Waiting Game: 1.3 Million from Mexico Standing in Line for US Green Cards Daniel Gonzalez - The Arizona Republic
go to original June 23, 2013

Jesus Bojorquez filed a petition for his son, Alejandro, to get a green card in 1998. He and his son are still waiting for the card, a permanent-resident visa. (Nick Oza/The Arizona Republic)

... People trying to come to the U.S. legally often wait years, even decades, to get green cards. The wait is at the center of the highly contentious debate over whether to give the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally a pathway to citizenship as part of the sweeping immigration bill now in the Senate.

There were more than 4.4 million people waiting for green cards as of Nov. 1, according to a U.S. State Department report. Of those, 1.3 million were from Mexico. The total number, however, may be much higher, according to immigration experts.

The State Department does not count immigrants already in the U.S. with green-card applications pending. Including those, the total number of people waiting could be as high as 5.5 million, experts say.

The wait is long because the U.S. limits the overall number of green cards issued each year.

Read the rest at The Arizona Republic

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