Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Wait...I Have Extraordinary Ability, Too!

Immigration has been an issue since the first illegal immigrant, one Christopher Columbus, landed somewhere in Central America and claimed to have "discovered" a new land; since the people living there at the time did not speak Spanish, they just shrugged and walked away...at least until he started enslaving them and forcing them to find gold for Isabella, et al. Then, of course, there were the African "immigrants" who definitely did NOT land at Ellis Island or New Orleans (as my German relatives are said to have done). As the population expands here in the land of the free, it is becoming harder and harder to enter legally. However, if you have enough money and know someone like Chris Wright, it's not as hard as one might think.
There are loopholes for everything, and immigration is no exception; immigration lawyers like Los Angeles' Wright know them inside and out (of the country, I presume), and manipulate the system for those able to pay as if it was welfare fraud! Two forms in particular have become fashionable: 0-1s and EB-1s. The former, a so-called "genius visa" allows for someone of "extraordinary ability" to enter this country and stay for three years...and extensions are possible. This is the route taken by many tech entrepreneurs and Piers Morgan, for example. On the other hand is the latter designation which can lead to a green card and permanent residency and is usually reserved for the aforementioned extraordinary ability as well as having an outstanding record as a researcher, professor or multi-national executive.
What constitutes "extraordinary" ability? How many Europeans are playing professional sports these days? Oh yeah, those people. I would also suspect fabulous musicians would also fall into that category or someone like the Chinese Dissident who just got moved here with part of his family.
Then there's Shera Bechard. She has two extraordinary talents that allowed Wright to get her into this country. First of all, she was Miss November of 2010 in Playboy magazine, and she started a photo-sharing site called "Frisky Friday" on which  scantily-clad women post pictures of themselves in hopes of being selected as the "winner" for that particular day. In the name of research, I had to check it out and was dismayed that Apple isn't paying to see its iPhone featured in so many pictures!
Anyway, if THOSE TWO items don't qualify as "genius" or "extraordinary ability," we need to redefine the terms.
Plus, Bechard is Canadian, for goodness sakes. She could have just driven across the border!

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