🚀 go-pugleaf

drydem@erols.com wrote:
: Well someone ask where is the best place to settle in the US?
: well i suppose if you come in as a legal immigrant then you will have
: to deal with the USA immigration Naturalization Service Regional Offices
: (there are I think 33 regional offices in the US) well here is an
: article you might want to know...

: IF  You  immigrate to U.S.  you should know that  the service provided
: by the
: U.S. Immigration Naturalization Service differs regionally...so say an
: article in the
: Washington Post....

: Sun, Lena H.  "Immigration Agency's Geographical Distinction: Dealing
: with service can be a Pleasure or a Pain depending on Whether you Live
: in D.C.  and Va.  or Md.   The Washington Post,
: July 8, 1996. Monday. Metro Section pages B1,B5.

: Summary:  Although  the Baltimore Maryland and Washington DC/Alexandria
: Northern Virgina INS offices have the same case load , immigration
: Lawyers say that the Baltimore Maryland Office "has earned a reputation
: as a responsive, smoothly run operation. The Washington office, which
: handles thos in the District an Virginia is known as just the opposite
: That means area immigrants receive radically different treatment from
: the same federal agnecy based simply on where they live."   The
: Baltimore INS office was the first INS office to be automatated.  This
: allowed  the Baltimore INS office to  become "the only INS district in
: the country with a direct-mail system that sends the labor-intensive
: green card applications to a regional INS service center, freeing
: clerical staff members to focus on other tasks"; the other INS offices
: do all of its own paperwork - which causes the delays and backlogging.
: In 1996, the Washington DC office has just installed a computer system
: and hopes to cut the green card time to four months.  Some immigration
: lawyers point to other problems with the Washington DC INS office:
: government officials accepting bribes , approval of false documents for
: green cards, higher workload, and high INS caseworker turnover.
: According to INS officials the Washington DC INS office is more typical
: and reflects "the agency's decades-long bias emphasizing law enforcement
: over service to immigrants, who pay fees to the INS for everything from
: work permits to citizen applications."

: Lena H. Sun is an excellent investigative reporter for the Washington
: Post. She was kicked out of the PRC for her  unflattering  portrayal of
: the Chinese mainland.  I would like to thank the Chinese Communist
: Party  for sending  Ms. Sun back to the Washington DC area where her
: talent are very much needed.

	A few years ago I had to deal a bit with an INS office in
	California when I married a woman (Kate Ren Shu-ying) from the
	PRC who just came here and disappeared (from her view the marriage
	was a fraud). She surfaced in Reno, divorced me and went to the UK
	with the man who went to Reno with her and may have accompanied her
	on the plane from HK to SFO. I had really believed in the marriage
	but had never met anyone from the PRC before. Really stupid, in
	hindsight, of course. Anyway, I noticed in the INS office that
	most people there sought out and would wait for someone with a
	face most closely resembling their own. This turned out to be not
	only because of language; it was necessary to get any answers or
	even forms at all.  The lines into the office could be at least
	a block long and getting a day off to go to the INS office was
	a real problem for hourly workers.

	One of the roots of these problems is that Congress mandated a
	very high immigration level, but didn't vote the INS the money
	to handle the caseload. Because of this the US is not only getting
	some of the world's most intelligent, decent, and hard-working
	people, it's also has become a Heaven for persecuted crooks from
	everywhere.  Both the service to immigrants and the 'bias toward
	law enforcement' are necessary. It doesn't make sense to be a
	haven for criminals nor does it make sense to dump on ordinary
	people who will become citizens and our neighbors.

	Hugh ---