On February 7, a lecture by a former Hope College student took place in the in Mass about the Immigration Law and current political situation regarding immigrants. The lecture was divided into three sections, Immigration Law, Refugee and Asylum Law, and How do we protect refugees? I found the first part the most fascinating and interesting to me.
She started to talk about the border openness 100 years ago in United States. The first official order on who can and can not was passed in 1954. This is also the origin times of the term alien, a person who is not a citizen of United States. Therefore legal alien are immigrants who came to the United States legally, where on the other side illegal alien are people who enter to United States illegal. Also, presenter talked about two main ways how people are able to enter United States legally. Firstly there the option of a travel visa, which is limited to 3 months of stay in the United States. In order to get a travel visa, people need to prove that they have enough assets, usually money, that they have a reason to come back. The second main way is the work visa. In order to obtain Work Visa, the applicant has to prove advanced (Bachelor Degree) and work opportunity. If the applicant did not has Bachelor degree, one can not come and work in the United States other than seasonal work.
In the case that the alien stayed in the the United States illegally for 6 months (6 months after one’s visa expires) and is caught then one is banned from entering the United States for 3 years. If alien stayed in the the United States illegally for 12 months (12 months after one´s visa expires) and is caught then one is banned from entering the United States for 10 years. She briefly talked about the Children on the U.S. Saint Louis 1939 or the U.S. Accession to U.N. Refugee Protocol 1968. Lastly, she also mentioned how children, born in the United States, are becoming orphaned, when their parents who are in the United States illegally get deported, but the history of immigration law and immigration law itself attracted me the most.
The biggest lesson or the reflection that as an international student, it will be very hard for me to stay here after Hope College. She really emphasizes the fact that applicants for worker not only have to have bachelor’s degree, but they need to be better than American workers. In the other words, if I will get a job it does not mean I will be given the permission to stay. The employer that will offer me the job, has to apply for permit and make a case that my skills are essentially. She actually referred to the agriculture workers in the presentation, but similar process will be happening to me as well. I just realized the difficulty of staying here after college, not even considering the fact that President Trump is in the office and his views do not help at all.