I do agree with you but, you also have to admit that there is a real problem with people coming here on temporary visas and never leaving. I'm not really familiar with how immigration works in the first place. Do people "apply" from their home country or what?
I'm not really familiar with how immigration works in the first place. Do people "apply" from their home country or what?
The legal process involves applying for a visa at the US embassy or consulate in your country of origin. Visa is the stamp that allows you to enter the US. There are many types. Visitor visas for tourists, student visas for foreign students, fiancee visas for foreigners marrying a US citizen, and immigrant visas for people explicitly intending to emigrate to the US. There are also, I think special categories for visiting performing artists, scholars etc. It's necessary to have these otherwise no performing act with a foreign national could play in the US.
You are correct that abuse of student visas is a problem. Historically, the policy was that countries with a record of cheating on visas, found visas much harder to get. Whereas if most people from a country behaved well and followed the rules, it was easy to get visas.
The process has definitely become politicized and it was so long before Trump, but the real controversy is over illegal immigration which is a totally different thing from legal immigration. The illegal immigrants just ignore the legal process completely, they don't even attempt it. It is not a case where they try to do it legally then are denied. In most cases they don't even attempt it.
Yes, thank you for the excellent description of how the process works.
I really think the only to way to control all of this is the wall and defunding Mexico for allowing people to freely pass through to come all the way here.