“Profoundly
unfair,” was the description Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz offered for the
pathway to citizenship a bipartisan “gang of eight” senators unveiled Monday in
their immigration reform proposal. I was struck by his words knowing he is of Latin decent and his family
were, at one time, immigrates to this country. I thought, "Why wouldn't he
above all appreciate helping so many obtain legal status"?
So
with that question in mind I let Google do the searching and found gov't. document M-565, "How Do I Apply
for U.S. Citizenship?" Seems the requirements for folks
"legally" living in the United States and seeking to become citizens
are pretty tough.
Generally, to be eligible for
naturalization you must:
• Be age 18 or older;
• Be a permanent resident for a certain amount of time (usually
5 years but less for some individuals)
• Be a person of good moral character;
• Have a basic knowledge
of U.S. history and government;
• Have a period of continuous residence and physical presence
in the United States
• Be able to read, write, and speak basic English. There are exceptions to this rule
for someone who:
- Is 55 years old and has been
a permanent resident for at least 15 years; or
- Is 50 years old and has been
a permanent resident for at least 20 years; or
-Has a permanent physical
or mental impairment that makes the
individual unable to
fulfill these requirements.
After reading what Sen. Cruz's
family went through to LEGALLY come to our country and become LEGAL citizens I
can completely understand his statement now. I myself wonder how you could give
a person a pass on the requirement "Be a good person of moral
character" after they ILLEGALLY crossed our boarder, ILLEGALLY worked
here, and ILLEGALLY lived here? The fact they have done it for a number of
years doesn't suddenly change the fact that it's ILLEGAL.
Easy for me to agree the new "pathway to citizenship" is profoundly unfair!
No comments:
Post a Comment