A/N: Ok, So it is still Wednesday so I am not too late…although I did plan to post much earlier. I'm heading out on vacation so I'm going to give you two chapters today to tide you over a bi
Disclaimer: I am trying to give some context for the story with the chapter below but this is not intended to be a true educational platform for immigration or any particular policy. That said, I should give credit to my sources including the websites for the DNC, RNC and Tea Party for information on their platforms. I also used Wikipedia extensively, NPR, and for my research here. Of course, this may be fraught with mistakes so don't take my numbers as anything more than a sense for what is readily available to any person surfing this information on the web. And of course, things keep happening so just remember, this is fiction!
The past week had been an unusual one for Fitzwilliam Darcy and he was well and truly stumped. He had left the law clinic Thursday morning carrying with him images of Lizzy's deep brown eyes so full of sadness and fear. All day long, her drawn face, so different from the vivacity he had seen bursting from her the first night he had met her, flashed through his mind. Even his worries about Georgie could not overwhelm the concern he was feeling for Elizabeth.
He had learned a long time ago that life wasn't fair. If it was, his parents would still be alive and his sister wouldn't have found herself at the mercy of a manipulative man whose actions now caused her to question her every thought and decision. What was really frustrating him was that, in the span of a few days, he had been confronted with two life-altering problems, created by well-intentioned family, that would materially harm two beautiful young women. What was worse? The law, which he had faithfully studied, provided only barriers to resolution. William had always known that the law wasn't perfect. But this was the first time in his life he couldn't get the law to work for him.
After years of what might be called idol worship, Darcy was also discomforted by the frustration and anger he felt towards his father. It felt as though George Darcy was reaching back from the grave to direct his life, and he realized that he had grown beyond that kind of guidance. He had never met Lizzy's parents, but the decisions they had made 20 years ago had actually placed her in danger and his hours of research today revealed few if any options for her situation either. Well, in fact, there was one option that appeared to solve both problems: marriage. But that was ridiculous. He knew no one he wanted to marry and he was pretty sure Lizzy didn't know anyone she'd want to marry either. He had seen no evidence of a boyfriend in her life. He'd have to find that out. In any case, there needed to be some other path- he just hadn't found it yet. These thoughts were swirling around in his mind when he found himself on the steps of his uncle's Beacon Hill office Friday after his morning classes.
"Hi Clare, is my uncle around?" Darcy asked as he began to remove his hat and gloves.
"Good afternoon Mr. Darcy. He's in his office, returning some phone calls right now. Let me poke my head in and see if he can take a break. He hasn't eaten anything so maybe you can convince him to go grab lunch." Clare knocked twice on his door and opened it. Darcy watched as she slipped a note in front of his uncle. Henry Fitzwilliam twirled around in his chair, looked through the open door and waved at his nephew to come in.
As Clare slipped out of the office and passed William she whispered, "Remember, get him to go grab lunch."
"I'll do my best to pry him out of here," William responded in similar tones before closing the door behind him. He watched and listened as his uncle finished up his call, rubbing his hands over his face as he always did when he was frustrated.
Placing the phone down on the receiver and removing his headset, Henry smiled over at his nephew. "Well, you're a welcome surprise. If I'd stayed on that call much longer I was well on my way to seeing the rest of my hair turn gray. I'm glad I had a reason to hang up."
"Well, I'm glad my visit has already been helpful, because I need your help." William responded. "I understand you haven't eaten lunch yet and Clare gave me orders to get you out of here for a little bit. Do you have time to let me pick your brain while we grab a bite?"
"I'd love a break. Let's head over to Beacon Hill Bistro. They have this fantastic chicken BLT sandwich that would hit the spot." Walking out of his office, Henry Fitzwilliam headed towards the closet to grab his coat and hat. "Clare, my nephew accomplished your goal. We're heading over to the Bistro and will be back in an hour of so."
"Perfect. Enjoy your lunch gentlemen." Clare responded.
As they walked out the door, William began, "Uncle, do you remember a Professor Gilpin from your law school days?"
"Of course. Is he still alive? Well, I guess he is but, he must be nearing 80! He gave your dad and me a run for our money. He always seemed to know when we'd gone out for beers rather than prep our cases." Henry chuckled.
"Yes, and he hasn't changed. I'm actually working on a project for him right now that I'd like your thoughts on."
"Is he still focused on immigration law?" the Senator asked.
"Yes, and he's having me help out on a specific immigration case. Our immigration laws seem to be a complete mess. I was trying to understand the various policies and positions of our government on immigration right now and perhaps, when and if they might change."
"Well it's a nettlesome problem and incredibly frustrating to work on. There's some very strong opinions and emotions running through this country on immigration policy. Nothing significant has been passed on this topic since the 60's. In the 80's and in 1990 there were some revisions, mostly increasing the number of visa's, and dealing a bit with border security, enforcement and illegal immigrants but nothing truly comprehensive. And Obama has granted some temporary amnesty on deportations of kids. What are you focused on? There's a bunch of pieces to this - border control, skilled worker visas, what to do with illegals, and more."
