4 ms·

How can low income immigrants qualify for permanent residence in the US if they do not earn enough to support themselves?

ceejayoz 10y ago
They can be related to a US citizen (parent/child/spouse), have received a job offer in some skilled fields but be currently out of work or underemployed, be a refugee, etc.
- wiz21c 10y ago
  spot on. I work on a database tracking the help given by the State to maaaany refugees, poors, whatever you call them, etc. The situations in which those people are very often extremely complex, confusing, etc. If one focus on money only, or self-determination, then you end up with a very tough, unfriendly, non human system...
  - hackuser 10y ago
    > The situations in which those people are very often extremely complex, confusing, etc. If one focus on money only, or self-determination, then you end up with a very tough, unfriendly, non human system... Could you share some examples. It would be valuable to learn about the reality of these issues on a personal level, rather than statistics. > refugees, poors, whatever you call them Let's call them people: People who are refugees, people who are poor, etc. (It's a general point and not a criticism of the parent, which like any comment I don't think should be taken literally and dissected.)
    - danso 10y ago
      Reminds me of the Onion report on the study that found "human babies, long thought by psychologists to be highly inquisitive and adaptable, are actually extraordinarily stupid." [0]. My parents were Vietnam War refugees. They had the legal clearance, and I believe eventually proved themselves to be hard-working and contributors to society, but they probably would have floundered if not for the initial cushion of government assistance (food stamps, welfare, etc) and the generosity of American host families. [0] http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~arobic/funny/babies.html http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~arobic/funny/babies.html
    - wiz21c 10y ago
      Indeed, those are the "people", no offense. So for example of a situation... Immigrant I comes in my country. He's intercepted by the police, I is sick, so the police send him to hospital. As the guy as no social security number, the hospital gives him a temporary one. The hospital pays the bill (yes, my country is socially very advanced). Then guy is better but, because the hospital paid the bill, he now has a special "register number" (more or less a social security number). The guy now reaches a "social help center". They find him a place to sleep. At the same time the guy request a request for asylum. For that he needs a lawyer because, well, he doesn't speak our language and our administration is sometimes complex. Now the guy is interviewed, because the state wants to make sure he is in the condition for asylum. Problem, he'll have to wait 6 months before the first real interview. So the guy starts to run out of money (eating, paying lawyer,...) so he seeks friends. Ah, those friends are somewhere else in my country. So he moves. Ah, friends are in deep shit for some reason, so he moves again. Now he has to be tied to another center for social help, more papers, more complex administration. He now has his first interview. Not a good one, the guy didn't manage to offer all the proofs. So the lawyer will help him to gather some more proofs. Second interview, better this time, he's on track to be recognized as a political refugee; but that'll take a year or two. More lawyers, more money, more small job, more moves from place to place. And all of this is OK if the guy keeps sane (yes, they are people who try to abuse the weaks). If this sound like a pile of facts, it is. But all those facts are gathered, analyzed, to determine what kind of help the person can receive from the state. And that makes my little database and rule model extremely complicated (or sophisticated, depending on your point of view).
ucaetano 10y ago
$10,000 - $30,000 is enough to support yourself in most places across the country. Yearly minimum wage @ 40hrs/week is $15,080.
hackuser 10y ago
Is there a rule saying they can't? I hope they can; my attitude toward immigration is that those are the people that need help and will benefit the most. From a statue in NY harbor: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. . "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "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-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
- mynameishere 10y ago
  Did you know that awful poetry tacked onto unrelated statuary does not dictate public policy? The entire media doesn't know this, so it's no shame if you don't either.
- hasenj 10y ago
  Bringing people to a foreign land does not really help them that much. It is a much better form of help if you were to help them fix their own countries. Having to adjust to a new culture is not really fun (unless you had an interest in that culture for some reason; but this did not apply to "poor"immigrants).
  - zeroxfe 10y ago
    > It is a much better form of help if you were to help them fix their own countries. As an immigrant, let me tell you that immigration had a huge positive impact my family's lives. Of course fixing my country would be great... if it were even remotely possible.
    - hasenj 10y ago
      As an immigrant, I've seen many immigrants who have absolutely no interest in the culture or society of the country they immigrated to. Most people just want to get a citizenship because their own country's passport sucks and their country's economy and education and health care sucks.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

ceejayoz 10y ago

They can be related to a US citizen (parent/child/spouse), have received a job offer in some skilled fields but be currently out of work or underemployed, be a refugee, etc.

