Think You Can Beat the Immigration Maze?

Embark on this interactive, GIF-tastic quest for a coveted US green card.

Now that the White House plan for immigration reform has leaked, we have an idea of how the administration plans to deal with the 11 million undocumented immigrants now living in the United States: They would have to wait eight years with “lawful prospective immigrant status” before applying for a green card, and ultimately citizenship. Opponents are falling over themselves to portray it as amnesty, but the Obama plan shows the White House’s sensitivity to the “back of the line” question: How do you keep people who entered the country illegally or overstayed their visas from jumping in front of folks who have taken the legitimate route?

The thing is, the back-of-the-line concept doesn’t really apply here, because there is no single line—there are a lot of them, and most are frightfully slow. Depending on where you’re from, what you do, and whom you’re related to, your wait can range from a couple of years to interminable. Think you can find your way through America’s bureaucratic and political immigration labyrinth? Take this interactive for a spin:


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      We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

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      Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

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