His case was different in the amount paid to an immigration atty (only $3500), but what set me off like I have never been before and which scared me to know I had it in me was seeing the 3rd-world lines move fast with very few questions asked. I was in the INS line with him for 5 hours while I watched hundreds of 3rd-world applicants move ahead in minutes. (We took turns holding the place in line but the INS staff later said we couldn't do that. Worse yet alot of 3rd-world people in back of us were pulled out and put towards the front of other lines when they showed proper paperwork.)
Some of the INS staff would come out into the line areas to check paperwork ahead of time. They would ensure there were interpreters for 3rd-world types, and that there papers were in order. I am a stickler for paperwork and I helped my friend assemble his package. Just to get the forms was an enormous hassle, and then we were told the forms were incorrect. When I pointed out they were the same as the 3rd-world group in front of us, the INS guy said "I'm telling you that's not the right form!". When I asked him where could I find the "correct" forms package, he said I would have to call the same number and request them by mail (which took weeks). I asked "why don't you just put the forms out here in the lobby area where people can access them?". He said "it's the law". I told him "it's not law, it's policy!".
Weeks later after getting another forms package in the mail (which was identical), we went back and waited with the same forms package, and this time no one said they were incorrect. We waited 4 hours (2 hours on the street before opening and 2 hours inside) before getting to the clerk counter. The INS clerk (yep, with an accent) starts shuffling through the paperwork glancing at us repeatedly and then gets to the fingerprint card. Now the instructions on the fingerprint card are very explicit (coming from the FBI) and suggest the local police department be used to do the fingerprinting. The instructions state exactly how the prints need to be. (We had stopped at a police station that was experienced in doing fingerprints for INS and they assured us that his fingerprints were done correctly.) The INS clerk told us that the fingerprints were not done correctly.
At the sametime in the next line was a family from Ecuador at the counter with another INS clerk. Their papers for all their family members were stamped with hardly an inspection. I could not believe my eyes. I went into near shock as it suddenly dawned on me that this was a setup. Standing at the counter, my friend looked at me helplessly holding the fingerprint cards for me to look at, which I did again, and thought they were fine. The clerk looked at us and said he will have to have them redone and began motioning for the next person in line.
What happened next is something people well remember for a long time. I (at that time, politically inactive and moderate in views) was overcome with emotion and I did something completely uncharacteristic. I slammed my fist on the counter and began screaming with my full force. I told the clerk if she didn't get this matter settled immediately I was going to crawl all over her "like a tarantula". She said she would contact security. I said good and contact the newspapers too. Her supervisor came out, he was the same dingbat that told us weeks earlier that the forms package was incorrect. I realized the day's battle was lost, I regained some composure and stormed out of that place in a fit with my friend in tow. Looking back over my should I saw 2 well-dressed men (I foundout later they were senior regional INS directors ) walk behind us and the last thing I heard was "I hope they are not too angry".
We went that same day to an INS atty and vented. The atty reviewed the paperwork and said it was Ok. I asked repeatedly what the hell is going on? She said don't worry, let's concentrate on getting your friend through the process. She setup an appointment for the next week (note we had been told over the telephone that appointments were not being made at the time).
The atty walked my friend right past all the counters into an interviewer's office. I waited outside. 15 minutes later he and she came out and he went to get his picture taken for an alien registraton card.
This whole lightning induced conversion episode started me on the road to becoming a hard right persona. I realized then and subsequently that the country is under attack from within. It still is.
The story is similar. I'd love to tell the name of the elected official who finally helped my friends, but I cannot; and he'd probably deny it anyhow. It's a name you would recognize. He had been my friend's employer many years before when both were in private business.
No word of his help has ever been spoken and the two men have not spoken for at least 20 years. But the green cards came in the mail promptly after my husband's letter.
Our friend did not know we had contacted this individual until just a year or so ago, because such a fuss had been made about not seeking help from elected individuals. There are other elected folks that could have helped our friends, but my friend was extremely reluctant to ask. He was well known, and he kept his immigration problems a secret from all but us. It almost drove him into bankruptcy.
I pity any human being that has to deal with the INS.