In 1979, the Shah of Iran was overthrown by the fundamentalist Ayatollah Khomeini. The revolution led to many fleeing Iran, and seeking refuge in places like the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Arjomand, one such immigrant, left Iran with his family and ended up in America. The immigration process was not particularly difficult, as he already had a student visa and would later obtain a green card in the U.S., but the process of actually becoming a citizen was much tougher than he had anticipated. The immigration process is confusing and overly complicated for many, sometimes leading to one unknowingly overstaying their visa and becoming an undocumented immigrant. For Mr. Arjomand, this may have happened if it were not for his student visa. When filing for citizenship, he unknowingly did not file for Selective Services, and therefore had to wait until he turned 35 to become a citizen when he was no longer applicable for the military draft. Reflecting on the matter, he stated that the hardest part of immigration was just the process itself, as it was and still is an overcomplicated and flawed process, where little to no guidance is offered to applicants. It was not possible for him to re-apply or fill in what he didn’t know existed, forcing him to wait decades in order to become a citizen. 

Since the 80s, many immigration laws have changed, but many of the root problems still exist today. Some of the most prevalent problems that Mr. Arjomand faced still plague applicants today, such as immigrants living in the U.S. for decades without permanent residency, decade-long wait times, an overly complicated process, and many legal issues that require another party to aid in the immigration process. Other major problems today mainly revolve around businesses and how many different laws there are for different types of people from different backgrounds who all have separate laws that apply to them. This issue stems from the fact that virtually every immigrant has to go through a different process due to the reasons they’re in the U.S., their family, which country they’re from, etc. 

Modern immigration is primarily from Latin America, with Mexico alone accounting for roughly 25% of all immigrants coming to America; however, much of the issues Mr. Arjomand faced apply to many Latin American immigrants as well. Roughly 62% of all illegal immigrants overstay their visas. Although there are of course many that purposely overstay their visas to stay in the U.S., due to the overly complicated path to citizenship, there are also many who unknowingly overstay their visas and suddenly become illegal criminals Nowadays, it’s completely normal to have to wait decades to earn one’s citizenship with siblings and heirs of U.S. citizens from Mexico or the Philippines being an example of the flawed system. 

After all this, is it worth it to go through the headache of immigration? Many would say yes. Although the immigration system has lots of room for improvement, for many, it’s worth it. In the case of Mr. Arjomand, he went from nearly nothing to owning a real estate business and even ended up building his own home. This would be a dream come true for many stuck in the immigration process, and this anecdote illustrates that, in the end, it may all be worth it, but also shows how easy it is to unknowingly become an illegal immigrant. He could have been one of the 62% of illegal immigrants who overstayed their visas if his parents were not already citizens, and all from one mistake as a byproduct of the flawed immigration system.

Photo courtesy of Boundless