POLITICAL COLUMN: Understanding Immigration and Deportation

The Supreme Court and the Trump administration have been in a major disagreement over the imprisonment of an alleged MS-13 gang member from El Salvador. Kilmer Abrego Garcia is man that came to America from El Salvador; according to his record, he was identified as a member of MS-13 by Prince George County police department in Maryland. The report states that Kilmer was with two other high-ranking members of the gang when they were detained in 2019 after being spotted soliciting work outside a Home Depot. After he was arrested, he was processed as a member of the MS-13 Westerns clique.

He was deported in March this year, initially to the supermax prison CECOT in El Salvador (he has since been moved to a less secure, more humane prison in Santa Ana). ICE officials have stated in a court filing that Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.” This is obviously a nightmare for Garcia’s family, who live in Maryland. According to reports Garcia had illegally entered the country in 2011 to escape gang violence. His older brother is a U.S. citizen, and he married Jennifer Vasquez Sura, who is also a U.S. citizen; they have a child with. This means Garcia had a way to become an LPR (legal permanent resident) in the states.  

There’s a few ways to become an LPR. United states immigration allows for an unlimited number of visas for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, including spouses, unmarried minor children, and parents. Immigration does have a limited number of visas for unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens. There is also a yearly cap on the number of visas allotted to siblings and married adult children of U.S. citizens. For someone wanting to immigrate to the U.S. there are many requirements and procedures that they must go through to legally and safely enter the country through family-based immigration. For this process, the family member that is a U.S. citizen or an LPR must be a sponsor to petition for the individual wanting to enter the county. After the petition is placed they must provide proof of the relationship, meet the minimum income requirement, and sign an affidavit stating that the sponsor will be financially responsible for the family member entering the states or adjusting to LPR status in America. The requirements for the individual entering the country include submitting a medical exam as well as getting any required vaccinations, as well as an analysis of immigration and or criminal history, and demonstrating that they will not become dependent on the government for subsidies.  

The immigration system also allows for work-based immigration. This works similarly to family-based immigration. There are six different kinds of temporary visa classifications for different types of work. For a temporary employment-based visa an employer must put in the petition for a foreign national for specific jobs for limited periods of time. The foreign national does not have to be working for the employer to be sponsored. Permanent immigration is capped at 140,000 persons per year, this includes eligible spouses and minor unmarried children making employment-based immigration less than 140,000 each year. To get legal citizenship, the sponsoring employer must get their petition for the individual approved by the Secretary of Labor and the Department of Labor. The petition must meet certain requirements before the sponsor may file a petition with the US citizenship and immigration services But for some categories of work, the sponsors first step is to file a petition with Immigration Services Or the foreign national may self- petition. The final step after the petition has been approved by Immigration Services is for the foreign national’s application for an immigrant visa at any U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. 

While family-based and work-based immigration are the most used types of immigration, the US also provides humanitarian relief for refugees and asylees. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the number of refugees admitted into the US dropped drastically after the Bush administration put new security checks in place. This rose again during the Obama administration but during the first Rrump administration the refugee cap was dropped from 110,000 in 2017 to eventually 18,000 in 2020, and only roughly 11,000 were admitted. Under the Biden administration that rose back to 125,000 for the year 2022 through 2024, also including a new priority category for certain Iraqi, Afghan and Syrian refugees. 

In all The US immigration system works with only a capped number of visas per year and a very strict and secured system of immigration. This system is designed prevent any new terror attacks from occurring in the US and continues to work to help people obtain their US citizenship.