9/11 ruined our lives too

It's the 20th anniversary today and I just can't turn on the TV. It really does feel like it just happened yesterday and it won't ever not feel like yesterday for people of a certain age who were watching it live on TV. Of course, I can't even imagine the horrors and grief that those who were directly affected by it feel and I won't pretend to.

Since this is the Dream Act forum however, I'd like to point out that we are an indirect casualty of what happened as well. I know if a non-dreamer reads this they would say "how dare you make this about yourself!" but the draconian anti-immigration laws and anti-immigrant sentiments following the attacks still have a direct impact on the dreamers and certainly all undocumented immigrants.

Before the attacks, life was not that hard. Sure we all wanted to get legal status and that part was hard but adjustment of status was much easier until 245i put a cut off date on it, and the 1996 law was a kick in the nuts, but for the most part, undocumented people could get a Driver's license, bank account, fly, etc. and not be in constant fear.

Most importantly, the whole attitude towards immigrants was different...well outside of ultra conservative circles at least. The Dream Act was introduced in April of 2001, and there was a lot of talk about immigration relief.

After the attacks, things changed overnight. Conservatives jumped on the pro-immigrant democrats blaming them, and law after law was passed, policy after policy was enacted to make life as hard as possible for undocumented without mercy.

Our lives would be very different right now too in an alternative universe.

Yep, let’s not forget Bush was pro immigration reform and if not for the attacks, things could have transpired quite differently.

yuuuuup, fucking terrorizers.

Yeah Bush himself was never anti-immigration reform and was open to it. Before the attacks, I was at my lawyer's office with a whole bunch of options. As always he was like

................
June 2001
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"Why aren't you getting married? That's the easiest way"

"I have a girlfriend but we aren't doing that well. A lot of her friends are already telling her I'm only with her for a green card so I'm just trying to not even bring it up"

"Have you tried meeting a nice [my ethnicity] girl from California?"

"Well, my current GF is from my own ethnicity and I need another one of those like I need a hole in the head" - exact quote I told my attorney.

"Oh...Well, good new, all you need to do is finish school and get a work sponsorship. You mentioned your friend is a software developer and has talked to his boss about it? Just hurry up and finish school because you need a degree for that. There is also the Dream Act coming up...I'll see you then!"

.................
January 2002 at the lawyer's office:
.................
"Ok school is finished! Can I ask my friend to ask his boss about the sponsorship and we go forward?"

"NOOOOO! They're just arresting people left and right. I have a client similar to your situation and when he went in for an interview they arrested him on the spot. Of course, he was from Pakistan but still, it's just not safe to reveal yourself now. "

"what about the marriage thing?"

"That's still your best bet but I wouldn't even recommend that now. It's crazy out there, especially for people from your side of the world. Just lay low for a while".

He was not kidding either. I knew middle eastern people on student visas being asked to come in to register and they would go through all their bank statements looking for any sort of unusual activity. One of them had sold his car and they were asking him why he had a large deposit.

Not to mention the general mood was extremely anti-immigration. The airport security theater started, Real ID was soon passed after that and you know the rest.

Damn man you was just off by a few months.

The real disaster was the 1996 law that set the 3-10 year bars. The bars to provide a disincentive for people to overstay, but in reality it provided a disincentive for people to come back. As a result, the immigration population grew and people like Lou Dobbs made a name by riding the backlash.

Yeah and that law was signed by Bill Clinton, Mr. Compassion. That was a time when being tough on immigration was something both parties used though.

The 2020 pandemic ruined our lives. We aren't as important due to other pandemic related economic issues.
Immigration processing times are longer due to "worker shortage" fml