Transcript - “Listening Time” Episode 143

Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast. Hey everybody, this is Conner, and
you're listening to Episode 143 of the Listening Time Podcast. I hope you're all doing
well. I hope you're ready to practice your English. As always, this episode will be good
practice for your listening skills, and you'll probably learn a few new words and
phrases.
So, in today's episode, we're going to talk about another controversial topic. I
think that's two in a row. This isn't normal for me. By the way, when we say “in a row,”
we're saying consecutive. So if I say, “two episodes in a row,” I'm saying two
consecutive episodes. So, the last episode and this episode are both about kind of
controversial topics. So, that's not normal for me. I don't usually do episodes on
controversial topics. But just by accident, it's happened. But that's okay.
In today's episode, we're going to talk about immigration. Don't worry, because I
don't have a strong opinion about this topic, so you don't have to worry about me
talking about how I feel about this, and other people are wrong, or whatever. No. I'll just
talk about the whole issue in general, focusing on immigration in the US, of course,
immigrants that come here.
And I'll talk a little bit about my experience with immigration because my wife
immigrated to the US. She's a permanent resident here now. And I'll just give you an
overview of this topic. The word “overview” refers to a general summary of something.
So I'll just kind of give you an overview about this topic. But I'm sure it will be
interesting.
And before we start, remember that if you want my help to understand English
speakers when they speak fast, then make sure to sign up for my membership, so that
you can get access to my Listening Practice Seminars, in which I show you the
di erent sound patterns in English that are hard to understand, and I help you
understand them. So, the link to that is in the Episode Description down below. That's
www.patreon.com/listeningtime
And of course, if you want my other podcast, my US Conversations Podcast, in
which I talk to other English speakers from around the country about di erent topics,
and I give you the transcript and give you the de nitions of key words and phrases that
we use, then make sure to sign up for that podcast. The link is also down below in the
Episode Description. That's www.patreon.com/USConversations
And please give this podcast a ve-star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and
write a review if you can, and share it with any other English learners that you know.
Alright, let's get started.
Okay, let's talk about immigration. So, as I mentioned, I'm not going to try to
present all of my thoughts and opinions, my stance on this. Your “stance” refers to your
position, what you believe about some topic. So, I'm not going to present my stance
here, some political stance, no, don't worry. I don't have a political stance. Like I
mentioned, I don't really have a strong opinion about this. But I want to talk about it
because it's always a topic that people discuss in politics, and just among each other
here in the US.
So rst, I want to make it clear that when people talk about immigration in the
US, they could be talking about two di erent things. They could be talking about legal
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 immigration or illegal immigration. And it's really important to understand this
distinction. Because I think many people in other countries, when they hear about this
topic in the US, they don't make this distinction. They don't understand if what's being
discussed is regarding illegal or legal immigration.
And I remember when I was living in Mexico, and I was talking to a student of
mine, and I don't remember what country they were from, but this student asked me
where I lived, and I told him that I lived in Mexico. And then, he asked me, "Wait, is it
going to be hard for you to go back to the US now because of the big border wall that
they're building?”
And I laughed… maybe I shouldn't have, but I laughed, because it was hilarious
to me that this person thought that me, a US citizen, that I would have trouble going
back to the United States, because of a wall being built. You can see that they had a
very di erent idea about what this wall was, than what it was in reality, right?
Obviously, there's not a big wall that keeps every single person out, US citizens, legal
residents, and just no one can enter into the country. Of course not. That's not what
this is about.
So, that's an example I can think of, of someone who doesn't really get the
distinction between topics related to legal and illegal immigration, because obviously, a
border wall would not keep legal immigrants out or citizens out. That wouldn't have an
e ect on that, because that's not what the border wall is meant for. Right? It's not
meant for legal immigrants or for US citizens, to not be able to enter into the country
again. Right? So, I want to really clarify that. And I want to talk about legal immigration
rst, and then illegal immigration.
So, legal immigration sucks. Let me just say it bluntly. When we use the word
“blunt," when I say something “bluntly," I'm saying it very honestly, in kind of… not a
pretty or nice way. I'm being blunt. And to be blunt, legally immigrating to the US sucks
if you don't live in the country, currently. If you live in the country, it can still suck, but
maybe less, because you're already in the country, maybe as a tourist, or a student, or
maybe you're in the country and you get married to an American citizen, a US citizen,
and then you are adjusting your status to become a resident. That still isn't fun, but at
least you're in the US living there while the process is happening.
