Miguel had waited long enough. Every morning, he left home at 4:30 AM, working grueling 14-hour shifts in construction while his contractor deducted endless “fees” for housing and transportation. He wasn’t just working to survive—he was waiting, hoping that somehow his undocumented status would change.
For years, he believed he had a legal path forward. He paid taxes, stayed out of trouble, and even consulted an immigration lawyer once. The answer was always the same: “There’s no way for you to fix this.” His only choice was to keep his head down, live in fear, and work without the protections afforded to those with legal status.
Miguel’s story is not unique. It’s the reality for millions of undocumented people in the United States. The popular narrative—that they should just “do it the legal way”—assumes that a straightforward path to citizenship exists for everyone. But what if that path is an illusion? What if the system itself is so broken that the “legal way” is, for most, a dead end?
The Myth of the “Line”
Ask the average American about immigration, and they’ll likely repeat a familiar refrain: “Why don’t they just get in line?” It’s a reasonable question—if only such a line actually existed.
In reality, the “line” for legal immigration is a bureaucratic maze with wait times stretching decades. As of 2024, there are more than 7.6 million people waiting in backlogged visa categories, with some family-based green card applicants facing wait times of 20 to 30 years.
“The idea that there’s an easy, orderly process for immigrants to follow is a fantasy,” says Hillary Walsh, founder of New Frontier Immigration Law. “For most undocumented people, the legal system isn’t a pathway—it’s a brick wall.”
Take, for example, the employment-based green card system. A highly skilled worker from India might wait over 150 years for a green card under current caps. If that’s the wait for a doctor or engineer, what chance does a working-class immigrant have?
The Reality of Humanitarian Immigration Cases
Even for those who qualify under humanitarian protections, the road is fraught with obstacles. Survivors of human trafficking can apply for a T visa, but the system is so slow that it can take over five years just to get an approval. Similarly, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) offers protections for abuse survivors, yet many live in fear because of case backlogs and administrative red tape.
Walsh has seen these failures firsthand. Her firm has helped thousands of immigrants secure relief, yet she notes that the law often works against the very people it was meant to protect.
“Imagine surviving trafficking or domestic violence, finally finding the courage to leave, only to be told, ‘We’ll get back to you in five years,’” she says. “It’s unacceptable. The delays are not just administrative—they’re life-threatening.”
Legal Immigration: A System Designed to Exclude
America’s immigration laws were not written with fairness in mind. They were designed to control who gets in—and that control has historically favored certain groups over others.
Immigrants from countries with fewer historical ties to the U.S. face nearly impossible odds. As of 2024, a Mexican sibling of a U.S. citizen can expect to wait over 22 years to reunite with family legally. Meanwhile, diversity visas, which offer a limited pathway for immigrants from underrepresented countries, are capped at just 55,000 per year—a tiny fraction of global demand.
“Legal immigration is often a privilege of wealth, not just process,” Walsh explains. “If you have money, you can hire attorneys, invest in business visas, or navigate the system more easily. But if you’re a refugee, a farmworker, or a victim of trafficking? You’re on your own.”
The consequences of this exclusionary system are stark. Instead of seeking legal protection, many immigrants work under exploitative conditions, endure abuse, or live in constant fear of deportation. They don’t “do it legally” because the legal system was never designed for them in the first place.
America’s immigration debate is often framed in simplistic terms: legal vs. illegal. But what happens when the legal path is blocked, broken, or simply nonexistent?
The truth is that undocumented immigrants are not defying the law—they are trapped by it. The system isn’t failing because people are bypassing it. It’s failing because it was never designed to work for them in the first place.
“We need to stop pretending that ‘just do it the legal way’ is a solution,” Walsh asserts. “If we actually want immigration reform, we have to start by acknowledging that the ‘legal way’ is a dead end for millions.”So the next time someone asks, “Why didn’t they do it legally?” the better question might be: Was that ever really an option?
