I guess the best way to introduce the subject of my immigration practice is to talk a little bit about why I am doing it in the first place. Without going into my childhood, my ancestry and personal history, I can honestly say that I have always been in love with the idea of the American people being made up of every nation on earth. While there are strong feelings on the issue of illegal immigration in both the United States and Mexico (including mine), there is no ambiguity that the necessity for a generous, open, though properly monitored immigration system is really essential for the future development of an America that continues in its place as a strong, prosperous, free nation that is the leader of the world.

So, I consider it my job to help get as much of the best and brightest, all those who are decent in character, who dream of a fulfilling life and who, in the words of Ronald Reagan, “have the will and the heart to come here”, into my country—legally.

And at this point I will part company with some of those who are practitioners in the area of law which I shall choose. I am not interested in representing those who think that coming to this nation is an automatic entitlement. Sorry, but coming to America is a privilege, not a right. Those who do not respect our laws, and come here because they have been given a false history concerning America that their land was stolen from them, and that they can come in and say, with arrogance, “No one is illegal,” will earn my everlasting contempt. But those who would come because they want to be a part of this nation, who wish to obey our laws, or, if they came here illegally, did so because their desperate circumstances left them little or no choice, but have lived as law-abiding people ever since—I want to help them.

So, let’s begin. I will start at the top. The Immigration and Naturalization Act, as revised in 1990, allows as a starting point a flexible cap of 675,000 immigrants each year, with certain categories of people exempted from the limit. That law attempts to attract more skilled workers and professionals to the United States and to draw immigrants from countries that have supplied relatively few Americans in recent years. That flexibility, especially in exemptions from that limit, allowed upwards of 1.5 million people to permanently immigrate into the U.S. in 2007, and promises to allow even more. Along with that, are some 1.75 million who come here with various temporary family, business and student visas each year. And those numbers are probably going to rise, consistently.  About 1.4 million people received their citizenship last year, but 2.5 million more have existing applications of up to a year or even longer.

And yet, that number does not even begin to meet the numbers of individuals waiting in line to come into the country…legally. Another 5 million people have filed applications to permanently enter the country, and are on waiting lists ranging from a few months to, in the case of relatives from the Philippines, 23 years! And we’re talking about people who would be, by law, perfectly qualified to be legally admitted. And we’re not counting those seeking non-immigrant visas, probably a matching number.

The Legacy
The steady stream of people coming to America’s shores has had a profound effect on the American character. It takes courage and flexibility to leave your homeland and come to a new country. The American people have been noted for their willingness to take risks and try new things, for their independence and optimism. If Americans whose families have been here longer tend to take their material comfort and political freedoms for granted, immigrants are at hand to remind them how important those privileges are.

Immigrants also enrich American communities by bringing aspects of their native cultures with them. Multiple European, African, and Hispanic cultures have all fused their own unique ways of celebrating Christmas with the even more home-grown transformation made out of the birthday of the Christ in America. Hispanic Americans celebrate their traditions with street fairs and other festivities on Cinco de Mayo (May 5). Ethnic restaurants abound in nearly every significant American city.

It is in my soul that I help promote the vision of America as a home for anyone of good character who wishes to live and work here, and make this country their own, to be….Americans.  As Ronald Reagan once said:

“I . . . have thought of America as a place in the divine scheme of things that was set aside as a promised land . . . [A]nd the price of admission was very simple . . . Any place in the world and any person from these places; any person with the courage, with the desire to tear up their roots, to strive for freedom, to attempt and dare to live in a strange and foreign place, to travel halfway across the world was welcome here . . . I believe that God in shedding his grace on this country has always in this divine scheme of things kept an eye on our land and guided it as a promised land for these people.”

So, tomorrow, I will begin to review each type of visa, by which people can legally enter the country.  I will try to be brief, and I’ll outline each visa in a way that will give a prospective immigrant a practical idea of what they need to do.  We’ll start with the employment-based permanent visas, and work out from there.

Hasta al pronto.

—The Old Alcalde—