Law law law

So, I love working for Catholic Charities Legal Services. Aside from the fact that the people who work there are super nice to work with and genuinely care about the people that they serve, immigration law is really interesting. I can honestly say that I feel stimulated not only from a moral perspective but from an academic one as well.

I’ve been studying a giant handbook that covers the ins and outs of family immigration law. Now, I already knew that there were a lot of hoops to jump through in order to claim residency in the USA. But, I didn’t realize just how invasive the Department of Homeland Security actually could be. The list of evidence in one I-485 application can go on forever, listing every detail from your birth certificate to your children’s hospital bills. EVERYTHING is relevant. Everything must be documented. Everything…

The paperwork on its own is tremendous. There’s a form for everything: if your petitioning for an immediate relative, if your petitioning for your fiancé, if your petitioning for a spouse who you’ve only been married to for 2 years or less, if your petitioning for yourself because you’re in an abusive relationship, if your petitioning for asylum, if your petitioning for a work permit, if your petitioning for naturalization… on and on and on and on. And then you have to PAY for all of these forms to be processed. And with all of the forms being produced and processed by a government organization that is funded by these fees you can guess they’re pretty high.

I don’t understand how anyone who wants to immigrate to the USA can afford to file through any law office other than Catholic Charities. Our office fee is even pretty expensive (especially for the people who walk in every day) and we still offer the cheapest deal in town (in the state probably…).  Even then! When people can’t afford to pay, we either waive the legal fee or work out a payment plan in manageable installments. I mean… our name is Catholic CHARITIES Legal Services so I guess that came as no surprise. But, man! It’s like, for most people, there’s no other option but to live in the USA illegally because legally costs too much money and time.

Time. That’s the worse part. Forget the paperwork, the invasive documentation, the money… if your from Mexico, you may never get to enter the USA. There are people still waiting for their paperwork to go through since the 70s. Unless your country is sanctioned for Temporary Protective Status, you can claim asylum, or you’re an immediate relative of a US citizen you’re not getting in to the USA legally any time soon. And especially now that in order to apply for Legal Permanent Resident status you can just pay a penalty fee of 1,000 bucks – why wait? Of course, you have no security, could be deported any time, can’t work legally, and will be generally hated by all sorts of people in the USA … I guess that’s the downside of being anything but a white American/ European…