“It’s one thing to say you’re really anti illegal immigration until you sit across the table from an immigrant and hear their story…Once you’ve heard that story and you’ve seen that human being you say, man, if I were in your place, if I were in your shoes, and I experienced the same things you experienced, I would’ve done the same thing.”
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These are the words of the Statue of Liberty. Back when the statue was placed in New York, and even more true before it was ever erected, these were not hollow words. Many people you ask in America can trace back their lineage to a poor family in another part of the world that was looking for a new start. Men and women looking for a chance to give their children, and their children’s children, a better life. However, since the statue was placed in New York in 1886, the U.S. and world population have increased 6 fold and 7 fold, respectively. A lot has changed since America was a young country, and it unfortunately does not look like we can lift quite as bright a lamp beside our golden door as we did for our ancestors when they made the journey. Today we speak with an immigration attorney to learn about the what life looks like for immigrants that want to come to America, and how that picture becomes murkier with the governance of the new administration.
“It’s ridiculous not only in that there are not many lines to get into, but of the lines that there are sometimes the wait time is longer than lots of folks are going to live.”
“The 9th circuit has famously said that immigration law is second only to tax law in its level of complexity.”
Interview Contents
4:00 - The breadth of work that an immigration lawyer handles.
8:30 - Things that complicate an immigrant’s case.
13:00 - The myriad of visas in the United States.
18:00 - Sanctuary cities.
19:30 - The path to green cards and citizenship.
22:30 - The wait list to become an American citizen.
25:00 - How does the U.S. compare to other countries in the developed world in terms of immigration?
27:45 - Why Shane wanted to go into immigration law.
31:45 - The legal definition of a refugee.
33:00 - The worldwide refugee crisis.
37:00 - How do refugees end up in a new country?
40:00 - The fear of refugees and terrorism.
45:30 - How things changed for Shane after the U.S. election.
48:00 - The immigration ban.
49:30 - The budget and process for dealing with illegal immigration.
58:30 - The pros and cons of various ways to handle illegal immigration.
1:01:40 - The block on the immigration ban.
1:09:00 - How this path has changed Shane’s views on immigration.
1:12:00 - Advice for listeners and immigrants.
Links
Article - "Refugees are already vigorously vetted. I know because I vetted them."
THIS EPISODE WAS MADE WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Roxanna
Michelle & Jim Wortner
Janelle Swanson
Jimmy Seymour
