LEGALLY. SHELLY: PROJECT COMMUNITY’S MARISSA ARMAS SPOKE TO A COUPLE ABOUT APPLYING FOR A VISA IN UGANDA. MARISSA: APPLYING FOR A VISA TO COME TO THE UNITED STATES IS NOT ONLY EXPENSIVE, BUT IT CAN TAKE MANY YEARS. LOTS OF TIME AND MONEY ARE JUST THINGS THAT MANY MIGRANTS DON’T HAVE. >> WE HAD BEEN MARRIED FOR 3-4 YEARS, BUT THEY KEPT ON DENYING US. MARISSA: WHEN THE MUWUMBA’S GOT MARRIED SIX YEARS AGO, THEY DIDN’T KNOW THAT BEING TOGETHER IN THE U.S. WOULD BE SO HARD >> THEY SAID CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSMAN, THEY CAN DO SOMETHING. IT DOESN’T HELP, IT JUST HAS A LOT OF HOOPS YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH. MARISSA: KELLI IS AMERICAN. DAVIS IS UGANDAN. FOR OVER 4 YEARS, THE COUPLE TRIED GETTING A VISA, WHICH ALLOWS A PERSON TO COME TO, LEAVE, OR STAY IN A COUNTRY FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME. THE MUWUMBA’S TRIED TO GET ONE FOR DAVIS WITH NO LUCK. >> VERY COMPLICATED, BECAUSE IT’S HARD TO KNOW WHAT THEY WANT, THEY SAY THEY WANT A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE, WE WAN THIS, BUT WHEN THEY DO THE INTERVIEW, THEY SAY COME WITH THEM, BUT THEN WHEN YOU GO THERE, THEY ASK YOU DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, AT THE END THEY S YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH PROOF. MARISSA: THE COUPLE FINALLY HIRED AN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY. >> MAYBE A COUPLE OF HUNDRED OR SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS, WHICH MIGHT NOT SOUND LIKE A LOT IN COMPARISON TO THOUSANDS, BUT FOR SOMEONE WITH VERY LIMITED MEANS IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY, THAT CAN BE COST-PROHIBITIVE. MARISSA: THE WHOLE PROCESS OF GETTING A VISA CAN BE LONG AND EXPENSIVE. >> REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOUR POLITICAL AFFILIATION IS, OR WHAT YOUR PERSONAL OPINION ON IMMIGRATION IS, I THINK MOST FOLKS CAN AGREE THE SYSTEM IS LARGELY BROKEN. MARISSA: VISAS TO THE UNITED STATES ARE GRANTED IN THREE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES. 1, IN EMPLOYMENT BASED SETTINGS; 2, IMMIGRATION THROUGH FAMILY MEMBERS; AND 3, FOR HUMANITARIAN PROTECTION, SUCH AS REFUGEES OR ASYLUM-SEEKERS >> IF THERE ISN’T AN OPTION TO COME OVER WITH DOCUMENTS, AN SOMEONE IN YOUR FAMILY HAS BEEN THREATENED WITH DEATH AND YOU DON’T HAVE YEARS OR MONTHS T WAIT, I THINK PEOPLE ARE MAKING DECISIONS FOR A MATTER OF SURVIVAL MARISSA: AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF WAITING, DAVIS WAS EVENTUALLY GRANTED AN IMMIGRANT VISA THROUGH HIS WIFE, KELLI. >> HIS GREEN CARD IS GOLD, HE HAS ALL THE FREEDOMS. HE CAN HAVE A GOOD JOB, HE GETS HIS DRIVERS LICENSE, WE CAN BUY HOUSES, WE CAN DO ALL OF THOSE THINGS, BECAUSE HE GOT HIS GREEN CARD AND CAME HERE LEGALLY MARISSA: BUT THE IMMIGRATION PROCESS IS HIGHLY SELECTIVE. THERE ARE ALSO IMMIGRATION AND COUNTRY LIMITATIONS WHICH MAKE THE WAITS LONGER FOR IMMIGRANTS, SOME COUNTRIES WAIT LISTS ARE OVER 22 YEAR >> THAT CATEGORY COULD BE BACKLOGGED DECADES, BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY MORE PEOPLE APPLYING THAN VISAS AVAILABLE. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT GETTING IN LINE AND FILLING OUT THE PAPERWORK FOR SOME PEOPLE THAT CAN TAKE YEARS AND YEARS. MARISSA: THE U.S IMMIGRATION LAWS ARE COMPLICATED, AND BOTH THE MUWUMBA’S AND ARMSTRONG AGREE IT NEEDS TO BE FIXED. REPORTING IN LAS CRUCES, MARISSA ARMAS, KOAT ACTION 7 NEWS. REPORTER THEY SAY THEY WANT PEOPLE TO COME HERE LEGALLY BUT I THINK TH FORGET THAT IT IS A LONG AND EXTENSIVE PROCESS. YOU HAVE TO GO TO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS TO GET THE PROCESS STARTED. DOUG: A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THAT NEEDS TO BE IN PLACE TO PROTECT EVERYONE INVOLVED. REPORTER AND AS WE HEARD FROM THE COMMISSIONER TODAY, THEY ARE SAYING WE ARE AT A BREAKING POINT IN OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM. SO WHAT DO WE DO TO FIX IT? SHELLY IT IS INTERESTIN
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Why coming to the U.S. 'legally' is so hard
