Postby madelyn » Mon May 01, 2006 5:38 am
Louis, I'm sorry but you are just flat wrong.
Twenty years ago, the 1986 Immigration Reform Law was passed. I happened to have a "very up close and personal" view of the law, and its rationales. I was working on a large automation project at one of the largest international airports in the US, and the INS office there came in under my umbrella.
The purpose of that reform was to offer amnesty to all illegal aliens who had lived and worked in the US, and ABIDED BY ALL OF ITS LAWS, since 1980. There was no requirement for legal fees, just an application fee of $100 to be submitted along with supporting documentation and receipts proving residency and employment for that period. That included TAX RETURNS, rent receipts, employment proof, etc. What many illegal aliens failed at that time to understand, and indeed probably still fail to understand, is that the IRS and the INS only have in common that they are both Federal agencies. They do NOT typically share information. Paying taxes is one of the SURER ways to eventually gain residency. FAILURE to pay taxes is one of the SUREST ways to NOT gain residency. The H2 visa had existed LONG before this law was passed. One of the massive tasks I undertook to automate was a billing program. We had WAREHOUSES full of documents for escaped H2's that had to be billed before the law could be fully enacted. The H2 was an agricultural visa, for seasonal workers. It was applied for on behalf of a foreign worker by an agricultural employer. The employer's responsibility included bringing the worker INTO the US and ensuring the worker's RETURN to the nation of origin. When the RETURN could not be verified, the worker was classified as an ESCAPED H2, and the employer found to be subject to a fine ($300 if I recall, but I am getting on so that might not be the amount). We billed hundreds of thousands of dollars over a two month period, and cleaned up all the records. I did not participate in the collection from the employers so I don't really know how much money the INS collected.
The 1986 Immigration Reform Law, besides granting residency to thousands of illegal aliens, modernized a lot of the visa laws. That included RESTRUCTURING the H1 and H2 visas, and providing a path for conversion to an F visa.
At no time was an illegal alien REQUIRED to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees. The only ones who faced those obstacles were those who had (a) failed to pay income tax over the preceding seven years or (b) gotten themselves their own criminal records to overcome.
Now, of course, I am a computer geek, not a lawyer or legislator, and there was probably much more to it than that.. but I had several acquaintances who were granted documentation through this law and none of them paid any legal fees.
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
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