Laws have been passed, for instance, that say if you got convicted of some crime that may have happened 10 or 15 years ago, back before you were even a resident, now we might take away that residence. And we certainly wouldn't let you become a U.S. citizen. There are many different categories for immigrants and why they come here. People who deal with the tax structure in this country have to learn to deal with all the different technicalities in order to benefit from different policies, laws and regulations. The same thing applies with refugees and immigrants coming into the country.
Many immigrants have no access to legal assistance.
They don't know what benefits they might qualify for legally. They don't know they could become legalized residents because of the amount of time they have been in the country, or because of a family member, or because they were a political refugee. They just don't know it. When someone comes to my office we talk about the situation, who their family members are, whether they left their country because of persecution, or other categories that they might qualify for. Sharon There are many different categories for immigrants and why they come here.