A deliberate attempt to besmirch the USA

Jun 03, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
As a Guyanese living in the USA, I feel obligated to respond to a letter, “In pursuit of that US visa” by Frank Fyffe (Kaieteur News June 1). I assume that Mr. Fyffe either lives in some remote place in Guyana, or in some other country, as he refers to seeing a crowd outside the US Embassy some years ago on Main Street. This Embassy has been relocated to 100 Young and Duke Streets, Kingston for sometime now, and so I wonder what prompted Frank Fyffe to write this letter now?
Before I comment on his letter, let me educate Mr. Fyffe on some US Immigration facts.
The poem that’s written at the base of the famous Statue of Liberty reads in part: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.
As of 2006, the United States accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than all other countries in the world combined.
According to the Migration Policy Institute(http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/FS16_USImmigration_051807.pdf): “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that there were 1.1 million “immigrants,” (otherwise known as lawful permanent residents or those with “green cards”) in fiscal year (FY) 2005 and 1.3 million in FY 2006. However, this number does not accurately reflect actual levels of immigration to the United States. In reality, the actual annual level of immigration averaged about 1.8 million between fiscal year (FY) 2002 and 2006. The difference between the official figures and the more complete number is due to the nature of certain forms of temporary immigration and unauthorised immigration.”
They added that the true number of people who enter the United States each year who are likely to stay indefinitely average 1.8 million. This amount exceeds the average official number of yearly “immigrants” (1.0 million) by over 800,000.
In 2007 the number of international tourists to the United States of America is recorded to be over 56 million people who spent a record US$122.7 billion that year. New York City alone attracts over 35 million tourists annually (Wikipedia).
With this volume of people arriving every year in the USA, immigration professionals are well trained to screen-out those who may wish to enter the United States on a temporary visa, but intend to remain there illegally.
Now, let me deal with the imbecility of Frank Fyffe’s letter. The USA takes in an average of one million legal immigrants (with green cards) every year. Another 800,000 illegals either come in on temporary visas and stay on, or they cross the borders illegally without visas and remain here. In any event, the number of persons arriving in America illegally to live every year exceeds the total population of Guyana. Illegal aliens cost US taxpayers about US$100 billion each year, and that includes a conservative US$2.5 billion a year on health care; US$22 billion on welfare; US$2 billion on food-assistance programmes; and US$1.6 billion spent on the federal prison and court system for illegal aliens every year. Despite this, the United States of America still welcomes visitors and legal immigrants to its shores in massive numbers.
Since the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center towers and 3,000 innocent lives in 2001, a lot of new security measures have been introduced to keep out would-be terrorists and to secure the safety of Americans. So it is only
natural that persons applying for visas to visit the USA be subject to more intense scrutiny. And the terrorist activities by former Guyanese parliamentarian, Abdul Kadir; two other Guyanese, Russell De Freitas and Abdel Nur; along with Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, who were all arrested in 2007, and convicted for plotting to blow up the JFK Airport in New York, have now caused the US authorities to be more vigilant in screening persons from the Caribbean.
Mr. Fyffe is so out of touch, that he’s not even aware that persons seeking visas are given an appointment date for interviews. In his letter, Fyffe said, “People gather and line up outside on the road from as early as 5 o’clock in the morning for interviews etc., be it in sun or rain, no matter your illness, people from far reaching areas –like my friend – literally start travelling from as early as 2:00am, they stand in lines for long hours without eating (they are even afraid to do that), they must exercise extreme physical control since there is no public convenience anywhere around, and one is reluctant to leave and beg assistance elsewhere fearing their names/number may be called, thus losing their turn.
At the interview one is rejected almost on any or every ground from getting a visa. You feel forced to lie, even if you were lucky to receive a genuine offer from someone with full coverage.”
Frank Fyffe’s letter is a deliberate attempt to besmirch the United States of America, and I will not allow this to go unchallenged. Persons applying for US visas in Guyana, are given an appointment date for an interview to be conducted at the US Embassy. From interviews I’ve had with persons who visited the Embassy recently for visas, they all assured me that although the line may be long, the average time to get into the building was about 45 minutes. The waiting area within the Embassy is very comfortable and equipped with televisions; the US officials are highly trained career professionals who listened attentively, and ask lots of questions but were very respectful. This is a small price to pay for a chance to visit or to live in the greatest country God has ever created.
The areas that appear to cause some concern to those I interviewed, were:
Guyanese security employed by the Embassy, may need some sensitivity training in the way they interact with the already nervous people waiting in line. I was told the way they check documents prior to the interview is considered to be arrogant, intimidating, and an abuse of power.
They were acting as if they were the US officials in charge. This is reminiscent of the drivers of garbage trucks who deliberately and unconscionably block roadways to exercise their authority and importance to other road users.
The Guyanese security at the US Embassy must also refrain from asking individuals the status of their applications as they leave the interviews, as is reportedly being done now. It is simply not their business to enquire whether or not an applicant ‘get through’ with a visa.
The lack of privacy while interviews are conducted is another concern. Because microphones are used to interview applicants, it is very easy for others waiting in the interview area, to listen in to someone else’s interview because the television volume is set very low. Perhaps a better system needs to be put in place to offer more privacy.
But apart from this, the big disappointment to most is being turned down despite their good intentions.
I was a victim of this once before, but only because the Burnham Administration had requested that the US Embassy restrict the issuance of visas to Guyanese of fair complexion, and to Indo-Guyanese to avoid a mass exodus in the 70’s.
US Embassy officials have time-tested guidelines in conducting these interviews, and their duty is to always protect and preserve the good and noble image of the United States by being the professionals they are.
They will not risk their careers in a foreign country by treating people in a ‘shabby’ manner as Frank Fyffe suggests. Perhaps Mr. Fyffe should use the freedom of expression he has, to focus instead on the cancerous crime surge that’s destroying Guyanese lives and communities, instead of fabricating lies to justify his disgust because his friend may have been denied a US visa.
Harry Gill

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