No matter where or how one normally receives the news of the day be it electronic, print radio or TV, there is one issue that is spilling out of every crack and corner mass media outlets Immigration. There are those who only want to talk about Illegal Immigration, Undocumented aliens and people who are in the united states under a variety of classes and groups that USCIS and Congress have designated since the beginning of Federal Regulation of immigration into the United States. But when Congress passed the Immigration & Naturalization Act of 1965 which was in acted to set levels of immigration by Country and in the minds of many by Race. The system has led us to where we are today in the United States according to Alexandra Filindra, PhD, Research Fellow, Visiting Professor Taubman Center for Public Policy & American Institutions and a card carrying Immigrant to the united States from Greece. The Providence American had an opportunity to sit with Dr. Filindra and talk a bit about the research she and others have done around the issue and what her thoughts were on the question that many naturalized Americans ask every day, Why dont they just become Citizens?


PA: First of all DR. Filindra, thank you for taking the time to talk with us about a pretty controversial subject. So Dr. Filindra, why dont all those Illegal and undocumented aliens become citizens?

AF: There are lots of reasons why people do not obtain legal status when they come to the US; the most common being the long wait to process an application. It took me 18 years to obtain my Green Card which almost didnt happen just months away from my 18 year ordeal ended. The filing of this form and that form, and then having to re-file this form or that form because &it is not in your file& Not to mention that communication between the USCIS and the new arrival may not even be direct. Often Sponsors, like in my case my employer was the designated recipient of important information and if by chance you miss an important piece of communication because it may not have been sent directly to you or not passed on to you by a Sponsor, you might lose your one opportunity to become a Citizen. This was the case with my 18-year ordeal. Fortunately, I had help in the form of Representative Rush Holtz of New Jersey were I lived and worked at the time while attending Rutgers University. If he did not intervene in my case I would have had to begin the process all over again.

I hold a Masters and a PhD and had difficulty with the Green Card process, you can imagine the plight of someone who does not speak or comprehend English very well. So when people say to me &Why dont They just become Citizens& I think to myself, you have no idea.

PA: How did that occur?

AF: I received a letter from the Department of Labor that my application was going to be classified as Null and Void due to &a lack of response&? I later found out that a piece of information that had been requested of me from the DOL, but sent to me via my Employer, then to the Company Lawyer but that is were it ended. Fortunately Rep. Holtz was able to have my case re-opened. (DR. Filindra with a smile proudly pulled out her Green Card, which isnt even Green any more)

PA: So what changes do you think should be made a part of any Immigration Reform Act or immigration policy change?

AF: I believe that Accountability needs to be made a larger part of the policy fixes. The agency lacks the same type of oversight that many of the other federal agencies have mainly because their financial picture is under the radar. A great deal of the agencies operating capital comes from the fees and charges levied against these same immigrants that are struggling through the process often paying to take exams over and over because they lack good English skills and often have to repeat their tests and re-file their forms.
The US Supreme Court has also played a role in the process of keeping INS somewhat above accountability by determining through case after case that Immigration is an exclusive Federal issue and thus the policies are exclusively federal without review by the States i.e. a due process issue. Also, because of the known backlogs of applications pending processing, people are discouraged in applying especially if they are here as migrant or temporary workers.

PA: I remember when I was a youngster in school I used to hear about quotas and how many people from different Countrys are allowed in the US each year as legal immigrants. Is that practice still in effect?

AF: So in 1915 immigration was almost solely a white race issue. In 1924 Quotas were defined by Nationality in response to the Southern European Migration to the US at the time. Unfortunately, however today that National definition seems to have eroded to more of a racial focus rather than a Nationality. In fact in 1929 60% of the Mexican-Americans living in the US were deported under duress; with some 500 million only to be repatriated latter?

PA: So how do you see the issue playing out here in Rhode Island?

AF: So I teach US Immigration Policy & Politics at Brown and what I have seen is that Rhode Island is generally good to legal permanent immigrants. What I mean by that is that in Rhode Island welfare benefits are still extended to the immigrant community but Language Interpretation in the Courts at Hospitals and in the Schools is not good. However if you are undocumented in Rhode Island things are not good here and you are subject to all the stories one hears about immigration and the abuses by immigrants but by the system as well. As an Illegal you are not entitled to the protections of the Constitution as such. You are however entitled to have your human rights protected under the US Constitution.

For instance is it practical to try and deport some 12 million people living in the US without the benefit of legal status? NO! We would be creating ghettos to hold these folks like a Refugee Camp prior to their deportation. This would generate more liability on the government and thus the taxpayers of the US by creating an enormous cost attached to this type of effort.

PA: What are some of the key factors her in Rhode Island around Immigration Policy given the States position politically speaking?

AF: So Rhode Island has petitioned the US Government and has been designated a Refugee Re-Settlement State. Which is a special designation that allows Rhode Island to offer different service to certain types of Refugees. For instance about 13% of RI Immigrants are African and are here under protective status that has sunset time limits that are always changing. Thus leaving many of these people subject to deportation at any time that their protective status ends. But even as a permanent resident with a Green Card you still may be deported under certain circumstances. So Social pressure is always present.

PA: What other changes do you believe should be part of any public policy change?

AF: The prison industry has made out pretty good lately with ICE making arrests and detaining people at an alarming rate. It has been a windfall for some people if you do the numbers. A minimum stay at a ICE prison is about 90 days at a cost of $100. per day with a population of 12 million undocumented people living in the US; that is some incentive to keep the revolving door going.

PA: Dr. Filindra thank you for your time an insight. If you had a parting comment to offer to the readers of The Providence American, what would that be?

AF: I find that people do not understand the issues. They think they understand, but they dont. People really do not understand the experiences of being a legal permanent resident, let alone being undocumented. People need to be more patient and listen to each others issues because they can be very complex. People who are poor have to deal with process and social implication. They are no different from us so it doesnt pay financially for us to treat them differently.

PA: Again thank you DR. Filindra for your thoughts and comments we do appreciate them and would like to come back and talk with you as the debate around Immigration Reform continues.

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