I truly hope I am wrong, but I predict there will be no immigration reform prior to the November 2014 mid-term elections, not after the mid-term elections, and not during Obama's presidency.
This is true because the President is not vested with the diplomatic wherewithal it would take to work with Congress and even if he were, his ever surging arrogance would stand in his way. While he has threatened many times to act without Congress, it has become evident, by way of Washingtonian grapevine leaks, that the President does not have the guts to circumvent the legislature. Frankly, he is incapable of getting anything done with Congress and he is incapable of getting anything done without it.
Please note I am not Republican, Democrat, Independent, or otherwise politically engaged in any way; I am an immigration lawyer who keeps fighting his way through the maze of a broken immigration system every day. I hear many opinions about immigration reform and what supposedly must and must not change, but I see nobody in Washington engaging in a constructive dialogue. So I ask you Mr. President and members of Congress whether any of you wish to answer my clients' questions.
- I cannot find any workers for my landscaping business, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will not allow me to keep the foreign workers who are willing to landscape for my customers.
- I am a farmer and I have applied for foreign workers to come work on my farm because I cannot find local labor. But, if and when the DHS will grant visas for the workers my harvest will have rotted on the fields.
- I am a United States Citizen and I applied for my sister to join me in the U.S. 18 years ago. The petition is still pending.
- I, my wife and son have been in the U.S. on an investor's visa for 15 years. I invested over $300,000.00 and I employ nine U.S. citizens. My son turns 21 next month and the DHS will not extend his visa and requires him to leave the country because he is no longer a minor.
- Our company needs four computer engineers now and we cannot find local talent. But, the only way to maybe get visas for foreign engineers is to participate in a visa lottery next year.
- I studied in the U.S. and I completed my PhD in chemical engineering last year. I have seven job offers. Why can I not stay and work in the U.S.?
- My family of six is here illegally and we've been here for nine years. We own our own business, we employ citizens, and we pay taxes; yet, we are not allowed to stay.
The above is just a small sampling of what my colleagues and I hear daily. Does anyone really think this doesn't need fixing? Washington, get a grip!
