Letter from Boston Visa Problems in America By MASAKO YAMADA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
在米外国人のビザ問題 アメリカの移民法は、改正を重ねるごとに外国人に対して厳しくなってきています。そのため、外国籍を持つ雅子さんの友人の多くも、アメリカの大学を卒業後、残留してアメリカで働きたいと思ってもビザの関係で定職に就けないといった悩みを抱えています

I was wandering around at a local mall a few weeks ago when I caught a glimpse of an old friend from college. She was always very beautiful, and she caught my eye that day partly because there was an attractive aura about her in the bustling mall. I ran into her a year ago on a street near my apartment, too. She seemed unsure of her future back then, and she seemed no closer to being confident of herself now. She wasn't able to find a full-time job after graduation, so she was supporting herself by working part-time as a salesperson at a store in the mall (and also by living with her ex-boyfriend). Her student visa having expired, and her temporary manual training visa rapidly nearing expiration date, she said she would probably have to leave the U.S. this summer.

I have many foreign friends who have struggled with similar problems. For instance, one of my classmates got married in China during last summer vacation, and tried to come back to the States with his new wife. Her application was denied by the American Embassy, however, and she was forced to remain in China while he came back to the States himself. For half a year, he worried about almost nothing else. He cut his classwork to a minimum, and did everything he could to try to get his wife over. He was on the verge of giving up, going back to China, and taking a long vacation, but, luckily, his wife was finally given permission to come to the States.

The new problem is that under his visa, she — a college-educated working woman in China ― is not allowed to work here. Since there is the problem of her not being able to speak English, it seems that my classmate has a whole new set of problems to worry about. Many of my male classmates with wives have similar stories.

Another friend of mine from Wellesley — she is working at a hospital now, but is applying to go to medical school next year — also has a visa that is going to expire soon. She's not worried that she'll be kicked out of the country, but she is worried that if she leaves, she won't be able to re-enter. She's been living here since high school, but until she's granted a new visa, she's not going to be able to work in the States for a salary. She could do volunteer work here for free, but that obviously won't cover her expenses. I think she'd rather take out a loan to cover her living expenses until she gets a new visa, than risk going back to her country.

Since I have legal permanent residency in the States, I can take for granted that I'll always be able to work here. However, many of my classmates constantly fear not being able to stay here after graduation. I see a lot of news articles about illegal aliens and how the U.S. welfare system can't support them (some even say that the country can't support the legal immigrant population), and I have to agree that it can't go on forever accepting everybody who yearns to breathe free. However, I never really realized that these rules apply to my friends with doctorates.

Actually, now that I think about it, I realize that these problems have always been intertwined in my childhood. Most of the Japanese mothers that I knew growing up near New York were housewives who didn't work. Many of them were active in the PTA, or in pursuing hobbies, but I didn't see many female role models who balanced a family and their own career goals. I know that even college-educated women in Japan often choose to quit their jobs after they get married and have kids, but I think the situation in New York was extreme, and I realize now that it's because these women don't have legal working rights in the States. It's hard to feel sorry for these housewives when there are many women who perform back-breaking labor who would love to be in their shoes, but I couldn't help feeling disturbed that they weren't allowed to work.

It's easy to dismiss what happens on evening news as Fables from TV-Land, but I've seen so many of my peers struggle with the legal issues of living in the States that I realize that immigration problems are not restricted to the poor or to the uneducated.

Shukan ST: July 3, 1998

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