Welcome to your first election!Beiruty wrote:My wife and I will be voters for the first time. We are voting Red. Not all immigrants vote blue. We registered in person too.
I remember when my wife and I were going through her immigration interview - hoping to get her work permit approved and/or permanent residency approved.
The guy told us that IF he approved her today, she'd have her green card (with restrictions) within a week or two. Then, she could apply to have the restrictions removed in 2 years, and then one year after that, she could apply for her citizenship. He sat back, smiling because he'd just laid out the 'golden plan' - the plan that everyone who comes to his office wants: she could become a citizen in just three years (She'd been here legally before that, but on a visa).
My wife sat forward and told him it wouldn't work. She really needed to vote in the fall of 2008. She needed to be a citizen before then (yes, she delivered this with a tounge-in-cheek attitude and a smile that could melt an iceberg).
He told her that it wouldn't be possible for her to vote in 2008, but we have elections all the time. She'd be able to vote as soon as she was a citizen.
"No, you don't understand," she said, "I need to vote against Hillary!"
(The current organizer-in-chief wasn't a contender at the time, be we all knew that the carpet-bagger was going to run.)
He sat back, arranged the papers on his desk, and said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but we're not allowed to discuss politics here (long pause) but I REALLY wish I could help you though, I really, really do ... but my hands are tied (he was choking back a huge smile by now).
Within about 2 seconds after that, he'd stamped her work permit as 'Denied', and then told her she didn't need a work permit...she was a legal resident now. He stamped that one with 'Approved'. shook her hand, and told her to never forget to vote once she was able to do so.
