From the outside, it seems that the United States is one of the most desired countries to live in. Every family seems to jump at the thought of a better education for their children and the word freedom is something seldom heard outside of these red, white and blue walls. However, when outsiders purposely take advantage of marriage and love in order to gain citizenship in one of the most powerful countries in the world, the concept of love, interracial and inter-cultural relationships turns negative in the minds of the American-born.
I must first clarify that every foreigner that would like to be a U.S. citizen does not try to cheat the system that is set in place. There are plenty of people that handle their immigration matters the legal way. There are also a number of people that come to the U.S. and truly fall in love with a U.S. citizen. The fact is that one cannot choose love, and if that love so happens to spark between a U.S. citizen and an immigrant, then so be it. The only aspect of immigration that I will be taking in hand today is the subject of marriage and how many individuals use matrimony for citizenship and not for true love. I will also tie this in with the matter of interracial and inter-cultural relationships and how these pedestaled ideas have somewhat depreciated within the minds of those that have already been taken advantage of by law-breaking immigrants.
If you are not quite familiar with the immigration laws regarding marriage set in place in the United States, allow me to explain a little. If an immigrant marries a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR, basically an immigrant that is almost a citizen) or U.S. Citizen (USC, born in the U.S.A), then the LPR or USC can petition for the immigrant to begin the process of becoming a citizen. How, you may ask? Well, when the individual or representing law firm files the petition for the immigrant, evidence must be shown to prove that the marriage is bona-fide (in other words, legitimate). Supporting evidence may include things like proof of joint ownership (a car or house by showing bills, titles or leases), photos (of the marriage ceremony or of physical affection), children, and even love letters and e-mails (which are usually the best type of supporting evidence). If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services looks at the evidence and truly believes that both parties entered the marriage in good faith, then the petition will be granted.
Some U.S. citizens actually want to help a certain immigrant out and will marry him or her not out of love, but out of service. However, I feel that there are a number of immigrants that take advantage of love and use people for their own selfish reasons. I would like to focus on single immigrants without families that take advantage of this system, because I feel that immigrants with families are a whole different story.
Imagine that you meet someone, learn that he or she is from a different country, and then start to develop feelings for him or her. Not all love stories are two-way streets, so let's suppose that you are the only one in this situation that has true developed feelings. Although the foreigner knows that there is no chance that he or she could develop feelings for you, he or she could take advantage of the situation and pretend to have those same feelings. Your entire love roller coaster would be nothing but a mere dream, and after the proper petitions have been filed and approved, your emotions are crushed. Of course, after a petition has been approved, the couple must stay married for a certain number of years (at least two I believe) in order for immigration to drop any suspicion, but then again, after that amount of time, all the time and emotion that you have invested in this person will seem to prove worthless.
Once again, I am not suggesting that all immigrants do this, but let's suppose that this situation were to happen and the story spread like wildfire amongst friends and family. Because this happened to someone so dear to them, it is more than likely that they will remain partial to the citizen and have an idea in their minds that immigrants are only people that take advantage of others for their own good. Also, because a majority of immigrants are of difference races and cultures, those people could also instill this idea in their mind that interracial or inter-cultural relationships are harmful. A type of paranoia could take over and all of a sudden, sticking with what one knows doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Additionally, because that particular had been lied to for such a long period of time, it would be hard for him or her to trust another person again. Hopes of love would be shot down and the healing process would prove difficult.
Furthermore, there are many citizens of this country that have a strong feeling that immigrants come to the United States and take over all of our available jobs. This idea could influence individuals to not show love or appreciation for immigrants. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why numerous outsiders feel that Americans are a tad bit cold. They live their own lives and try not to interfere with those that "worsen" their job searching situation.
Although there is a negative side of how people take advantage of our immigration system, immigration could also prove beneficial for love in our country. The United States is considered the "melting pot," and because of this, many people have learned to love and cultivate other cultures. Interracial and inter-cultural relationships are becoming much more common, and it seems that there is more progression into exploding globalization. Our minds are constantly enriched with outside ideas and we learn how to love in ways that we've never tried before.
Accepting immigration as it is and embracing interracial and inter-cultural relationships can prove advantageous in our country, especially in terms of learning effective diplomacy and just general cultural sensitivity for a healthier, well-rounded mindset. Although some immigrants do take advantage of our most powerful emotion in order to gain citizenship, it is important to know that others can broaden our horizons and make life incredibly fruitful.
It is clear to see how U.S. immigration policies can affect love and our general outlooks on life. What do you think?
