www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20091019T210000-0500_ -
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Published on: 10/20/2009
Last Visited: 10/20/2009
Dr Basil Wilson, dean of criminal justice at Monroe College and former provost and senior vice-president of academic affairs at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, said navigating the US system as an illegal immigrant has become much harder, forcing many to give up their American dream.
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"In many of these workplaces you have to show that you are a bonafide resident of the US before you can get a job," Wilson explained.
Despite this, he said, the United States is a huge society and as such the estimated 12-14 million illegal persons in that country have, for sometime, been able to function underground, in some instances creating their own jobs.
But despite all of this, navigating the system is still very difficult.
"There are studies showing that more people are leaving the US than are coming and while I don't have the figures I know that a lot of Jamaicans are among them," Wilson said.
He explained further that under recent immigration legislation there has been insistence that local law enforcement become more vigilant about illegal immigrants.
Wilson said while the New York Police Department will not randomly select persons off the street to ascertain their immigration status, persons who are arrested for even the most minor of crimes can be asked to show proof of status.
Persons, he explained, who would usually try to beat the system by having children in the US with the hope that this would automatically grant them a green card, are not able to do so after the laws were revised in 1996.
"Under this revision, these American-born children can only file for their parents when they get to age 21," he explained.
He said there has also been a tightening up on the system for persons who marry with the intention of remaining in the US.
They are actually being charged or face deportation if it is discovered that their marriages are not real.
Wilson said there is mounting pressure on President Barack Obama, particularly from the Hispanic community, for immigration reform.
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However, with the health reform agenda now taking priority, Wilson believes Congress will not get to the issue before next year.
When they do, Wilson said the Caribbean will be set to benefit as illegal immigrants may be required to change their status through some form of an amnesty.
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But as Dr Wilson explained, these children usually cannot go beyond the high school level as they must have proper documentation in order to be accepted to universities.
"Young children are allowed to be in school whether they are illegal or not as Government finds that it is counter-productive to exclude kids from an education," he said.
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