In our earlier discussion about immigration reform, many readers asked “What does this have to do with us?” and “Why should legal South Asian-Americans care about illegal immigrants?” The short answer is an apparent non-sequitur: Ahnold Schwarzenegger.
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Once an illegal, now a governor, someday a President? |
Ahnold’s immigration history is similar to that of many illegal desis. Like them, he didn’t wade across the Rio Grande. Instead he entered the country legally and then violated the terms of his visa.
Ahnold first came to the US in 1968 on a B-1 Visa with the following rules:
“a non-immigrant in B-1 status may not receive a salary from a U.S. source for services rendered in connection with his or her activities in the United States” [Link]
However, in his own autobiography, Schwarzenegger said that bodybuilding supremo Joe Weider gave him an apartment, a car, and a salary of $200/week during this period.
A year later, Weider was able to sponsor Schwarzenegger for a H-2 visa, which allowed Schwarzenegger to work, but only in the area related to his visa. However,
…he violated the terms of his H-2 work visa by launching this bricklaying business in 1971… immigration attorneys across the country said Schwarzenegger would have been barred by visa restrictions from starting his own business… “That would be considered a violation of your status, and he would have been subject to deportation.” [Link]
None of this caught up with him though. We all know the Schwarzenegger Cinderella story - he made it big in bodybuilding, endorsements, real estate, and movies. He was never deported, and instead became a US citizen in 1983 (he still retains Austrian citizenship on the side). He married a Kennedy, hobnobbed with Reagan and Bush, was elected Republican governor of California, and is now angling to become the President of the United States. All of this was possible precisely because his previous immigration irregularities were overlooked. However, if the Sensenbrenner bill (1, 2) becomes law, others will be denied this chance and become felons.
My concern is with the student who takes an off campus job for a bit of extra money, or who fails to take enough classes and whose status slips. I wonder about the tech worker in Silicon Valley who takes a bit too long to switch between jobs, and whose status lapses. I worry about legal and employed people who fail to inform the INS of their new address within 10 days of a move, and who fall out of status [Link]. All these people would become felons under the Sensenbrenner bill, and if any of them are your roommates, you’d be committing a crime by cosigning a lease with them. The bill’s provisions are broad and
… could endanger advocates, social workers, lawyers, medical professionals, and others because the bill expands the scope of the federal criminal offenses of of smuggling, transporting, and/or harboring undocumented immigrants. [Link]
Finally, if somebody doesn’t like the way an illegal immigrant looks, they have few rights:
The bill would enhance the Department of Homeland Security’s powers to detain individuals considered dangerous indefinitely, with review every six months [Link]
At this point we’ve gone from talking about Ahnold to describing something out of one of his movies, except that he’s not here to save the day.
Here’s my bottom line: I’m too American to abandon the rule of law. That’s why I care about illegals.
The analysis of Schwarzenegger’s immigration status comes from: No amnesty for Arnold, he’s an “illegal alien” (I’m Kaavya-proofing myself)
Related posts: Immigration smokescreen, A Day Without a South Asian American: Boycott May 1st
