Ray of hope for Ugandan illegal immigrants in USA
IF U.S. President Barack Obama gets his way to convince Republicans and conservative Democrats to support his comprehensive immigration reform, thousands of Ugandans living and working in the US illegally, about 11 million, will at last get legal status. But this transformation will come at a hefty
By Vivian. E.Asedri
IF U.S. President Barack Obama gets his way to convince Republicans and conservative Democrats to support his comprehensive immigration reform, thousands of Ugandans living and working in the US illegally, about 11 million, will at last get legal status. But this transformation will come at a hefty price to the illegal aliens.
Under the proposal, foreign nationals who have been living and working in the US illegally must first admit that they broke the law. They are then required to officially register their presence in the country with US government; the first step in the long process of converting to legal status and eventual earning citizenship. But before applying for legal residency, commonly called the Green Card, they will have to pay a fine of amount yet to be determined but what some immigration experts believe might be around $5,000 (about sh10.5m) for breaking the law. In addition, they will also have to pay retroactive income tax to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), depending on the period they worked under cover. Since illegal aliens do not have the official government issued social security cards that every US citizen and legal resident must have by which IRS tracks income tax annually, they are usually paid by their employers tax-free.
The brain behind this comprehensive immigration reform bill is New York Democratic senator Charles Schumer, the chairman of Senate Immigration Subcommittee. During his presidential campaigns in 2008, then candidate Obama highlighted immigration overhaul as one of his “yes we can†policy manifestoes, a key factor which pulled the Hispanic vote.
However, the fate of the illegal Ugandans lies in the hands of Republicans and conservative Democrats whose major precondition to back any immigration reform is for the federal government to first secure the porous borders foreigners take advantage of to sneak in. This is viewed as the main reason behind Obama’s directive last week to deploy 1,200 national guard troops to tighten security along US/Mexico, a delicate but double-edged political maneuvre to woo Republicans on one end and to make good on his campaign promise ahead of the midterm House and Senate elections this November, on the other.
Coincidentally, this troop deployment should be seen in tandem with the just signed tough immigration law in Arizona state that authorises police to stop and question a person of their immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion†that the person is in the US illegally, and whose drafters argued that Federal government was not doing enough to stem the inflow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs across the southern border. The government is already planning to sue Arizona in effort to block the law which goes into effect July 29, as at least 10 other states contemplate to mimic Arizona’s move.
Other components of the immigration reform are: the introduction of tamper-proof biometric-based employer verification ID system, a loophole illegal immigrants and some unscrupulous employers have used to forge social security and green cards; awarding of green cards to immigrants who receive master’s degree or PhD in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from a US university; expanding domestic surveillance to apprehend and deport aliens who commit crimes or overstay their visa, among others.
The biggest tribulation for illegal immigrants which had hitherto been their inability to travel back home to see their relatives and attend family events such as funerals and weddings, will now be broadened with this overhaul. U.S. immigration and customs allow any illegal aliens to voluntarily leave the country, but re-entry is prohibited.
The writer is a medical information technologist, San Diego, California, USA
IF U.S. President Barack Obama gets his way to convince Republicans and conservative Democrats to support his comprehensive immigration reform, thousands of Ugandans living and working in the US illegally, about 11 million, will at last get legal status. But this transformation will come at a hefty price to the illegal aliens.
Under the proposal, foreign nationals who have been living and working in the US illegally must first admit that they broke the law. They are then required to officially register their presence in the country with US government; the first step in the long process of converting to legal status and eventual earning citizenship. But before applying for legal residency, commonly called the Green Card, they will have to pay a fine of amount yet to be determined but what some immigration experts believe might be around $5,000 (about sh10.5m) for breaking the law. In addition, they will also have to pay retroactive income tax to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), depending on the period they worked under cover. Since illegal aliens do not have the official government issued social security cards that every US citizen and legal resident must have by which IRS tracks income tax annually, they are usually paid by their employers tax-free.
The brain behind this comprehensive immigration reform bill is New York Democratic senator Charles Schumer, the chairman of Senate Immigration Subcommittee. During his presidential campaigns in 2008, then candidate Obama highlighted immigration overhaul as one of his “yes we can†policy manifestoes, a key factor which pulled the Hispanic vote.
However, the fate of the illegal Ugandans lies in the hands of Republicans and conservative Democrats whose major precondition to back any immigration reform is for the federal government to first secure the porous borders foreigners take advantage of to sneak in. This is viewed as the main reason behind Obama’s directive last week to deploy 1,200 national guard troops to tighten security along US/Mexico, a delicate but double-edged political maneuvre to woo Republicans on one end and to make good on his campaign promise ahead of the midterm House and Senate elections this November, on the other.
Coincidentally, this troop deployment should be seen in tandem with the just signed tough immigration law in Arizona state that authorises police to stop and question a person of their immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion†that the person is in the US illegally, and whose drafters argued that Federal government was not doing enough to stem the inflow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs across the southern border. The government is already planning to sue Arizona in effort to block the law which goes into effect July 29, as at least 10 other states contemplate to mimic Arizona’s move.
Other components of the immigration reform are: the introduction of tamper-proof biometric-based employer verification ID system, a loophole illegal immigrants and some unscrupulous employers have used to forge social security and green cards; awarding of green cards to immigrants who receive master’s degree or PhD in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from a US university; expanding domestic surveillance to apprehend and deport aliens who commit crimes or overstay their visa, among others.
The biggest tribulation for illegal immigrants which had hitherto been their inability to travel back home to see their relatives and attend family events such as funerals and weddings, will now be broadened with this overhaul. U.S. immigration and customs allow any illegal aliens to voluntarily leave the country, but re-entry is prohibited.
The writer is a medical information technologist, San Diego, California, USA