When the Muwumbas got married six years ago, they didn't know that being together in the U.S. would be so hard. "We had been married for three-four years, but they kept on denying us," Kelli said. "They said 'Contact your congressman, they can do something.' It doesn't help. It just has a lot of hoops you have to go through." Kelli is American. Davis is Ugandan. For more than four years, the couple tried getting a visa, which allows a person to come to, leave, or stay in a country for a certain amount of time. The Muwumbas tried to get one for Davis, with no luck. "It's very complicated 'cause it's hard to know what they want, they say they want a marriage certificate, we want this, but when they do the interview, they say come with them, but then when you go there, they ask you different questions, at the end they say you don't have enough proof," Davis said. The couple finally hired an immigration attorney. "Maybe a couple of hundred or several hundred dollars, which might not sound like a lot in comparison to thousands but for someone with very limited means in their home country that can be cost prohibitive," said Lauren Armstrong, an immigration attorney with Noble & Vrapi, P.A.The whole process of getting a visa can be long and expensive. "Regardless of what your political affiliation is, or what your personal opinion on immigration is, I think most folks can agree the system is largely broken," Armstrong said. Visas to the United States are granted in three different categories:In employment based settingsImmigration through family members andFor humanitarian protection-- such as refugees or asylum-seekers "If there isn't an option to come over with documents, and someone in your family has been threatened with death, and you don't have years or months to wait, I think people are making decisions for a matter of survival," Armstrong said. After several years of waiting, Davis was eventually granted an immigrant visa through his wife Kelli. "His green card is gold, he has all freedoms, basically. He can have a good job, he gets his driver's license, we can buy houses, we can do all of those things, because he got his green card and came here legally," Kelli said. But the immigration process is highly selective. There are also immigration and country limitations that make the waits longer for immigrants. Some countries wait lists are more than 22 years. "That category could be backlogged decades, because there are so many more people applying than visas available. when we talk about getting in line and filling out the paperwork for some people that can take years and years," Armstrong said. The U.S. immigration laws are complicated, and both the Muwumba's and Armstrong agree.
When the Muwumbas got married six years ago, they didn't know that being together in the U.S. would be so hard.
"We had been married for three-four years, but they kept on denying us," Kelli said. "They said 'Contact your congressman, they can do something.' It doesn't help. It just has a lot of hoops you have to go through."
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Kelli is American. Davis is Ugandan. For more than four years, the couple tried getting a visa, which allows a person to come to, leave, or stay in a country for a certain amount of time. The Muwumbas tried to get one for Davis, with no luck.
"It's very complicated 'cause it's hard to know what they want, they say they want a marriage certificate, we want this, but when they do the interview, they say come with them, but then when you go there, they ask you different questions, at the end they say you don't have enough proof," Davis said.
The couple finally hired an immigration attorney.
"Maybe a couple of hundred or several hundred dollars, which might not sound like a lot in comparison to thousands but for someone with very limited means in their home country that can be cost prohibitive," said Lauren Armstrong, an immigration attorney with Noble & Vrapi, P.A.
The whole process of getting a visa can be long and expensive.
"Regardless of what your political affiliation is, or what your personal opinion on immigration is, I think most folks can agree the system is largely broken," Armstrong said.
Visas to the United States are granted in three different categories:
- In employment based settings
- Immigration through family members and
- For humanitarian protection-- such as refugees or asylum-seekers
"If there isn't an option to come over with documents, and someone in your family has been threatened with death, and you don't have years or months to wait, I think people are making decisions for a matter of survival," Armstrong said.
After several years of waiting, Davis was eventually granted an immigrant visa through his wife Kelli.
"His green card is gold, he has all freedoms, basically. He can have a good job, he gets his driver's license, we can buy houses, we can do all of those things, because he got his green card and came here legally," Kelli said.
But the immigration process is highly selective. There are also immigration and country limitations that make the waits longer for immigrants. Some countries wait lists are more than 22 years.
"That category could be backlogged decades, because there are so many more people applying than visas available. when we talk about getting in line and filling out the paperwork for some people that can take years and years," Armstrong said.
The U.S. immigration laws are complicated, and both the Muwumba's and Armstrong agree.
