States Provide Undocumented People Access To State-Sponsored Health Insurance And Help Paying For College Tuition

Sabine and Michael Berchtold came to Colorado Springs for the 1996 Thanksgiving vacation. She from Germany, he from Switzerland, had work visas that allowed the young couple to conduct business in the United States under certain conditions.

Two weeks later she opened her previously owned Uwe's German Restaurant.

More than a quarter of a century later, a cloud of sadness hangs over the favorite restaurants of Jaegerschnitzel, Bratwurst and Sauerbraten. Despite applying for a green card each year and working with multiple attorneys to obtain permanent residency, the Berchtolds have yet to succeed.

Continued failure will force him to leave the United States when he sells the restaurant. I don't know when that will be. With Michael, 55, running the kitchen and Sabine, 56, running the front end for decades, they say they love what they do, but eventually retired and started working hard. But I want to reap the rewards of a rewarding job.

"We lived here for her 26 years and this is her home," said Sabine Berchtold. "It hurts to know we can't stay. It's weighing on you."

Berchtolds is one of an estimated 800,000 business owners who live in the same uncertain boat across the United States. "It may seem crazy, but it happens," said Professor Violetta Chapin, co-director of the Colorado Law Clinical Program at the University of Colorado in Boulder. It's hurting business people who have invested so much money in our economy and can't switch to green cards."

But Berchtolds' E-2 nonimmigrant investor visa (which requires him to contribute $120,000 to a business in the United States and employ at least two American workers) is temporary. , said Zachary New, an attorney at his Joseph & Hall PC in Denver. Founding member of the Immigration Law Policy Association at the University of Colorado School of Law.

New said the visa allows for a "semi-permanent stay," implying that the holder intends to return to their country of origin.

“The US government gives permission to operate and grow the business after the investment,” he said. "Difficult to convert to permanent residency"

Sabine said this type of visa is her and her husband's only chance to come to the United States.

At this point in their journey to legal permanent residency, Sabine and Michael resent the massive influx of asylum seekers and improving economic conditions across the southern border.

Sabine said it was unfair that thousands of people were coming in every day and given immediate help and access to the same system that the Berchtolds had relentlessly tried to crack for years. . "They can come in illegally and get a green card, and they're ready to go," Sabine said.

Illegal immigrants who enter the United States without visas or other proper documents and permits do not benefit as much as some people think, he said.

"Many people get nothing," she said. “They manage to make a living in the countryside, but they have no work permits, no access to government benefits, and access to health insurance is very difficult. they survive."

While only legal immigrants can receive government-subsidized housing and food assistance, Colorado and several other states offer illegal immigrants access to government-subsidized health insurance. provide and help pay for college tuition. Also, many non-profit and religious organizations help with basic needs.

And Chapin said, "Squatters pay taxes without having legal status."

An estimated 11 million people live illegally in the United States, but some groups, such as the New York Center for Immigration Studies, say the figure falls short of her by 1.5 million.

In many cases, newcomers must follow the same procedures as those who have been here for years in order to apply for legal status or citizenship.

Why Are So Many Immigrants Coming To Denver? City Hall Is Looking For Answers

But Mr New said that asylum seekers at the border who can quickly pass screening showing "credible fear" as a reason to leave his home country can be granted work permits and expedite the asylum process. Stated.

"Nobody takes away the opportunity to get their rightful place," he said. “Immigration courts are increasingly behind schedule, so an orderly and efficient border crossing will help.”

But it can take years for asylum claims to go to court, New said. "As the numbers grow, it will take four to five years from immigration courts to public hearings if we don't move a little faster," he said.

Sabine believes newcomers have to wait in line for underdeveloped immigration services, while clogging an already notoriously sluggish system.

New agrees that the laws are outdated and that "many laws do not work as they were intended to do when they were written."

But all parts of immigration law have a purpose, he said. For example, the right to asylum dates back to the Holocaust and is intended to protect people fleeing persecution. Work permits for skilled and unskilled workers, as well as investors like Berchtolds, cater to different needs. Also benefits for Ukrainians, Afghans, Cubans and Haitians who have been laid off for temporary residency and work permits in the United States. "There are a number of programs out there and certainly things need to be fixed and tweaked, but groups of people, particularly those who are vulnerable, have priority compared to those who are legally treated differently. It would be unfair to say that we are being treated holistically," he says.. "Each process has its own purpose."

Of his 50,000 green cards issued annually by the United States (including his 1,000 from Germany and his 500 from Switzerland), by obtaining a green card, also known as his Diversity Visa program, , the Berchtolds will remain in the United States permanently, bypassing the current complications. Forces you to return to your home country every four years to renew your visa through the US Embassy.

You are also required to leave the mainland United States indefinitely every two years and have your passport stamped upon re-entry.

They say it's sheer luck that forced travel hasn't happened in years during the coronavirus pandemic.

The immigration system has not provided them with a path to the citizenship they covet.

"Our only hope is to win the Green Card Lottery," Sabine said.

American immigrants are more likely to succeed if they are granted legal citizenship, according to the New York Center for Immigration Studies, which hosted an immigration webinar in January.

The progression to legalization enables immigrants to attain higher income, education level, English language proficiency and health insurance, said Donald Kerwin, co-author of a new report from the Center for Migration Studies of New York, “Ten Years of Democratizing Data:

Privileging Facts, Refuting Misconceptions and Examining Missed Opportunities.”

“It's important to move from one category to another,” he said. “It benefits the entire U.S., not just the people impacted.”

Immigration is an ongoing, hotly debated political issue, with both sides of the partisan coin blaming the other for the flood of immigrants entering the U.S., and the chasmic disagreement over how to handle the situation. The report Kerwin co-authored with Robert Warren provides three recommendations for provisional federal changes to reduce the logjam of applications and provide what they think would be a more equitable method for people like the Berchtolds. The process for long-term residents in good standing to gain legal status currently requires them to live here for 50 years. Kerwin and Warren are calling for reducing that qualification to 15 years of U.S. residency. According to Kerwin, that covers 42% of the undocumented population.

"We recommend streamlining the naturalization process and making it a priority," he said at a webinar in January. We will waive language and citizenship requirements for people who have been here for 15 years.Education, English proficiency and income should be prioritized to increase naturalization rates.”

This year could bring some changes. The legality of deferred action for childhood arrivals, a DACA policy that protects undocumented children from deportation and grants work permits, is in limbo and could go to the U.S. Supreme Court. . Title 42, a federal regulation limiting the number of foreigners entering the United States during the pandemic, may also be repealed.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, monthly migrant "encounters" at the Southwest border include arrests by U.S. Border Patrol agents, followed by temporary detention pending a decision and deportation to their home countries. It's something that connects, and it's close to breaking records.

In 2022, 2.4 million law enforcement encounters were recorded at the Mexican border, compared to her 1.7 million in 2021 and her 458,000 in 2020.

To date, by 2023 he has over 700,000 recorded encounters.

Under immigration law, entering the United States illegally is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or six months' imprisonment. Also, anyone who reenters or attempts to reenter the United States after being deported or deported is a criminal offense. Congress has not reviewed immigration law significantly since the Immigration Act of 1990, a national reform of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

Berchtolds record that they pay taxes and social security.

"We have to do everything like Americans," said Michael.

However, because they do not have green cards, they cannot receive federal Social Security payments personally. The frustration on their faces comes from deep inside. If they do not obtain a green card before leaving the restaurant business, they will have to leave the United States.

Many regulars at Uwe's German Restaurant are aware of their plight.