Despite the disgraceful flood of illegal immigrants that our government tolerates with scarcely a peep, and despite the humiliation of Iranian President Ahmadinejad condemning America on our own soil, I heard this morning perhaps the most embarrassing story yet about American immigration policy.
A friend-of-a-friend who is a native Iraqi has been working for Coalition forces in Iraq as a translator for more than three years and has been denied a visa to come live in the United States. Apparently our policy is to only allow visas for Iraqis who have worked for the Coalition for five years or more, and this policy is shameful. This fellow has risked life and limb to help America and our allies for three years, and now he and his family will essentially be forced out of their own country in 2008 when his job as a translator will end.
Without US protection he and his family will be in constant danger from Iraqi "insurgents", so my friend-of-a-friend has to move somewhere. Since he isn't going to be allowed to come to America, he's planning to move his family to Turkey. If I were him, this slap in the face would forever sour my perception of America.
Part of the reason America isn't well-respected in the world these days is because we reward people who hate us and ignore (or worse, punish) people who help us. This Iraqi translator risked his life -- and his family -- to help his country and ours, and I can't think of anyone finer to accept into our American family.
American immigration policy is a disgrace on many levels, but if we're going to turn a blind eye to the millions of criminals who flout our immigration laws we should at least be generous to people like this Iraqi translator who put their lives on the line to help us.
I've always thought that our immigration policy was completely backwards. This is merely another instance of that.