Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with the entire fifth grade class at Clark Elementary in near St. Louis County and discussing how the immigration process works. Â The boys and girls have been studying about Ellis Island and the history of early immigrants in America. Â I was able to provide historical context and to explain how immigration has become much more complicated.
We talked about non-immigrant visas and how people can come to the US on a temporary basis as visitors, workers or students. Â We discussed lawful permanent resident status and citizenship. Â We talked about passports and visas. Â Many of the children had passports and had used those passports on overseas trips. Â I spent a lot of time explaining to the boys and girls about how the federal government has a lot of rules regarding how people can come to the United States. Â I talked about how our office helps people to navigate the immigration system and to teach them about the regulations and laws that apply to their cases.
We spent a little time talking about deportation. Â I actually had a bit of difficulty explaining to the children how deportation works and what our firm's role is in that process. Â I settled on telling them that everyone involved in the deportation process has a role and our job as advocates for our clients is to do everything possible to protect their rights and to make sure that every rule was followed. Â Not a bad way to articulate our job after all!
The highlight of the visit, of course, was the amazing questions that I received from the children. Â They were very engaged and asked the same types of questions that adults ask when they come to see us. Â Although we had plenty of "what if" questions, substantive questions abounded:
Fantastic questions all around. Â Definitely the highlight of my week.