But if you don't live in the US, and you're applying from abroad, from some
other country, it's a long, terrible process. I know this, because my wife did this. We
lived in Mexico when we did this, and it took multiple years to nish this process even
though my wife was married to me at the time. She was married to a US citizen, but it
still took us a long time to legalize her, so that she could live here.
Many people are surprised when they hear that, when I tell them that. They
assume that if you marry a US citizen, you can get residency pretty fast, even if you live
abroad at the time, but no, it doesn't work like that. That's why I say that this process
sucks. Because if you're not in the country, and especially if you're doing this residency
process because you got married to a US citizen, then this process can keep you apart
from your spouse, for example. Maybe he or she lives in the US, and you live in a
di erent country, and you're just waiting to get approved so you can go and live in the
US with them. That situation is terrible. It really is.
Thankfully, when I did this, when my wife did this, I lived in Mexico with her,
obviously, so we work together. But many times, people don't do this. The US citizen
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still lives in the US, and then the spouse lives abroad. And they're separated during this
process, and the US citizen has to travel to go see their spouse once in a while. And
it's not fun.
And so, this whole legal process is long, it's bureaucratic, it's hard. It seems like
it's something a lot harder and longer than it should be, particularly if you got married
to a citizen. Obviously, I'm talking about that, in particular, because that's my case, but
obviously, people do this process for di erent reasons, not just because they married a
citizen, right? But if that's the case, then it's probably even worse, waiting through this
process.
And in general, people in the US don't feel as negatively about legal immigrants,
of course, as they do about illegal immigrants. Because, of course, there's a huge
political debate about immigration, and about illegal immigration in particular, illegal
immigrants in the US. But I think that, yes, there are some people that still feel
negatively about how many immigrants come to the US legally, but I don't think that's
the majority of the people here. I think most people don't have a big problem with legal
immigration. They're more concerned about illegal immigration, right?
So, legal immigration is a long process. A lot of people hire lawyers to help them
with this. We didn't, but a lot of people do this. They have to wait and pay a lot of
money. And they have to do a lot of things and comply with all of these rules. And then,
eventually, hopefully, they become a legal resident in the US. But as you can see, it's
not fast and easy, and of course, that might cause some people to illegally immigrate
because of how hard and long it seems to do it legally. So, I'm sure that that pushes
some people to just try to do it illegally instead.
So, let's talk about illegal immigration. So, this can happen in a number of ways.
Some people can enter the US illegally by crossing the desert in the north of Mexico.
I'm sure some of you have seen this in movies or heard about this, where people are
crossing this desert in the north of Mexico. Sometimes, they hire people who we call,
“coyotes," coyotes in English, these people that smuggle people across the border.
When you “smuggle" someone or smuggle something somewhere, you are taking it
illegally or taking them illegally to some place.
So, people might hire someone to smuggle them across the border, or people
might do this on their own. And they might swim across the river that divides the
country. And this is a dangerous process. It can be really dangerous to cross the desert
and try to enter the US like that on foot. That's really hard. And you can imagine that
many people don't make it. In other words, they don't actually arrive to the border or to
the US. So, that's one way that people can come illegally across the border.
And maybe a more common way… I don't have the numbers here, so I can't say
for sure if this is more common or not… but I'm guessing a more common way is for
people to get a tourist visa, or maybe a student or work visa or something like that, for
the US, and then they come to the US, and then they just stay forever, instead of going
back home before their visa expires.
And this is something that can be tempting for people to do if they're already in
the US, and they just need to stay. They don't need to go anywhere. They can just stay.
Of course, life can get complicated after that, because they're not there legally
anymore. But they can make it work, many times. When you "make something work,"
we're saying that you make it happen, or succeed, or go okay, right? You make it work.
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 So, you can make it work. And so, that's a temptation that some people have, to
overstay their visa, as we would say, and maybe just stay forever. So, that's another
way.
And another way that people might immigrate illegally, is by faking a marriage,
meaning they get married to someone, but they're not actually acting like husband and
wife. They're just doing it legally to have the papers, and then they don't even know
each other and don't care about each other. They don't live together, or anything like
that. The foreigner pays the US citizen to get married to them, and then that's how they
do it. This might sound pretty strange to you, but I've met people that have done this. I
had a student that did this, and he told me all about it, how he was living illegally in the
US because of his fake marriage, right? So, this can happen. That's another way.
