Heres the text of the letter I sent yesterday to our district Congress representative. I know this is not the best writing but at least I feel that this is more proactive than just complaining on facebook. Watch this great video too and please take a moment to let your representative know that you want them to support immigration reform NOW! Dear Rep Michael McCaul, My name is Yoshi Yoshida and our family lives in your district. As the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, I understand that your energy and focus is to protect the sovereignty and safety of the United States by protecting its borders. However, after reading some of the documents on your website, I find it troubling that you advocate for a police state where local law enforcement officers have the authority to detain illegal immigrants to start deportation processes. I feel that this punitive approach to the immigration problem in our country is going to make our communities less safe as undocumented individuals will not be registered with the government and will be discouraged from doing so if they are further targeted by law enforcement, especially if they have committed a serious crime. Immigration law is complex and giving local law enforcement authorities the added burden of immigration checks in the field will take away from their focus on maintaining public safety and place it on social cleansing by removing individuals unauthorized to stay in the country. Furthermore, this will encourage socio-economic and racial profiling from the authorities to innocent individuals including US citizens, legal residents and non-resident aliens. Lastly, deportation procedures cost a lot of taxpayer money and the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are already contributing positively in the communities in which they live. We cannot and should not conclude that all undocumented immigrants are criminals. This picture does not represent the ideals of the United States, the land of the free. I know that you do not support an immigration amnesty, I dont either. But in order to fix the immigration problem we cannot exclusively focus on border security and enforcement of the current punitive immigration set of laws, what our communities need is an immigration reform based on merit. Let me share you our story to illustrate my point. My dad secured a job here in the US and we legally immigrated as a family in 1999. I learned English and graduated with honors from McAllen High School. I then attended The University of Texas-Pan American and I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 2008. At that point, I was in the US with a student visa and only had 6 months to change my visa status or leave the country. I applied to many jobs in the fields of research and education during the financial crisis at that time and many of the potential employers I interviewed were reluctant to sponsor me for a work-based visa. My immigration problem started when my parents could no longer afford to keep me in school paying for expensive out-of-state tuition and I fell out of status when I stopped attending classes. In 2012 I was accepted into an accelerated 2nd degree Bachelors of Science in nursing program and became a Registered Nurse in the State of Texas. While attending nursing school I attempted to regain my immigration status by reapplying to a student visa. That same year, my parents and younger brother became legal permanent residents but I couldn’t apply with them due to my age. Later that year my application with the USCIS was denied due to “lack of evidence of hardship” and stayed out of legal status. Now, in 2014, I am a healthy 31 year old undocumented person with two degrees that lives at home with her parents and is unable to work due to an immigration system that values marriages, victims and wealthy individuals more rather than hard working talented people. I find it frustrating that the government has more interest in granting a legal stay in the country to individuals presenting themselves as victims rather than their merit in determining their potential to provide a positive social and economic contribution in their communities. Mr. McCaul, I urge you to please reconsider your stance on immigration reform to allow individuals to stay united with their families in order for them to become productive members of society. This country deserves and needs better laws, better opportunities and better people to keep its competitiveness in the current global market. Sincerely, Yoshi Yoshida
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 02:42:26 +0000
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