How long is the line for green cards?

This article paints a stark picture for those of us on the outside looking in. The statistics are mind-boggling, let alone the politics of the situation.

Kudos to all those friends of mine who are working on immigration reform. Enough hypocrisy. Equality and equal opportunity for all...

Some key facts from the article:

Your rate of progress in a given line depends on many factors. Some applicants have higher priority than others, even in the family line: The unmarried children of citizens tend to have the shortest waits, while the adult siblings of citizens come last. Diversity also helps, since immigrants from no one country can take more than 7 percent of the available visas. That means that people from China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines have an extra long wait, because so many of their countrymen have already gone through the system. In general, Filipinos endure the longest lines; the USCIS is now processing cases for married Filipino children of U.S. citizens who applied back in January 1985.

Starting in 1994, there was another way to skip the line: The Diversity Lottery, a program designed to favor regions like Africa and Europe, which have fewer green card seekers. Last year 5.5 million people tried their luck for about 50,000 green cards.

Event: The Impact of Post-1965 Immigrants on New York City – And Vice Versa - 10/25

GOTHAM’S NEWEST NEWCOMERS:

The Impact of Post-1965 Immigrants on New York City – And Vice Versa

October 25^th, 6:30 p.m.—Auditorium

CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street.

FREE but registration is required.

To register: call 212-817-8215 or email continuinged@gc.cuny.edu.

Reservations will be honored until 6:25 p.m.

We are in the middle of one of Gotham's greatest immigration waves, triggered by the 1965 immigration law. Our distinguished panelists will analyze how the newcomers have experienced, and transformed, the city.

First experts with a general and comparative focus – Nancy Foner (Hunter College), John Mollenkopf (CUNY Graduate Center), and Joseph Salvo (New York City Department of Planning) – will provide overview perspectives.

Then specialists on particular immigrant populations – Vilna Bashi on West Indians, Ramona Hernandez on Dominicans, Madhulika Khandelwal on South Asians, Peter Kwong on Chinese, and Robert Smith on Mexicans – will discuss their group's unique experience.

Finally, an interactive conversation between all the participants will be moderated by Maria Hinojosa, Anchor, Latino USA on NPR and Senior Correspondent, NOW on PBS.

The History Forum showcases the best new work on New York City history. The Gotham Center for New York City History was founded by Mike Wallace, Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.