We The Legal

When we started We, The Legal we did so with the aim of defining the problem. Indeed, that was the name of the introduction episode!

Now, 4 episodes down the road we hope that we have conveyed the details, depth and disruption behind some of the most common issues in the employment-based legal immigration system that we have today.

We chose to be vulnerable, open, transparent. We picked guests who could provide a wide lens on the issues behind their professional facades and often significant accomplishments.

But, while the series of four episodes concludes with us tying up the loose ends, the issue goes on as does the endeavor we have embarked upon, to shine a light on the lives being lived on this path.

If you have been, thank you for listening to a podcast that gives everyday immigrants a chance to share their stories.

We want to hear from you, our listeners, no matter where you happen to stand on the arena of immigration. As an audience, a stakeholder, a curious bystander or out on the streets, far away from it all.

When Lisa arrived in the US in 2012, for a Masters' program, immigration was far from her mind. As the urgent knock of the real world intensified around graduation, it appeared that there would be a few steps in this process and by as long as the rules were followed, immigration would be mostly procedural.

Nearly 8 years after she first arrived, we talk to Lisa about the emotional toll of a turbulent immigration journey. We reconcile who she was, who she has become and what parts of herself seem to have been lost to this stressful path and what a threshold of tolerance might look like for her, when she reconsiders if the costs are worthwhile after all.

What happens to you, if you came to the US as a kid, along with your parents on a visa who decide to pursue life in the US long term?

The typical happy ending would be that you and your parents, become legal permanent residents and eventually, citizens by naturalization.

This idyllic happy ending though, is not the reality for applicants who are caught in the gauntlet of the Green Card backlog. For the children in these families that grew up with a sense of belonging to the US, the reality is more than just disappointing- it is destabilizing to the point of ripping families apart and utterly changing the course of life itself.

This past week, amidst discussions on the latest round of Covid-19 relief, a deeply important discussion, but largely unnoticed discussion took place in the Senate. Important enough that we have decided to take this week to pivot to the topic of the consequences that children of immigrants stuck in the Green Card backlog face.

One such child, whose life stands at the brink of this destabilizing reality, is 16 year old Sarvani from St. Louis, MO and this week, we introduce you to her life, her challenges and the cost that a fractured immigration has inflicted on her and her family.

Sandhya came to the US as a student, pursuing a non-STEM degree, not realizing the unfavourable immigration path this decision would put her on. The limited conversation around legal immigration, tends to be slanted wholly towards tech and tech-allied sectors, with immigrants in non-STEM sectors largely forgotten even in their own communities.

Later in life, Sandhya obtained a Green Card by marriage, a path that is considered almost a "shortcut" to American Permanent Residency, with those on this path subject to some poorly concealed prejudices.

She shares her journey on the two unusual paths she has inhabited, and shows us elements of the legal immigration process that even we aren't familiar with, making us as much of an audience as you!

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Sumit is the quintessential legal immigrant — a Silicon Valley techie. We talk to him about where the line is between immigration regulations governing the activities of foreign nationals like him, and life itself, being constrained by those very regulations.

He tells us his thoughts behind career choices, furniture purchases, and indeed, buying a car and home. In doing so, he shows us the many unintended consequences that current legal immigration policy can have in the lives of those that walk this path.

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It's hard to picture the extent to which government agencies and policies can pull the strings of life, until you lead the immigrant existence.

Immigration policies, some of them archaic and clunky, often end up impacting every aspect of an immigrant's life- from the roles one is employed in, travel plans and even something as mundane as renewing a driver's license.

So, what is living life in this framework like? What is the good, what's the bad?

We sit down with Arjun, a young tech professional and a friend from graduate school, to pull back the curtain on why he's here and what keeps him going, in the face of serious immigration-related challenges.

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Who is a legal immigrant? What are the paths to legal immigration in the US? Where do those that work in the US on visas, fit into all of this?

The introductory episode of We, the legal gives you clarity on these topics, breaking down the complexity of legal immigration into bite-sized pieces.

Note - We mistakenly referred to the USCIS as US Customs and Immigration Services. USCIS is, in fact, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.