The two men arrived at the Bistro and were relieved to see that there were a few tables available. "Good afternoon Senator. It's wonderful to see you again. Do you have a preference as to where you'd like to sit?"
"Afternoon Laura. I'd prefer something away from the windows if possible. My nephew and I would love a little privacy to the extent possible." Henry responded.
"Of course gentlemen, the table in the corner is available." The hostess responded. "Do you gentlemen also know what you'd like for lunch today? I can put the order in and then we won't have to disturb your discussion."
William quickly perused the menu while his uncle put in his order.
"Alright. We'll have your drinks out shortly." Laura said with a smile and headed off to the kitchen with their orders.
"Now where were we?" His uncle asked.
***************** Please note that the next section is my reading of the information I found on various websites listed in the A/N above *************************
"So the issue I am focused on has to do with illegal immigration. In particular, overstaying a visa."
"Well, that one is a little easier. Our policies are completely unforgiving for people who enter this country illegally. At least if you enter the country legally, you're viewed as having gone through our security checks so you're less a 'risk to the rest of us.'"
"Can you give me a little context for what is happening in DC?" William asked.
"Well, nothing has actually happened in over a decade. You see most of my colleagues want to do something about immigration. The issue for a lot of us is around getting people into the system, participating, paying taxes, reporting crimes, making it easy for people with specialized skills to get to the US. Many see it primarily as a growth issue. Others see it primarily as a security issue: secure the border, protect jobs for the American's who are here legally, etc. Then, there is a lot of gray in the middle. When you speak with most people about immigration, there is not a lot of understanding about how our policy has evolved and they are scared of the implications of changing the rules." The Senator started.
"Can you give me a sense of who gets visas and who doesn't? How do we decide who can come and stay and who can't, aside from the obvious security risks." William asked.
"Well, there are two basic principles that overwhelmingly guide our immigration system: connect families and bring in labor talent where we need it. That pretty much uses up all of the visas and green cards we can legally issue. We give out 480,000 visas a year for family-based immigration. On the labor talent side it's a barbell. We have migrant farm workers and highly educated scientists and similarly highly desirable talent. My recollection is we give out 140,000 visas a year for employment-based talent and we basically give them all out in one day each year. Then we go another 364 days until the next round of H1-B visas come available. There are other kinds of shorter-term visas, mostly for education."
"How about green cards? Where do we stand there?" William asked.
"You might be surprised to know that we actually give out about a million green cards a year. That said, the queue for green cards is incredibly long for some categories and are pretty much spoken for by people who have existing family members in the US or those long-term visa holders that represent exceptional talent. Meanwhile we have an estimated 11mm or so people working and living in the US who are here in an undocumented basis and the number simply keeps growing." Uncle Henry offered.
"Do you think it will change in any way soon?" William asked.
"We thought we were getting somewhere in 2013 when we passed a bill in the Senate but then, Republicans got scared. If you check out the platforms for the various parties, the Democrats and the Tea Party have each articulated their positions. Republicans don't really have any current position statements on immigration reform on their party website. We really have been at a standstill for some time now. No one wants to be the politician that let in the person who took a job or became a terrorist. Bottom line is that even though the Senate has passed a bi-partisan bill that is pretty reasonable and tackles both security and visas, there is not enough momentum to get it passed through the House at this point. The key to most bills for illegal immigrants is to have them earn citizenship. The current proposals are centered on two years of college or two years of military service before applying for a green card. That said, increasing the number of visas for talented workers and finding a path for legalization for illegal immigrants isn't likely to get passed for some time so I wouldn't hold my breath." The Senator finished speaking shaking his head.
"That's what I figured from my reading but I wanted to double-check. " William sighed. "The one loophole I keep coming back to is family. That seems to be the way around the system, so to speak. If you have an immediate relative to sponsor you, you can at least, queue up in line." William said.
"Yup, you're right. That principle was established in the 60's and we have held fast to it ever since. Does your client have any immediate relatives who are citizens?" Henry asked.
"Younger siblings, the oldest of which will soon be 18 but my reading suggests you need to be 21 to sponsor someone." William sighed.
"That sounds about right." Henry answered. "So, what's your plan?"
"I don't have one yet. Maybe a student visa, just so she doesn't get kicked out of the country. It doesn't solve the long-term problem but it buys some time." William stated.
"Well, good luck. This young lady is fortunate to have you on her side." Henry smiled.
The two men finished up lunch and headed back to Henry Fitzwilliam's office. From there William headed back to campus to put his thoughts in order before his meeting on Tuesday with Professor Gilpin and Elizabeth.
Comments Please...They make me so very happy and actually do influence the writing of the story as this is a WIP. I've actually changed things based on your comments!