And one other way that people might come illegally… and this is probably a little
strange for a lot of you to hear… is that some people are just allowed to enter illegally.
Even though they don't have a legal document to enter, they might be allowed to cross
into the US. And this is something that I think we don't hear a lot about, but I know that
it happens, because I've seen reports of this where many people are just allowed into
the US even though they don't have a document to show that they have permission.
And then, usually, when they cross, they are assigned some type of court date
where they have to go to court and maybe discuss their case of why they should be
allowed into the US… or I don't know exactly, but something like that. But of course, it
would be easy for people to just ignore this and just go into the US and then live their
life. So, that happens, actually. So, these are some di erent ways that people
immigrate to the US without doing the legal process, right?
And, of course, there's a big debate about this, you've probably heard this
before. Some people are really against illegal immigration. Some people are not against
it. Some people are in the middle. A lot of people have an opinion about this. And, of
course, some of the things that people don't like about this is that illegal immigrants
might be able to live their life here without paying things like income tax, or things like
that, if they're working “under the table,” which means that they're working in an
informal way. They're getting paid in cash, maybe, and there's no record of their labor.
So, maybe they don't need to pay taxes on the money that they're earning, for
example. Some people still do, probably, but some people, maybe no.
Obviously, people always get scared about jobs being taken, right, that
foreigners will take their jobs, or that there are criminals coming in, or that people don't
assimilate to US culture. “Assimilate” means that you kind of adapt to become part of
that culture. So, people don't like when people come and don't assimilate. So
obviously, there are a lot of di erent reasons why people might not like this.
And then, some people might disagree, and they might want people to be able
to come if they want to work and have a good life and help their families out. And
people might think that it's good to let people come in, regardless of where they're
from, or their level of education, or whatever. Some people think that it's better for
people to come, and it's not a problem, so to say. So, there are two di erent sides, two
di erent perspectives, of course. So, that's a little bit about illegal immigration.
And to close this controversial episode, which I hope isn't too controversial for
you, I wanted to mention, again, that I honestly don't have a strong opinion about this
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issue. I'm not just saying that because I don't want to o end people. I honestly don't
have a strong opinion about this.
I think if I try to form an opinion, I guess I would say that I want people to be
able to come here if those people come with good intentions and follow the rules, and
at least try to adapt and, you know, just want to come to have a better life. I want those
people to come. But of course, I don't want people to come who are bad people and
who are criminals, or who will abuse the system, take advantage of the system, or
whatever.
I think a lot of people would say this, and it's not a very political opinion. I think
it's just me talking about what I wish would happen. I don't know how that could
happen. I don't know of a process that would perfectly discriminate against bad people
who want to do bad things, and also allow all the people with good intentions to come
in. I don't know. I'm just expressing an opinion because you probably want me to give
an opinion about this. But I honestly don't have a strong political opinion about this.
So, I just wanted to talk about this issue in general.
This will always be a debate. I don't think this debate will end ever. And this is a
debate in many countries. Maybe in your country where you are, this might be a
political debate there, too, about what to do about illegal immigration, let's say. But just
remember, when you hear things regarding this in the US, that there's a distinction
between legal and illegal immigration. It's important to know what's being discussed. If
they're talking about a big wall, they’re talking about illegal immigration, right? If they're
talking about green cards, or visas, or things like that, then they're talking about legal
immigration. So, there are two di erent topics here. Right?
So, I think that's it for today. I won't talk any more about this. That's pretty much
a general overview of this topic. And I'm sure a lot of you have stronger opinions than I
do about this. And that's okay. And of course, I hope this episode was helpful for your
listening, and that you're starting to understand more English from listening to these
episodes, and I hope you're learning a lot of new words.
And if you want to practice with my advanced episodes, you can also do that by
becoming a Listening Time Family Member. As I mentioned before, the link to my
membership is down below in the Episode Description. And if you feel ready to
practice listening to two people talking, instead of just one, then make sure to sign up
for my US Conversations Podcast. It's a lot of fun. You'll really enjoy those
conversations that I have with other English teachers from around the country. The link
is also down below. That's www.patreon.com/USConversations
And as always, please give this podcast a ve-star rating on Spotify or Apple
Podcasts and write a review, and share it with any English learners that you know.
Alright, thank you for listening to this episode, and I'll talk to you on the next episode of
Listening Time.
*Get my training and advanced episodes: www.patreon.com/listeningtime
*US Conversations Podcast: www.patreon.com/USConversations
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