wiz21c 10y ago
spot on. I work on a database tracking the help given by the State to maaaany refugees, poors, whatever you call them, etc. The situations in which those people are very often extremely complex, confusing, etc. If one focus on money only, or self-determination, then you end up with a very tough, unfriendly, non human system...
- hackuser 10y ago
  > The situations in which those people are very often extremely complex, confusing, etc. If one focus on money only, or self-determination, then you end up with a very tough, unfriendly, non human system... Could you share some examples. It would be valuable to learn about the reality of these issues on a personal level, rather than statistics. > refugees, poors, whatever you call them Let's call them people: People who are refugees, people who are poor, etc. (It's a general point and not a criticism of the parent, which like any comment I don't think should be taken literally and dissected.)
  - danso 10y ago
    Reminds me of the Onion report on the study that found "human babies, long thought by psychologists to be highly inquisitive and adaptable, are actually extraordinarily stupid." [0]. My parents were Vietnam War refugees. They had the legal clearance, and I believe eventually proved themselves to be hard-working and contributors to society, but they probably would have floundered if not for the initial cushion of government assistance (food stamps, welfare, etc) and the generosity of American host families. [0] http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~arobic/funny/babies.html http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~arobic/funny/babies.html
  - wiz21c 10y ago
    Indeed, those are the "people", no offense. So for example of a situation... Immigrant I comes in my country. He's intercepted by the police, I is sick, so the police send him to hospital. As the guy as no social security number, the hospital gives him a temporary one. The hospital pays the bill (yes, my country is socially very advanced). Then guy is better but, because the hospital paid the bill, he now has a special "register number" (more or less a social security number). The guy now reaches a "social help center". They find him a place to sleep. At the same time the guy request a request for asylum. For that he needs a lawyer because, well, he doesn't speak our language and our administration is sometimes complex. Now the guy is interviewed, because the state wants to make sure he is in the condition for asylum. Problem, he'll have to wait 6 months before the first real interview. So the guy starts to run out of money (eating, paying lawyer,...) so he seeks friends. Ah, those friends are somewhere else in my country. So he moves. Ah, friends are in deep shit for some reason, so he moves again. Now he has to be tied to another center for social help, more papers, more complex administration. He now has his first interview. Not a good one, the guy didn't manage to offer all the proofs. So the lawyer will help him to gather some more proofs. Second interview, better this time, he's on track to be recognized as a political refugee; but that'll take a year or two. More lawyers, more money, more small job, more moves from place to place. And all of this is OK if the guy keeps sane (yes, they are people who try to abuse the weaks). If this sound like a pile of facts, it is. But all those facts are gathered, analyzed, to determine what kind of help the person can receive from the state. And that makes my little database and rule model extremely complicated (or sophisticated, depending on your point of view).

ucaetano 10y ago

$10,000 - $30,000 is enough to support yourself in most places across the country. Yearly minimum wage @ 40hrs/week is $15,080.

hackuser 10y ago

Is there a rule saying they can't? I hope they can; my attitude toward immigration is that those are the people that need help and will benefit the most. From a statue in NY harbor: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. . "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "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-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

mynameishere 10y ago
Did you know that awful poetry tacked onto unrelated statuary does not dictate public policy? The entire media doesn't know this, so it's no shame if you don't either.
hasenj 10y ago
Bringing people to a foreign land does not really help them that much. It is a much better form of help if you were to help them fix their own countries. Having to adjust to a new culture is not really fun (unless you had an interest in that culture for some reason; but this did not apply to "poor"immigrants).
- zeroxfe 10y ago
  > It is a much better form of help if you were to help them fix their own countries. As an immigrant, let me tell you that immigration had a huge positive impact my family's lives. Of course fixing my country would be great... if it were even remotely possible.
  - hasenj 10y ago
    As an immigrant, I've seen many immigrants who have absolutely no interest in the culture or society of the country they immigrated to. Most people just want to get a citizenship because their own country's passport sucks and their country's economy and education and health care sucks.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]