stella40
Posts: 417
Joined: 1/11/2006 From: London, UK Status: offline
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Speaking as someone who is currently trying to enter Fortress America (i.e. relocate and resettle legally with a visa) from the UK it isn't easy, it's time-consuming (the April 2007 window for visas which will be issued after October 2007 has already closed, and when's the next window? October 2007? April 2008?). I'm British, an established playwright and stage director with 15 or so productions to my name over the past 12 years, but I won't qualify for an artistic visa because I'm not 'at the highest level', basically I'm not an award winning, famous, oh so popular 'name'. I'm listed in Wikipedia, but I'm not doing this for fame or for the awards, I'm doing it because I'm able to do it, and I've rejected the entertainment industry to work with disaffected people on small scale productions and theatre workshops. Why? It's much more satisfying to watch one person go into drug rehab or stop abusing alcohol and make positive changes to their life whilst 'being an actor' than it ever was to be famous or well-known. It's oh so very easy to write off people who are on welfare, homeless, ex-offenders and others rejected by society but I work with them to help them get back into society, to give something back, to give them back their self-confidence. This is the work I do and what I want to do in the States. I'm coming to Mississippi, to an area of the States still rebuilding and recovering from Katrina. I'm not taking anyone's job, because the jobs went with the people when they went north after the hurricane. But I'm coming to use my skills to help people rebuild their communities and to become established and part of that community in the process. However it's just like Fortress Britain, and saves my partner having to go through the arbitrary and tight UK immigration regulations where there's never any guarantee you're going to get through until you get through the whole process. Rather than constantly tightening up the regulations and conditions for entry and tarring everyone with the same brush wouldn't it be much simpler to tighten up on employers who hire illegals or deal with the illegals who are there illegally? Okay, so they can't be sent back? But what's to stop them paying a hefty fine? Same too with employers hiring illegals. Tightening up immigration regulations doesn't work, the more legislation you pass, the more loopholes people are going to find to get round the legislation. I know, I'm looking for loopholes here too. I think this problem is best tackled by dealing with the illegals already in situ. Employers need to be faced with very heavy fines if they're caught hiring illegals. Okay, you may not be able to send the illegal back, but you can remove welfare, restrict access to medical care and also impose very heavy fines on them. That way they can make the choice whether they want to be illegal or not, but if they choose to be illegal they have to pay a heavy price.Most of them, being economic migrants will probably come to the conclusion that it doesn't pay to be illegal.
< Message edited by stella40 -- 5/20/2007 2:08:11 AM >
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I try to take one day at a time, but several days come and attack me at once. (Jennifer Unlimited) If you can't be a good example then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
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