this country... idk what to say. just know we can’t even vote for the reforms we need.
and by immigrants i’m not *just* talking about what the government (or google) classifies as an immigrant — i’m also talking about international students, undocumented folx, DACA kids, H1B/J-1/ L-1/L-2/xyz visa holders.
I’ve always found the legal definitions for what classifies one as an immigrant to be restrictive & frankly hurtful. no matter what your papers say, when i say immigrant, i mean anyone’s who’s come to this country & decided in their hearts to stay.
it’s unfortunate that within in our current system, this sentiment is blatantly ignored. fact is people from some countries can live in the US for over 10+ years and still be considered nonimmigrant / resident alien.
this comes as a shock to most people but it’s true. unsurprisingly, the countries with the longest green card (document which affirms you are a permanent resident) waits are India, China, Mexico & the Philippines...
IMO, this greencard backlog is one of the most grieveous problems with our immigration system, and it’s one that most people don’t even know about! how is it ethical that some immigrants could die waiting for a green card? — https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/immigration-wait-times-quotas-have-doubled-green-card-backlogs-are-long
this is my life. my family’s been waiting for over 8 years & we don’t know when we will get our greencard bc we are from India. if you’re wondering WHY #StudentBan is so frightening to my family even tho I’ve lived in the US for 10+ years, it’s a symptom of the backlog.
when I turned 21, i aged out of my father’s greencard app because legally, I am an Adult and therefore no longer able to classify myself as a dependent under his visa for immigration reasons. see this: https://www.indiaabroad.com/indian-americans/faced-with-aging-out-at-21-kids-immigration-status-becomes-dream-deferred/article_92f2bbf4-4ffe-11e8-9af3-3f0b5f778541.html
and more recently, this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.timesofindia.com/business/international-business/indian-families-file-lawsuit-in-us-to-protect-rights-of-aged-out-children/amp_articleshow/73153619.cms
and again, i want to remind you this is happening to people who came into this country LEGALLY. so back to my problem re: #StudentBan — I was abt to age out & therfore had to switch to a F-1 Visa my soph year at college (which like, as if school wasn’t stressful enough)
so as of now, even though i haven’t *lived* in India for over 12 years (which is over half my life) bc of the #StudentBan, if kenyon went all online, I would have to go back to India even though my immediate family live in Texas!
yes, it’s ridiculous & friends, i do want to say i’m privileged in that if kenyon doesn’t get creative / ICE doesn’t realize their stupidity / worst case scenario — I’d still have someplace to go in India bc of generosity of extended family.
of course this is to say nothing about the emotional trauma of being forcibly separated from mom & dad during a global pandemic, traveling across a huge ocean with the fear of getting sick / infecting family back in India
or the fact that it’s my senior year & I have grad apps bc i need sponsorship to stay into this country past getting my undergrad degree & right now it’s the only plan i got. like y’all I already knew next year was going to be stressful, like most F-1 kids on their last year
which is to say ICE ‘s #StudentBan has made a difficult situation feel impossible for people like me. & again, this is just one story. this is to say nothing of F-1 grad students or those who are already out of the US & risk their status if they can’t get back...
a friend yesterday described the #StudentBan as a catch 22 situation & I can’t agree more. no way I look at it, I know someone who will be hurt by ICE’s current regulations. here is a good summary: https://twitter.com/danielsetton/status/1280514375531532289?s=21 https://twitter.com/danielsetton/status/1280514375531532289
and bear in mind again, for this entire thread, we can’t vote. some of us can live here for over 10+ years & the gov’t can still classify us as non permanent resident, nonimmigrant, and worst of all ALIEN.
if you think in anyway that the current system we have is ethical in anyway I want you to take a look again at the language this country uses to describe me. & then i want you to remember that my family came here legally
in the last few years, a lot of Trump conservatives have demanded undocumented immigrants to come to this country “the right way.” i’ve always hated this sentiment, bc it’s false. how can there can be a “right way” when ICE can kick legal F-1 students out of the country?
how can there be “a right way” when i have lived here for twelve years, legally, and am still subject to deportation if i do anything to threaten my status? how can there be a “right way” when my family has pay thousands of dollars to renew their visa every two to three years?
there is no “right way” in an immigration system that’s fundamentally broken. it is expensive, exploitative, and takes no value in the people it’s supposed to protect. i don’t have anything else to say other than sign petitions, call your reps, educate yourself & make some noise
we need change, for the #StudentBan but also systematically. fight for your immigrants, and not just bc (to quote @Lin_Manuel) “we get the job done” but also bc we are your students, friends, neighbors, teachers, coworkers, uber drivers, dog walkers — you get the point!
we are as American as you are, even if the current administration refuses to see us that way. #StudentBan
