50 Million American Citizens Would Not Qualify for Green Cards
By Navtej Kohli
PLEASE NOTE: I realize that American Citizens do not need Green Cards. This review is purely hypothetical. Please read all the text before you make comments, as many of your complaints are addressed therein.- Kohli Navtej.
A friend of mine recently went through the process to become a U.S. Permanent Resident, meaning that he got a “Green Card.” The process of obtaining such a thing is very complicated. So complicated, in fact, that almost 17% of the United States’ population would either not qualify to be permanent residents of their own country, or would find significant road-blocks on their way to residency.
Why, you ask, does it matter if you are gay? The answer is this: One of the only ways to get permanent residency in the US is by marrying an American citizen. Employment-based residency applications usually require the immigrant to be a “person of extraordinary ability”. The likelihood of obtaining a Green Card without “extraordinary” or “exceptional” abilities is very low.
Marriage is the most simple way to get an immigrant visa. As gay marriage is not recognized in the United States, a gay U.S. Citizen cannot act as the sponsor of his or her foreign partner.
Just to clarify, most people enter the United States on “non-immigrant visas”, meaning that their stay in the country has a time limit. If I, Navtej Kohli, came to the U.S. to take a vacation, I’d need a visitor’s visa, which is also (obviously) of the non-immigrant type. Students who come on F-1 student visas, for example, usually have a visa that lasts for four years. Unless the person extends their visa or obtains a new one, they must leave the U.S. after their visa expires.
Here’s a link to the http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-693.pdf medical examination report that doctors fill out. You’ll see the ailments they test for on Page 3.
Applicants must make at least 25% more money than that which designates “poverty.”In this graph, I’ve only included the 12.7 million Americans who are actually under the poverty line, so there are potentially millions more U.S. Citizens who would fail to qualify on the basis of making too little money.
Acknowledging that many people may fall into more than one category (that is, they may be infected with HIV and be living in poverty), I’ve not included numbers for the people whose income falls between 100% and 125% of the poverty line, and neither have I compensated for the untold number of Americans who may have the mental and physical ailments that doctors are required to look for when examining potential immigrants. You will see the various other limitations, such as “Other physical defect, disease or disability” on the abovementioned medical examination form.
Also, for the sake of citation, here are the sites I consulted in order to obtain figures for the “other” diseases that hinder a person’s acceptance as a U.S. immigrant:
Hope you’ve enjoyed this!
Well that piece doesn’t make much sense to me, and shouldn’t to anyone. Immigration laws are written in a way such that people who eventually immigrate here, somehow benefit the US, and not deplete resources. That’s why they emphasize that you can’t be a public charge. So it’s not to say that the US doesn’t have poverty, or health issues. But simply that those who are to be assimilated, should NOT exacerbate the problem.
Comment by Syb — July 30, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
I am not suggesting that the U.S. should take in more people, I am simply pointing out that a) many Americans live in an “unacceptable” state of disease and poverty, and b) discriminating against 20 million gay people is, well, discriminatory.
I do not, in fact, disagree with the immigration laws. I just find it interesting that 17% of the U.S. population is apparently sub-standard in the eyes of their government.
Comment by NavTej Kohli — July 30, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
I think the requirements SHOULD be darned strict. Citizenship for someone coming to the U.S. SHOULD take some serious effort. There SHOULD be high standards, just on this one aspect alone: If it was too easy, how could it be valuable?
So what if a lot of us already here don’t qualify? Personally, I doubt if Paris Hilton deserves $60 million. But she’ll get it anyway.
Comment by Hank Fox — July 31, 2007 @ 12:10 am
If it makes you feel any better the US government would gladly get rid of the gays, poors, and drug addicts.
They just haven’t figured out an emigration program yet, so the undesirables are just stuffed in jail as an easier solution.
Comment by Chicken Bone — July 31, 2007 @ 12:22 am
17% is actually lower than I’d expect. Poverty, disease, age and criminal history alone would seem to bring that number up a bit. I can totally understand high standards for people coming in and would expect a decent number of the current population to be below the standards as we can’t exactly throw people away that don’t “fit”.
On another note, marrying for the sake of entering the country is wrong regardless of your sexual orientation. It’s an exploitation of yourself and makes a mockery of marriage. If being gay hinders the use of this loophole, oh well. I guess the only real downside would be that gay people can’t file as a couple for residency, which, I’ll agree is wrong.
