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Ice on Immigration: Weekly advice
column to you. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
By L. Patricia Ice, Featured
Columnist
Question: I am a United States citizen who has several friends who
are in the country without legal immigration status. I would like to
know why they cannot obtain legal immigration status, and if there is
anything I can do to help them obtain legal immigration status. They
would like to remain in the United States long term to work legally.
Answer:
United States immigration laws are extremely complex, but I will give a
brief answer to your questions. The general rule is that a person who
enters the United States without being admitted or paroled by an
immigration official (also known as entry without inspection) is not
eligible to adjust status to lawful permanent resident. There are a few
exceptions to the general rule. Another general rule is that a person
cannot change from having no immigrant status to having non-immigrant
(temporary) legal status. There are also exceptions to this rule.
These general rules make it difficult for anyone who has entered the
United States without inspection, or who is out of lawful immigration
status to adjust status to lawful permanent residence or to change from
no immigration status to a lawful non-immigrant status. Therefore
anyone who is not in lawful immigration status in this country will have
a very difficult time obtaining lawful status. One cure for this
dilemma is for the general rules to change. The immigration rules, or
laws, are created by the United States Congress with concurrence by the
United States President. One thing you can do to help change the rules
is to contact your representatives in the United States Congress in
person, by telephone, by letter or electronically. They have the
ability to change the rules. Make your opinions known to your senators
and representative that you would like the laws to change so that your
friends may stay legally in this country. Another thing you can do is
to join immigrant advocacy groups that promote changing the rules. With
a new Presidential administration and new members of Congress, I believe
there will be better chances for the immigration laws to change.
An additional
thing that you can do to help your friends is to seek out and visit an
experienced immigration attorney or Board of Immigration Appeals
accredited representative who can discuss and analyze the specific
issues of your friends' cases. Each immigrant has unique circumstances
and may be subject to some of the exceptions to the general rules.
The end.
Disclaimer.
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