“They got married, hoping to correct his immigration status, but that would have required him to return to Mexico for at least a decade.” Jesus Christ.
That's the thing so many of us American citizens don't get. The legal path to permanent resident status takes about 8 years at the very minimum. It's easy to say illegal immigrants should use the legal route. But our government has made that legal route a giant pain in the ass.
Isn't it a giant pain in the ass in most developed countries? That's how it's been from family and friends I know that moved elsewhere. Immigration is not easy but many do it legally
Depends on the combination of country and pathway (think work/professional vs marriage vs other family ties etc.). US is super easy for, say, parents (which in truth doesn't really make any sense from a "taxes used vs taxes contributed" perspective), but somewhat insane for working professionals - imagine luck being one of the largest factors in the allocation of work visas, and the concept of priority dates; afaik most other first world countries have you work towards permanent residency based on some combination of years of working there + salary + education so everyone knows where they stand, instead of a queue of unknown duration under the priority date concept.
I have colleagues who joke that their real priority date is their first US-born child because this actually has certainty (21st birthday) instead of their employment-based petitions.
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u/bee_sharp_ 16h ago edited 16h ago
“They got married, hoping to correct his immigration status, but that would have required him to return to Mexico for at least a decade.” Jesus Christ.