Immigration in America Right Now: What’s Changing?

Ramez: What’s your feeling on the current immigration climate in the United States?

Jordan: It’s scary. It’s unprecedented. I know that this administration’s doing things that have never been done before. As an immigration lawyer, every day the laws are changing, which is so unlike any previous administration. One day you have, like we saw, the H-1B $100,000 per application. That’s insane. TPS, temporary protected status, is just getting wiped for things that have been in place for decades for people from different countries. It’s scary. And the political discourse is just causing it to get even worse.

Ramez: Yeah. So, my biggest take is that I strongly believe that the only people that should be in this country are here legally. That’s my strong take on it. I do feel that there are people that are coming here seeking refuge, and we need to facilitate a way at the same time to make sure that they’re taken care of and they’re safe. One of the ways we can do that as a country is help other countries support them so that there’s not a bunch of weak countries around us where everybody’s seeking asylum or protection from the United States. At the same time, I think we like to piggy back on Jordan, we have laws changing every day. We also have threats and fears of people that are here illegally being deported just for things they say. As everybody knows, we have a First Amendment right to free speech. Now, that right isn’t unlimited, but if I have an opinion, a simple opinion, and I’m here legally on a visa, I shouldn’t be scared of being removed or deported from this country just because I have an opinion on what’s happening about a foreign war or issue. That’s something that I’m highly critical of. I do want people here illegally. I also want to set up something so that, if you were born in this country, let’s figure out a way to make them legally here. We have all these people that are here just waiting to figure out what their status is. And so I just feel like the government is just playing with all these people and playing into their fears and emotions. That’s another part of why I’m so passionate about starting this immigration section, because I know we can help people. Those are the big takes I would say about why this is important to me.