Someone help me out here. It’s been a long time since I crossed the border over land.
Do foreign nationals legally entering the US at land crossing (i.e. not in an airport) have to get their passport stamped or some kind of date-stamp documentation (e.g. I-94) when they come?
Wow. What is up with people only trying to secure ivy league spots for their kids?? Selfish much?
And its kind of funny when Europeans came here there were no immigration laws and rules, but have the right to impose it on every one else…
That may be true, but UT has consistently suffered from a lower six year graduation rate than their peers. The school commissioned a study on why, and one of the reasons is that many of the students dropping out came from the less well performing high schools. These are kids that would not have gotten into a school the caliber of UT other than the 10% rule.
In the days of Emma Lazarus, there was no such thing as gov’t benefits-- no welfare, no food stamps, no free medical care. All immigrants were on their own.
My father came to the US in the 50s, at age 50, not speaking English, but he worked hard to pay full freight for his kids to attend college. He loved the US, among other reasons, because it was the place in the world where you could “get a second chance.” He did not live long enough to see his grandson matriculate at Yale (full pay), ditto grandkids at Wesleyan, Skidmore, BC, Rutgers. Nor did he live long enough to read this thread, or read in his beloved NYT (yes, he learned English well enough to read it every day) about the growing anti-immigrant sentiment and the resentful anger of people who, on balance, had pretty easy lives (eg, they didn’t have to escape Nazi Germany or start over in South America and the US).
I am never happy that he’s not alive, but sometimes there is a silver lining. He would be ashamed of his adopted country if he knew.
@GMTplus7
Foreign nationals have to get an I-94 to get past the border patrol interior checkpoints.
@IxnayBob – nice post about your father. And yes, it’s sad to residents of a nation built on free labor (slavery) and sustained by cheap illegal labor (immigrants of all sorts) get all huffy about “well, these people are law breakers.” Honestly. A little realism.
The immigrants of the past came here legally. My German ancestors had to have permits from the king to leave, they had passports and they were examined by port authorities in Baltimore, the port of entry, to determined that they were free of disease and had means of support. They knew they had to support themselves by buying farms, which they did. They knew they had to know English, which they studied before they came. They followed the rules and did not expect or rely on the United States to do anything for them financially.
The idea that our ancestors came here illegally is simply wrong.
You’re dreaming if you think all – or even most – immigrants of the past came here legally. Again, a little realism (and knowledge of history) please.
@TatinG, Read up on the vast, organized and lucrative network of unofficial immigration from Asia to the west coast, or unrestricted Latin American and European immigration through Mexico. Ellis Island is just one of many, many entry points to the US.
If you have other information, I’d be happy to read it. I’ve read a lot of history on this subject. Those who came by ship into the US ports came legally. The vast majority of immigrants in the past came legally. There may have been some who sneaked in over the northern or southern border, but it was not until recently (last 50-60 years) that hordes of people have come illegally either by overstaying visas or by coming over the southern border.
I have an ancestor who was kicked out of a poor house and put on a boat to a colony less than a year old as a teenager. She had no choice. Maybe that’s how her immigration was “illegal”.
Of course we had no illegal immigration until we started getting more crowded. We didn’t have public assistance but we likely had church and parish assistance to newcomers.
Some of my ancestors came in the 1600’s when there were no ‘immigration’ laws, since technically they were just moving from Britain to British colonies.
@TatinG, A few suggestions to open your eyes just a little wider:
The Making of Asian America: A History (Erika Lee)
“One of the most fascinating chapters, “Border Crossings and Border Enforcement,” delves into the little-known but remarkable stories of how tens of thousands of Chinese and Japanese found ways into the United States despite being legally barred from immigrating. During what Lee calls an “exclusion era,” which began with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, intrepid emigrants would hide in rail cars crossing in from Canada and Mexico or stow away on boats from Cuba and Jamaica. Trafficking Asians into the United States became a lucrative, multiethnic affair for numerous Greek, Italian, indigenous Canadian and Mexican smugglers.” – NYT
Those Damned Immigrants: America’s Hysteria Over Undocumented Immigration (Ediberto Roman)
Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the “Illegal Alien” and the Making of the U.S.-Mexico Boundary (Joseph Nevins)
Let me also add, my husband ran an international program during his days as a university dean. This was in the late 90s. Once, two Chinese students defected – just vanished out of the program. When he called authorities to report their disappearance, he was told that 9 OUT OF 10 Chinese students defected – that the US knew this, expected it to happen, and allowed it to happen. They thanked my husband for reporting it, and then went on to do… absolutely nothing about it.
When it comes to immigration in this country, very little is done according to “the law.” You could easily make a case that we’re a nation of immigration hypocrites. And THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN THIS.
In fact, there is only 1 recent president who actually consistently upholds immigration laws – and as result has been deporting record number of illegal immigrants: Barack Obama.
The method and counting for the removal of illegal immigrants has changed. There are two terms that are used, deportations and returns.
This link has the best description of what happened.
https://newrepublic.com/article/117412/deportations-under-obama-vs-bush-who-deported-more-immigrants
It is true that President Obama has more deportations but President Bush has more deportations and returns.
I don’t think all of can say, with certainty, that any document wasn’t forged or bribed, that passage was obtained fully legally, that even one’s identity was legit. A friend’s great grandfather assumed an entirely new identity, falsified even his country of origin. Immigration hasn’t always been neatly done. None of us can be sure.
I don’t think I’m getting the point. Because someone, somewhere may have once entered the US illegally and not gotten caught, and their descendents are now US citizens, it means anyone can violate our laws and cross the border whenever they want? Someone else’s bad example doesn’t excuse others from following our laws.
People who come to the US and become citizens will have to take the Oath of Citizenship which requires promising to support the US Constitution. You can’t have have it both ways – follow the law when it suits you and ignore it when it doesn’t; people aren’t permitted to pick and choose which laws to follow, or when. And the fact that we were fortunate we were to be born here doesn’t require us to open our borders to whomever wants to move here either. We don’t have the resources to support everyone who might like to live here. I wish the families of the two young women mentioned in the beginning of this thread well. They seem to be in a very difficult situation.
Only is you fly. If you drive - nobody would check you. I am often cross the Mexican border by car, there is no control at all, when you drive USA -> Mexico.