[wittgenstein]

It's unbelievable that the US government is focusing on providing a legal path to citzenship to ILLEGAL immigrants, while legal immigrants who are highly educated (sometimes at Ivy Leage institutions) have to wait for years to get a greencard, depending on their country of citizenship. What's unbelievable is that they can't easily change employers during the green card application process. There is nothing more absurd than American top universities educating thousands of highly qualified international students, only to make their lives miserable with respect to immigration after they graduate and doing everything in their power to encourage them to take their brains to another country instead.

[mh_yam]

It's horrible. I have a bachelors from a top US school, working on a masters from another top school, and I can't even take a week off in between jobs because it may cause immigration problems.

Meanwhile Obama goes around making speeches about how kids of illegal immigrants somehow have the 'right' to citizenship and would be able to benefit from US public services (which by the way I and other legal immigrants are paying for).

Completely absurd and needs to change.

[jpitzo]

> somehow have the 'right' to citizenship

The 14th amendment makes it pretty clear that (with very rare exception) anyone born on US soil is born a US citizen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_the_United_State...

[al2o3cr]

LOL, most of the nativists are still itching to re-fight the war that got us the 13th / 14th / 15th, so citing those won't convince them...

[fennecfoxen]

I believe he's referring to this part of the immigration regime: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_Action_for_Childhood_A...

[arenaninja]

Fairly sure grandparent meant children who were also brought here illegally

[arenaninja]

I feel that your frustration is misguided. I'm pretty sure I've heard Obama talk of retaining immigrants who graduate from STEM fields at US universities. Here's an article from 2012 about this: http://www.trianglecoalition.org/legislation-would-help-reta...

Of course, the lack of action befalls the legislative branch (Congress)

> Meanwhile Obama goes around making speeches about how kids of illegal immigrants somehow have the 'right' to citizenship and would be able to benefit from US public services (which by the way I and other legal immigrants are paying for).

Without being political, these illegal immigrants have most likely also paid for these services via sales/state/federal taxes, many for a lot longer than you have. As for citizenship, I think the citizenship argument is usually applied to those who were relocated by their parents at a very young age. If you were deported, you would still be able to communicate in your homeland, while many of those who were brought as children wouldn't be able to communicate if they were forcefully sent back

[yummyfajitas]

Its very simple. Hispanics vote D solidly. A few more h1bs won't ensure a democratic victory in 2016 or 2020.

[tippytop]

Higher education has become an export of the US. What's citizenship got to do with it?