Attempts to immigrate legally hit obstacles

By Jay Apperson

Mahmood M. Al Helli lists his educational and work background: a degree from Baghdad University, a stint with his country’s Ministry of Electricity, and then a rise to deputy resident engineer for a firm working in Iraq with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is, he says, accustomed to putting in one 12-hour day after another.

But on a June afternoon – Day 35 as a legal immigrant to America – he bides time at a friend’s Carroll County home. He can’t drive anywhere, he says, because he can’t get a license without a social security number, and, to his frustration, he hasn’t been able to get one. And with no social security card, he can’t work.

“I’m stuck in the middle,” Al Helli, 35, says. He acknowledges that he’s just one of many recent arrivals in the system, but he’s thinking about going back to Iraq.

The list of legal issues facing immigrants is a long one. And satisfying the requirements that come with it – from the time preceding the journey to America through the day that one is naturalized as a citizen – is a challenge, experts say.

“There are a lot of just extremely complicated barriers and bureaucratic processes that are required to do even simple things, like applying for a job,” says Sara Kauffman, social worker at the International Rescue Committee’s Baltimore office.

In some cases, the questions facing legal immigrants in day-to-day life are essentially the same as for any Maryland resident. To enroll their children in school, they must offer proof of residence. If they can prove they’re here legally, they can obtain a driver’s license.

At the same time, immigrants must meet strict requirements to be here – requirements that vary depending on whether the person is a refugee or has been granted asylum, has an immigrant petition filed on his or her behalf by an employer or relative, or has another type of immigration status. Many seek the “green card” signifying permanent resident status. Some immigrants without a “green card” are allowed to follow a separate path to be authorized to work.

And day-to-day life can be more complicated for immigrants. For instance, the government-issued I-94 refugee identification document is not accepted by itself to apply for state identification or enroll in college, according to Kauffman.

As this maze is navigated, some immigrants fall prey to bad advice from “notarios” who pass themselves off as legal experts.

Patricia Chiriboga-Roby is a lawyer at Baltimore-based World Relief immigration clinic who was part of an effort to pass a state law to combat the problem of notarios. She says that while any given form can be filled out, unqualified advisors who don’t grasp “the big picture” can do irreparable damage.

Immigrants who are able to work must pay taxes as American citizens do. But Patricia Hatch, program manager for the Maryland Office for Refugees and Asylees, points out that because of changes to federal law in 1996 many immigrants are not eligible for such programs as food stamps for at least five years. She says the state has plugged some of those assistance gaps.

The Maryland Council for New Americans, formed in December by Gov. Martin O’Malley, is to present recommendations on ways to assist immigrants in getting jobs, becoming citizens and learning English. Topics being considered include immigrant access to government services, and workplace issues. The council is looking for ways to help immigrants – particularly those in fields, such as nursing, where shortages exist in Maryland – make use of their expertise.

Advocates say many immigrants with professional backgrounds are underemployed. Al Helli, who says he left his homeland because he feared being targeted for helping Americans, worries that his civil engineering degree from an Iraqi university won’t be enough to get work here. He expects to have to get training and certification.

“I’m just disappointed. But I know the rules here,” he says.

Even when the requirements for living and working in America are met, the final step in the process for some – gaining citizenship – is anything but fast, easy or inexpensive.

Flor Giusti, who came to the United States from Peru in 1991 but was not able to become a citizen until 15 years later, says that anyone who assumes that complying with the law is simply a matter of filling out a few forms is mistaken.

“That’s exactly how it doesn’t happen. It’s very cumbersome,” says Giusti, now director of a program that helps Spanish-speaking immigrants who are victims of domestic violence. “It is not as easy as, ‘I want to be legal,’ and complete the application.”

Jay Apperson is a freelance writer based in Parkton