Immigration - Ann Picker / Derek DiCosmo

Ann Picker (Kille) and Derek DiCosmo spoke to us on Immigration. They explained some of the details of how immigration works in the US and added some details to the phrases the are often quoted and can develop meanings very different than the reality behind phrases.

Dennis Kille introduced Ann and Derek, since he knows them both.

Some of the background we learnd is that the peak immigrations years have been:

• The 1900's with Europeans (many of our families came during those years)
• The 1970's with Hispanics as farm labor
• Now most are from China and India

Most immigrants are here legally, which means that they documented. But to become a citizen, you must first become a legal resident and then apply for citizenship. Neither one of these processes is cheap. so, many can not afford to do so.

Also, being adopted by a citizen or marrying a citizen does not make you a citizen. You must still apply. While 1 million people apply for legal residence, most are already here. (about 80%). SO there is no mass arrival of 1 million people a year to be come residents. These are children, spouses or parents of citizens.

Among the many questions asked and answered were 2 about languages used on Government forms.

One was about English and Spanish on forms. The point of this is that we have a portion of the US (Puerto Rico) that only speaks Spanish, so we are a bilingual nation.

The other was with regard to other languages on forms. The point here is that our government produces forms for people coming to the US that they are required to complete. The forms are in their native language so that they complete them correctly. An example is our customs declaration when entering the US.

We all learnd a little bit more about this hot topic. We all felt that there was more to learn about immigration and we would need to schedule a return visit.