[chriskelley]

A good friend is a very brilliant Welshman (born and raised there until age 18) now living in southern California. His father has been here for 21 years and has his US citizenship. My friend, who runs a very successful business and is also a quality contributor to the local economy, has been stuck in the paperwork system for 7 years now. Every 6-8 months they send him another letter telling him it will be another 6-8 months. He can stay legally because he got here just early enough to miss the "wait for your green-card in your home country" rule - but they won't grant him re-entry if he leaves - so he's stuck. Can't take his son back to Wales to see his grandparents, etc etc.

Meanwhile, his father married a Brazilian trophy wife last year who doesn't work, doesn't volunteer, doesn't contribute economically, who received her green-card about 3 months after they got married.

The system is flawed.