Daily Dispatch 9/17/2019: John Oliver breaks down legal immigration

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InAlienableDaily Dispatch
September 17, 2019

There is a video included in this post. To view it, please click the article link.

As part of his show "Last Week Tonight," John Oliver did a section on immigration that is very funny and informative. Oliver lays out four paths to legal immigration into the United States: family, employment, “good luck,” and “bad luck.” He demonstrates how each path has serious limitations and also how the Trump administration has sought to make these paths even more restrictive. The primary point is that there is no “line” to get into for many people, and even if they can find a line, the process can take years. Though not explicit in Oliver’s report, these delays are one of the key sources of unauthorized immigration - it can take 22 years to receive a family visa if you are from Mexico, for example. That is a long line.

The video is here for those interested. The one caveat is that it is a comedy production for cable, and the language in a few places may be off-putting to some.

A few more details worth adding, or some of the ways Trump has gutted legal immigration...

“Merit-based” visa reform: Trump has proposed a rewriting visa requirements in order to flip the family and employment percentages discussed in this segment. The proposal was put forth as a “merit based” immigration reform, which would keep the number of green cards issued each year the same, but change the priorities. It is not likely to ever get approved by congress as it would eliminate some family proposals, such as eliminating green cards for the parents of a U.S. citizen. The chart below shows the changes proposed.

Diversity Lottery changes: As discussed in the program, the diversity lottery is set up for countries that have low levels of immigration to the United States. People can place their name forward with the hope of winning a chance to get a green card. 50,000 slots are available, millions of people try every year - indeed, 1.2 million people from Egypt applied last year. The chances of getting a green card this way are slim. But Trump made it harder to even try. The State Department now requires people to have a valid passport before they even enter the lottery. While this may seem reasonable, getting a passport is not easy in many places, and adds a level to expense to this process that could prove prohibitive for some people. Given the slim odds of getting a visa this way, many people would logically wait to expend that money until they find out the results. Not any more.

Public charge rule changes: In August, the administration extended new rules that will make it harder for people to get visas and green cards, but reinterpreting the “public charge” restrictions on admittance to the United States. We wrote a background piece on this last month. It will make it harder for lower income people to come to the United States, and/or become permanent residence.

Restricting grounds for seeking asylum: The Trump administration has done a great deal to restrict the ability of people to seek asylum in this country - which is, of course, perfectly legal!!! Some of the restrictions include:

Disallowing asylum for people fleeing domestic violence or gang related violence. The argument is that asylum was set up for people fleeing state or state-sponsored violence, and not violence committed by "private" persons. This new rule was later overturned by the Courts.

Disallowing asylum for people whose family members are threatened with violence.

Disallowing asylum for people who did not first seek asylum in a third country before arriving at the U.S./Mexico Border. This is currently being challenged in court - however the Supreme Court last week allowed the new rule to go into effect while the court case goes forward.

Forcing people to wait in Mexico for their asylum hearing. The "Migrant Protection Protocols" went into effect in December of 2018 in a limited way - expanded to cover the whole southern border this summer. Nearly 40,000 people have been forced to wait in Mexico for their hearing. Only two people have been granted asylum under this new rule in 8 months.

For those admitted into the United States, forcing people to wait out the processing of asylum claims in detention rather than paroled out pending court hearing has been the case for most asylum seekers prior (note: Haitians seeking asylum have often been the target of prolonged detention).

Refugee cap at lowest point, pretty much ever. The refugee cap was 120,000 persons in 2016. Last year Trump lowered it to 30,000 (from 45,000 the year before. For 2020, they are considering lowering it even further.