Where I Stand: Immigration

I am an immigrant. I was born and raised in the beautiful land of Australia. It's free, modern, peaceful, and pretty awesome in many, many ways. The only reason I left was to marry an American who wasn't brave enough to leave his own homeland! Ha ha! Well, he's half Native American, so I'll cut him some slack.

But I came here Legally.

The process to migrate legally to the United States is long and expensive. First, the citizen has to petition for a fiance visa. He had to provide proof of a real relationship, evidence we'd actually met recently, and that he was really a citizen. On top of that, he had to pay several hundred dollars.

Then we had to wait, and wait, and wait...

Several months later I was contacted and given a questionnaire to make sure I wasn't a drug dealing terrorist associated with Nazis. Yup, Nazis. Because Nazis are a huge problem in Australia... (note sarcasm) But, if I had done drugs I could have been turned down. Note that for later.

Next, I had to make sure I was up to date with all the vaccines. I couldn't just go to a local doctor either, I had to go into the city to a specially designated doctor who drew blood to test for chicken pox immunity as well as to prove every other vaccine requirement. I did a T.B. test, and boosted my tetenis shots.

After I passed all those, which again, cost us a substantial fee, I waited again to be called into the U.S. consulate in the city for a interview to again prove Landon and I had a legitimate relationship, because Aussies are so desperate to be mail order brides (again, sarcasm)

They took my passport there, and I'd get it back if I was approved. A few weeks later, it returned to me in the mail with my temporary visa. Again, all this cost money, and I hadn't left Australia yet!

Once in the U.S. I had a limited time to marry, then apply for a temporary residency. This application cost about $1000 on it's own, plus the three other applications I had to send in also had their own fees. These applications are extremely frustrating too. If you don't dot your i's and cross your t's, they send them back for you to do again. Again, there was interviews and demands of proof of our relationship and I had to get fingerprinted and photographed.

Finally, after more than a year, I had my 2 year temporary residency. After that two years, I had to apply again, proving we were still married. Again, I had to be fingerprinted etc.

Now, after easily thousands of dollars, hours of sitting in sweltering waiting rooms, and several years of processing, I have a green card.

Yet, somehow, I'm not entitled to the same privileges as illegal immigrants. I get turned down for healthcare/coverage, or am put on a limited plan. When I had my first child, the second she was out of me, only she could get covered, not me. If I get in trouble with the law (which I don't intend to do) I'll be deported in a heartbeat.

But yet illegals get free healthcare. Illegals are given housing, while I have to work hard to pay for mine. I wasn't allowed to work for months, yet illegals can work the second they jump the border and no one really cares. They can murder citizens in places like California and get out of jail for free.

I'm wondering how exactly this is fair.

The government scraped our pockets dry to let me in here, someone from a country considered a peaceful ally, but yet, somehow these illegals get by free. I had to go through screening processes and vaccinations to make sure I didn't bring anything "bad" into the country from my developed country, yet people carry drugs and guns across the border while carrying who knows what diseases with them. Why am I treated like a pariah for doing it the right way?

Many countries out there shoot illegal immigrants on sight. While I'm not for that, I am for some kind of control. The people who come through illegally selfishly cut off real refugees from their chance to fill the limited refugee designated places. People who are too poor to pay a people smuggler are the ones most disadvantaged here. There are countries in Asia and Africa, even South America, in desperate need of those refugee places these illegals are stealing from them, yet people and the government are welcoming the law breakers with open arms, and pushing to give these illegals rights and privileges.

How is that fair?

It's not. It's like rewarding the bully who shoves the weaker kids out of the lunch line. It's giving the bully hand outs after he just took the class geek's money. It's the teacher giving the bully straight A's and praising them in front of the real A grade students even though their test results are all F's. The bully doesn't deserve it, the other, quiet, beaten down kids do, and it's the same for immigration.