Comment by Jacob — July 31, 2007 @ 12:36 am
@Syb
So the 20 million that are gay are not beneficial to society and are just depleting resources?
Comment by Justin — July 31, 2007 @ 1:06 am
“But simply that those who are to be assimilated, should NOT exacerbate the problem.”
Oh, so that whole silly “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” technicality should only hold to those men created on top of certain parcels of land?
Who cares what’s wrong with a dude? If he wants to be free, it’s the duty of the USA to make him a free man.
Comment by Stephen — July 31, 2007 @ 1:26 am
As an immigrant to this great country I think you are really saying that 17% of the population should wake up each day and say ” Thank Heavens I was born in this great country and not somewhere else!!!”
Comment by Nev Gordon-Carroll — July 31, 2007 @ 1:59 am
Well maybe the sick people should consider it a blessing in disguise, because obtaining healthcare is impossible for many people esp. the sick. 46 million live without healthcare in the US. According to this I would not be green card material. But the feeling is mutual, as I don’t have much faith in the government anymore either.
Comment by Phill — July 31, 2007 @ 3:21 am
Actually, one of the reasons for such discriminatory standards is because of our soon-to-be bankrupt welfare system. We simply do not have the money to pay for the war, and supporting more citizens who cant provide for themselves. Even that doesn’t explain the discrimination against gays, but i’m guessing the government considers them at risk for AIDS/HIV.
Comment by Sam — July 31, 2007 @ 3:30 am
I think you can still immigrate to the US even if you are stricken with some of these conditions, for example on a student visa. So its not the government does not allow them in. It just does not want want the ’sub-standard’ people on the path to citizenship or be eligible for government benefits like unemployment or Social Security.
Immigration laws are quite wierd, to put it mildly. They have tended to reflect the biases of the US, racial or otherwise. I can understand not wanting to an immigrant in or wanting one out if they have committed a crime because even US citizens pay a price for committing crimes. But some of the others are quite shaky.
I’m not sure you can read the immigration laws to say that the government views homosexuals are sub-standard. Not supporting gay marraige and homophobia are two different things.
Comment by Disco Babu — July 31, 2007 @ 3:49 am
If it was only easier to deport worthless people and keep the hard working ones.. Haven’t we all met our fair share of worthless people? I’ve met quite a few immigrants that I found strikingly more hard-working and appreciative of our way of life than people who already live here legally. I’m suprised that it’s only 17% of the U.S. population that’s seen as sub-standard. It’s not that tough to immigrate to the U.S. legally. All you have to do is put some effort into wanting to be here legally. You didn’t mention anything about naturalization, which is probably the easiest ways of becoming a legal U.S. citizen.
Comment by Romulus — July 31, 2007 @ 4:54 am
And what about the hundreds of thousands of people who vote Communist? They’d be banned as well.
Comment by James Erwin — July 31, 2007 @ 8:23 am
What doesn’t make sense? He’s just pointing out the fact that based on the basic screening regulations for obtaining a green card, more than 50 million (maybe less if the groups are overlapping; alcoholic and poor, for example) would not meet the standards.
Comment by Bill — July 31, 2007 @ 8:24 am
NavTej Kohli � 50 Million American Citizens Would Not Qualify for Green Cards
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Trackback by Stirrdup Trackback — July 31, 2007 @ 8:30 am
I think that it is a good idea that the government is so strict on the requirements. I live in England and if we had those kind of restrictions we wouldnt have 99% of the immigrants that have emigrated here to sponge my taxes.
Comment by Mony — July 31, 2007 @ 8:41 am
green taxes
Very interesting post. A little bit confusing, but still ok.
Trackback by green taxes — April 15, 2008 @ 12:01 am
Wendie
A friend is someone who sees through you and still enjoys the view.
Trackback by Wendie — April 21, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
i wonder what you say Navtej, happens so where where we all americans will go. i presume most of your data is correct, i think i coudnt agree more on this. just imagine, america is(was) a land of immigrants (my family came here from holland 120years ago). now it is being ruled by asians and chinese (they are the most hardworking lot). just imagine where we citizens will go if any such law came into existance
JWP
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New York Immigration Lawyer Marina Shepelsky, located in Brooklyn, assists clients from the New York metro area and across the United States in all immigration and naturalization matters http://www.e-us-visa.com
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