The Law

Immigration laws are confusing.

I met with someone yesterday who has been waiting for asylum in the US for over a year. He's been detained during that time and watched individuals from other countries come and go while he waits for his appeal to be decided.

He said to me yesterday how disturbed he was that the US admits individuals based on their country of origin instead of by their individual need. He, for example, seeks asylum from dangerous and possibly deadly conditions in his home country, which is not allowed to send many immigrants to the US (based on our quotas).

He was extremely frustrated by news reports of Cuban refugees being allowed to walk into our country without delay or process, just by showing their Cuban identity card. He saw on the news that a group of Cubans sailed or floated to Central America and got stuck there, so the US sent a plane to get them and bring them to our country.

I didn't research this claim, but I am aware that we welcome certain types of immigrants and refugees and not others. I'm also aware that our immigration system is backlogged to the nth degree and that it's difficult to process each and every case on an individual basis. Yet, when confronted by the profound disappointment and confusion of one individual I can't help but wish for better from our country.