I must first clarify that every foreigner that would like to be a U.S. citizen does not try to cheat the system that is set in place. There are plenty of people that handle their immigration matters the legal way. There are also a number of people that come to the U.S. and truly fall in love with a U.S. citizen. The fact is that one cannot choose love, and if that love so happens to spark between a U.S. citizen and an immigrant, then so be it. The only aspect of immigration that I will be taking in hand today is the subject of marriage and how many individuals use matrimony for citizenship and not for true love. I will also tie this in with the matter of interracial and inter-cultural relationships and how these pedestaled ideas have somewhat depreciated within the minds of those that have already been taken advantage of by law-breaking immigrants.
If you are not quite familiar with the immigration laws regarding marriage set in place in the United States, allow me to explain a little. If an immigrant marries a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR, basically an immigrant that is almost a citizen) or U.S. Citizen (USC, born in the U.S.A), then the LPR or USC can petition for the immigrant to begin the process of becoming a citizen. How, you may ask? Well, when the individual or representing law firm files the petition for the immigrant, evidence must be shown to prove that the marriage is bona-fide (in other words, legitimate). Supporting evidence may include things like proof of joint ownership (a car or house by showing bills, titles or leases), photos (of the marriage ceremony or of physical affection), children, and even love letters and e-mails (which are usually the best type of supporting evidence). If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services looks at the evidence and truly believes that both parties entered the marriage in good faith, then the petition will be granted.
Some U.S. citizens actually want to help a certain immigrant out and will marry him or her not out of love, but out of service. However, I feel that there are a number of immigrants that take advantage of love and use people for their own selfish reasons. I would like to focus on single immigrants without families that take advantage of this system, because I feel that immigrants with families are a whole different story.
Imagine that you meet someone, learn that he or she is from a different country, and then start to develop feelings for him or her. Not all love stories are two-way streets, so let's suppose that you are the only one in this situation that has true developed feelings. Although the foreigner knows that there is no chance that he or she could develop feelings for you, he or she could take advantage of the situation and pretend to have those same feelings. Your entire love roller coaster would be nothing but a mere dream, and after the proper petitions have been filed and approved, your emotions are crushed. Of course, after a petition has been approved, the couple must stay married for a certain number of years (at least two I believe) in order for immigration to drop any suspicion, but then again, after that amount of time, all the time and emotion that you have invested in this person will seem to prove worthless.
Once again, I am not suggesting that all immigrants do this, but let's suppose that this situation were to happen and the story spread like wildfire amongst friends and family. Because this happened to someone so dear to them, it is more than likely that they will remain partial to the citizen and have an idea in their minds that immigrants are only people that take advantage of others for their own good. Also, because a majority of immigrants are of difference races and cultures, those people could also instill this idea in their mind that interracial or inter-cultural relationships are harmful. A type of paranoia could take over and all of a sudden, sticking with what one knows doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Additionally, because that particular had been lied to for such a long period of time, it would be hard for him or her to trust another person again. Hopes of love would be shot down and the healing process would prove difficult.
Furthermore, there are many citizens of this country that have a strong feeling that immigrants come to the United States and take over all of our available jobs. This idea could influence individuals to not show love or appreciation for immigrants. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why numerous outsiders feel that Americans are a tad bit cold. They live their own lives and try not to interfere with those that "worsen" their job searching situation.
Although there is a negative side of how people take advantage of our immigration system, immigration could also prove beneficial for love in our country. The United States is considered the "melting pot," and because of this, many people have learned to love and cultivate other cultures. Interracial and inter-cultural relationships are becoming much more common, and it seems that there is more progression into exploding globalization. Our minds are constantly enriched with outside ideas and we learn how to love in ways that we've never tried before.
Accepting immigration as it is and embracing interracial and inter-cultural relationships can prove advantageous in our country, especially in terms of learning effective diplomacy and just general cultural sensitivity for a healthier, well-rounded mindset. Although some immigrants do take advantage of our most powerful emotion in order to gain citizenship, it is important to know that others can broaden our horizons and make life incredibly fruitful.
It is clear to see how U.S. immigration policies can affect love and our general outlooks on life. What do you think?
I love my immigrant husband very much and I know he loves me. I was going to sponsor both him and his son. However, his son has gotten deep into legal trouble and drugs and my husband is totally co-dependent supporting him financially, etc. I denied the sponsorship for both of them after two years of living with the situation. I met with an immigration attorney and she told me that once you sponsor someone you will be responsible for whatever they do and that includes not paying taxes, medical bills, etc.
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