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:


+ ( (row.sourcing && row.sourcelink)
? ‘

Source: ‘ + row.sourcing + ‘


: ” )
+ ”;
},
clean_slug: function(slug) {
return slug.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, ”).toLowerCase();
},
make_connects_data_from_row: function(row) {
var connections = [];
var connects_to = row.connectsto.split(that.separator);
var connects_labels = row.connectstext.split(that.separator);
for (var i = 0; i ‘);
control_container.append(that.create_back_button_elem());
control_container.append(that.create_reset_button_elem());
return control_container;
},
create_back_button_elem : function() {
back_button_elem = $(‘

  • Back

  • );
    back_button_elem.click(function(){that.back();});
    back_button_elem.addClass(‘cyoa_top_controls’);
    return back_button_elem;
    },
    create_reset_button_elem : function() {
    reset_button_elem = $(‘

  • Reset

  • );
    reset_button_elem.click(function(){that.reset();});
    reset_button_elem.addClass(‘cyoa_top_controls’);
    return reset_button_elem;
    },
    create_page : function(page) {
    that.story[page].element = that.create_page_element(page);
    that.story[page].element.addClass(‘cyoa_hide’);
    if ( that.control_location === ‘bottom’ ) {
    that.story[page].element.append(that.create_controls());
    }
    container_elem.append(that.story[page].element);
    },
    create_page_element : function(page) {
    var page_obj = that.story[page];
    var content = page_obj.html ?
    page_obj.html :
    page_obj.img ?
    ‘ :
    page_obj.text ?

    ‘ + page_obj.text + ‘

    ‘ :

    No content provided. That’s unfortunate’;
    var element = $(

    ‘ +

    ‘ +
    content + ‘


    );
    element.append(that.create_selection_buttons(page));
    return element;
    },
    add_to_path : function(page) {
    path.push(page);
    if (path.length > 1) {
    back_button_elem.removeClass(‘disabled’);
    reset_button_elem.removeClass(‘disabled’);
    }
    },
    create_selection_buttons : function(page) {
    var controler_container = $(‘

      ‘);
      var choices = that.story[page].connects;
      if ( !choices ) { //must be the end of a line
      return controler_container;
      }
      var bind_control = function(choice, control) {
      control.click(function() {
      that.add_to_path(choice);
      that.display_page(choice);
      });
      };

      for ( var connect in choices ) {
      var decision = choices[connect];
      if ( !that.story[decision.link] ) {
      continue;
      }

      var control = $(‘

      DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

      Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

      And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

      It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

      payment methods

      DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

      Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

      And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

      It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

      payment methods

      We Recommend

      Latest

      Sign up for our free newsletter

      Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

      Get our award-winning magazine

      Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

      Subscribe

      Support our journalism

      Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

      Donate