What the Waiting List for Legal Residency Actually Looks Like
Politicians argue immigrants should just “get in line” if they want to live in the United States. But the process itself can take decades.
by Priscilla Alvarez
Sep 21, 2017
3 minutes
During debates over immigration in the United States, a figurative line of immigrants waiting to obtain legal status is often invoked. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach referenced this imaginary queue in his defense of President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program earlier this month. “I would suggest [to DACA recipients]: Go home and get in line, come into the United States legally, then get a green card, then become a citizen,” he said in an interview on MSNBC.
While Kobach’s description of
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