“Courageous, hardworking, good, decent.” These are words describing immigrants by pro-immigration politicians, but in academia, words like: “inequalities, high poverty rates, constrained social network, marginalized, discriminated, and minorities” tend to associate with the life of immigrants entering this country. With the stark reality undermining the dreamscape of immigration in the U.S., a worthy question to ask is: Does U.S. citizenship pay off?
It really depends on each family’s situation. Many find fortune and better life in the U.S., and many fall into the abyss of lifelong poverty. Yet most immigrants simply follow the crowd. Taking the U.S. as a developed country, the land of freedom, and the ladder to achieve the American Dream, many immigrant families were struck by the rifts between fantasy and reality upon arrival.
Among the Tibetan diaspora from the last decade was Tinzin, a 20-something Tibetan who came with his father, Tsewangdorjee, to the United States in 2009 from India. To make a living, they sell photos of the city to New Yorkers and are constantly mistaken for being Latino. Tinzin and Tsewangdorjee explain that they undergo discrimination and have to overcome cultural barriers every day in New York. While Tinzin admits that he wants to learn computer science in the United States, he’s not sure how long they will last here.
It seems like their journey — across generations and continents — is turning back toward India. The two are considering returning home.
“In the U.S., I work 18 hours a day; back in India, I only work 8 hours a day. Labor rights don’t apply to immigrants here,” Tsewangdorjee says.
Exposed to Buddhist teachings from an early age, Tinzin complains, “We’re not looking for material wealth here. We are looking for inner peace, but it’s hard to acquire it and find communities when people in New York incessantly assume you are Spanish and speak their language.”
In fact, Tinzin’s situation epitomizes something that is systematically rooted in American society from its history to today—-inequalities based on race. While most immigrants envisioned a better future with more income, better educatio, and job opportunities, abundant studies have statistically proven that “race matters.” Immigrants are not only bound to lower average income but also to systematic social immobility and stratification due to language barriers and low-quality education. I mean, who would think the education provided by the Naturalization Test and Interview would magically put all immigrants from different continents of the earth at the same socioeconomic and education level as the local Americans?
The cruel reality seems to be that: immigrants, who heard how great life is in the U.S. from their relatives in the U.S. and dreamt of rising into middle-class status, find themselves trapped in ethnic enclaves that segregate them from opportunities for better jobs, better education, and a better life.
According to A Profile of Low-Income Immigrants in the United States published by Migration Policy Institute, an American liberal think tank, in 2022, 26% of all U.S. immigrants’ English ability is considered “less than well;” 20% lack health insurance coverage; and 26% had an education level of less than a high school diploma. Of the low-income immigrants, at least 30% of them are 150-199% below the federal poverty level.
The immigrants of the 1920s are very different from the immigrants of the 2020s, yet the same false illusion of the American Dream lingers on. Yin, a broke Chinese entrepreneur selling handicrafts in Central Park, asks: “Who doesn’t have an American Dream?” He’s currently on a two-month outlook for potential business opportunities in the U.S. after the outbreak of COVID-19 in China took away everything under his name. Yet Yin himself is well aware of the hypocrisy of the American dream.
“The infrastructure and public service are just not as good as China, and language is another problem.” Embarrassed, he furrows his brows.
You might argue that the outlook for “high-quality immigrants” is quite different. Yes, the U.S. opens many visa channels. The major one is Immigration Employment Visas—-from EB1 to EB5—-which mainly target talented individuals. These Immigration Employment Visas either require an exceptional ability in a field or direct investment. EB1 to EB4 is highly selective, time-consuming, and costly. Processing time can stretch up to 37 months; fee for an application ranges from $1445 to $4925 (if adding a premium processing fee, high medical examination fee). If the applicant is lucky enough, he or she will get a Green Card.
Yeah! I’m an American citizen now!
Well, no.
To apply for citizenship, you will endure another 5-year period for naturalization. Within these 5 years, the applicant should be physically present in the U.S. for half of the time. After submitting the application form (which costs $640 for application and $85 for biometrics), passing the civic test, and completing the interview, the applicant will be legally considered a U.S. citizen.
And indeed, there are other visa channels. EB5 requires you to invest a minimum amount of $1.8 million, which must be a “small burden” for immigrants and their families. But hey! H-1B is not that hard! You’ve just got to be an Oxford Bachelor, Stanford MBA, and a lawyer and an entrepreneur like Ms. Frida Yu, who documented how she won the H-1B lottery in an article from the New York Times called Is Anyone Good Enough for an H-1B Visa? in 2017.
You will eventually win the lottery as long as you keep trying. That’s right, but each try costs half a decade and loads of money. How many decades can an immigrant family wait and how much financial burden can the family bear in exchange for some ethereal American Dream?
It is time now for every immigrant family or family with U.S. immigration intentions to weigh the costs and actually do some cost-benefit analysis. In other words, do the math. Meanwhile, it’s time to stop selling the American Dream narrative.
Fact Check
“The time period for processing an application could last up to 37 months;”
-EB5 could last 37 months
“the total fee for an application ranges from $525 to $4225 (if adding a premium processing fee, high medical examination fee)”
-Form I-140: $700 [Applying for eligible foreign worker status in the U.S.]
-Form I-485: $1140+$85 Biometric Fee [Adjust from “eligible foreign worker” to permanent resident]
-Medical Examination Fee: $200-$500 [Required for all applicants]
-Consular Processing (if applicable): $325 (Form DS-260) + $120 Affidavit Support Fee
-Premium Processing Fee (Optional): $2500
“26% of all U.S. immigrants’ English ability is considered “less than well;”
-Figure 7 in A Profile of Low-Income Immigrant in the United States
“20% lack health insurance coverage;”
-Figure 8 in A Profile of Low-Income Immigrant in the United States
“26% had an education level of less than a high school diploma”
-Figure 6 in A Profile of Low-Income Immigrant in the United States
“Of the low-income immigrants, at least 30% of them are 150-199% below the Federal Poverty Level.”
-Table 1 in A Profile of Low-Income Immigrant in the United States
By- EW