to lay out the foundation but i do think it should be required reading for policy which this will be '08 epidemic in the country. . >> we will it reduce you the of first-time author when did you come to the united states?. >> 1996 as a student from

mainland china. i became a citizen in 2013. >> when did you start that process to become a citizen? . so first is to maintain the legal status and immigration law is stacked against people like me who doesn't have a family because our immigration has to favor family-based immigration. i don't have a family here so i need to maintain my student status and an employer. that is the only way to became a legal resident is through employment. i got a job offer from citibank

and worked for several fortune 500 companies. daimlerchrysler, the supply of the visa is not the demand stuck in a space for five years and got married after that, became a us citizen through marriage. >> host: if you haven't gotten married would you still be in the system? >> probably not. by the end of the five you're waiting i ran out of options. you are talking about a hurdle. it is another hurdle. when you don't know how long you can legally stay, i cannot buy a house, the employer has to assume all legal costs and the risk to continue for the process

and the nominees waiting to do that so i am at the end of the rope, waiting, i will have to meet. >> host: helen raleigh, you write about your -- you write about this in "the broken welcome mat: america's un-american immigration policy," is the burden on employers to say yes, we want her to stay and they have to prove that you need to stay? >> the burden is on the applicants. this is another problem with the immigration system. somebody like me who has skill set that knowledge and education, masters degrees from the united states. i can't claim i want to be american, we don't allow people to do that in the united states. we need to find somebody whether

that somebody is through husband or employer or school, somebody has to sponsor me so our immigration system engenders dependency. we should have an immigration system engendered like in canada. i could easily apply for a green card. we are not allowed to do that in the united states. >> host: say you wanted to come from china to the us. can you get on a plane and fly here? >> several ways to do this. if you want -- you don't want to become an immigrant you can come as a student error as a temporary worker or -- through marriage, employments or family,

both employment and family, there is a long wait and based on the current status, the wait time, i want to sponsor my siblings. i want to sponsor my sister studying today. nobody will reveal her application case until 14 years from now. that is the weight for somebody from china. >> host: 14 years, is a different country by country? >> some countries like china, traditionally supply the country, a lot of immigrants, countries like the uk or european countries, it was shorter but complex process. >> could your sister come over before that 14 years is up to

visit? >> she got home to visit but it is -- to go to school, schools waiting, it is nonimmigrant so to say she has to find a job i have that. >> host: helen raleigh, what would you like to do, the broken system, how would you like to change it? >> there were several solutions, to make the system simpler, the roadmaps nobody could decipher, when you have a complex law, a federal judge joked our immigration law is so complex, it is more complex than the tax code. our tax code is pretty complex.

increases the wait time. they don't have means to go through the process. the second thing is we need to change from family reunion base to marriage based, focus on marriage. we have a need for it but we should have canadian style, australians kyle, skill-based, married focused immigration system that doesn't give premise to family but practiced people who have skills, knowledge that we need. this will create a whirlwind situation, bring somebody we need and that person will be successful so they can make a good living based on their skill set and knowledge. i also -- half the country to support this immigration reform we have to emphasize border

security, national security, those present a challenge. my only disagreement is we can't just toss voter security and national security in silos. it does not help our country, it is not helping immigrants and you lose the other half of the country. border security has to work hand in hand with making decisions easier. so people we want can come and benefit our country. >> what about increasing the h1 be? >> increasing the h1 be is an interesting question. if it goes to one of the problems with the system, our current system is the legacy of the 1965 immigration law. that tells you how old it is. we have not updated it since 1965.

quota was not set by market demand but based on reality. it was based on political calculation. whether we say 85,000 h1 b or 100,000 h1 be, where does the number come from? nothing to do with reality. based on market demand, based on market demand, look at countries like canada, australia, it is joint in government and private sector. so you know how many jobs, the skills they need on an annual basis. this way, two and apple seekers.

obviously remembers that. and get rid of the quota system. let the market tell us how many. >> was there any point in your process where you have taken a shortcut and been an illegal immigrant. >> there is no shortcut especially if you want to follow the law. and part of the system is present your finger prints. when i got married, that is the status change. and already 13 or 14 years in this process so every time i change that status and provide a

fingerprint, and another set of fingerprints. and first-class letters. and on this day, and this location to present fingerprints. and visit travel, the only way to communicate faster through first-class letters and i cannot make this, can you reschedule, i send my letter out and nothing happened. the second month, my first letter, my second letter rescheduling and nothing happens. it became a problem, the rest of the case, then won't reschedule me so i call and customer service members, can you help me

to make this? i was told no we cannot. we can only communicate first-class mail. we live in a country that is frugal, apple knows where i am at this second. our federal government, i cannot communicate to schedule a fingerprint easily. that shows how bureaucratic the system is. there is no shortcut really. >> host: could you -- let's go to the illegal immigration issue, 1986, immigrants, 11 million or so in the country now. >> i have a chapter, immigration reform, there are two populations, one -- talking

about this here and people continue coming here. people coming here, easier to deal with because that population has dropped 60% because of the rhetoric from the president. and other systems we can deal with, better border patrols etc.. based on my research, economical migrants, many do not -- the reason it stayed is it is difficult to get a temporary work visa. a lot of people if you have a hungry kid to feed, money to get married, you can't wait 70 years like i do, have to risk everything to do what we have to do. for this population right here the solution is not a path to

citizenship, don't have a criminal record, should not be deported, but offer temporary work visa. it is a student visa. they are immigration based, temporary visa. for people who eventually want to become immigrants, the other process to become legal immigrants but many want to make money and go home. we should make those things easier for them. this will be successful and we have done so. and from 1965, from mexico to the countries, to help with construction in dealing with periods, 6 million mexican

workers. and immigration down 90%. when they come here to do work they easily go back and come back, they do not have to bring their families here and indicates you can't get a cheap illegal labor, running the risk so fast. it is a whirlwind situation. we need something like that. based on market demand. to go to school. >> here is the book, "the broken

welcome mat: america's un-american immigration policy". helen raleigh, thank you for being on booktv. >> booktv is on twitter, join us to get author information and to talk directly with others during our live programs. twitter.com/booktv. >> we are exceptionally excited to welcome steve early, the second time we have hosted you. steve is here to talk about his book "refinery town: big oil, big money, and the remaking of an american city" about richmond, california. it is exciting to see good, well researched, deep dive into what works in organizing. one of the problems with our media landscape is could find 1700 pieces on what the president put out on twitter yesterdat