Far Reaching Human Consequences of Failure to Change Immigration Laws

In a time of consistent inaction on any issue important to the governance of the United States by the United States Congress, the question becomes how individuals work within antiquated, draconian, biased and divisive immigration laws. The United States bases its existence on the rule of law, and sees the Constitution as a living document; therefore, ensuring that one is following the immigration law is of paramount importance.

Putting aside the fact that current immigration law is a hindrance to free market economy because employers basically have to ask permission from the United States Department of Labor to hire the employee of their choice (ask any employer who has chosen the perfect person to work for him and has had to navigate business based visas, the PERM Labor Certification Process, and the minimum six year waiting period for professionals to be eligible to then apply for permanent resident status); and not taking into account the fact that permanent residents of this country have to wait years to live with their spouses and children, it is becoming ever more clear that the human toll of the immigration laws in the United States is devastating, and affect so many, it becomes difficult to fathom why Congress has refused to act.

When considering all those that immigration law affects, consider those in the gay and lesbian community. People who are legally allowed to marry in a minority of states remain ineligible to petition for their spouses to remain in the United States because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA denies same-sex couples all federal marital benefits, such as tax preferences, Social Security and spousal immigration rights. This means that even for same sex couples that are legally married to a United States citizen that citizen in their state, the government still does not allow them to petition for the foreign national spouse to remain in the United States. There are a number of Congress men and women who believe this is unfair, and have introduced bills to repeal DOMA and allow same sex married couples to petition for one another, but in the meantime families continue to suffer under Congress’ inaction. Just because a bill is introduced, it does not mean it will be passed, or even looked at.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F10%2F05%2FMNEJ1LDPA3.DTL

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