Where are Africans in all this?

I read today's column by Thomas Friedman, it could be easily retitled the case for a strong immigration. In his essay, in response on how to stimulate our economy, Friedman quotes Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express newspaper saying: “All you need to do is grant visas to two million Indians, Chinese and Koreans,” . And he goes on praising the Indian culture who believes that not paying mortgage is considered shameful. A thought came to my mind: what about my fellows Africans? Indians, Koreans and Chinese are recognized "worthy" of getting green cards but not Africans?
Well, not long ago I had lunch with a friend who informed me of a Madoffish scheme ran by some Kenyans here in our great metropolitan area: $15 Million in tax fraud conspiracy. You can enjoy the story here. Another source reveals the name of all the parties involved, all of them except one in their 20s or 30s, hard workers and very resourceful. After all, one needs to be very astute to come with a way to bereave Uncle Sam of $15 million U.S.
About a year ago, it was four Cameroonians who got themselves arrested in a bank robbery for half million dollar. It's truly unfortunate to see this immigrant generation whose parents (most likely) have sacrificed to send abroad to further up their education, who have taken upon themselves to give the best to their children and now have to suffer the humiliation to see their family names cited in those crimes.
There are so many of us African Immigrants here, doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, nurses, researchers and so on, why can't we get recognized for our hard work and have the same impact as Chinese, Indians and Koreans have in this country? I have no empathy for those criminals. They steal to keep up or impress the Joneses, to reflect a lifestyle that they'll see pass away from their jail cell. They buy big houses and big cars, my friend told me one of those Kenyans used to ride a hummer. May be a grain of sympathy could be uttered their way, were they building baseball field for universities like A-Rod.
Our economy is already in bad shape, Africa in a worse shape and we sure don't need scums like these to ruin it for everybody else who has come here in a hope of realizing their own american dream.

Immigration: My take on it

As a liberal conservative and an immigrant of this country, my points of view on immigration could be conflicting at times. I believe one of the strong appeals of the U.S. is their welcoming of foreigners. And of course as any country, not only do they have to regulate their immigration laws but also need to enforce them as well. Most illegal immigrants have not come here illegally, many come with a visitor status then decide to stay or get a student visa then forgo school. Thus finding themselves in very compromising situations.
There are many aspects on immigration that remain somehow "obscured" and lots of prowesses that Illegal immigrants deploy to "fix" their status. I know of one particular poignant, see disastrous story of such kind, it will feature in one my upcoming posts. Nevertheless, I'd like to bring to light a new kind of immigration path that, if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would implement it, could truly enhance the quality of immigrants in this country. I've often times thought about it when I was completing my undergrad degree, thought of me as a genius til I read a similar suggestion from Thomas Friedman last year (great minds think alike, uh). In his post, Friedman reports that he was at a commencement ceremony at one of America greatest Science and Technology school and as the students' names (Ph.D students) were read, he noticed all of them had foreign consonance “Hong Lu, Xu Xie, Tao Yuan, Fu Tang”, had he been at Park university, it would be "Peter Mwangi, Patricia Kengne, Michael Aboagye, Feneal Kromah", all of them from African ascents and titular of computer science degree. On the 55,000 immigrant visas that DHS distributes through its Diversity Visa Lottery, if only half of it could be granted to current international students who have completed their studies, this would guarantee an imperishable amount of human resources in Science & Technology and many others areas where there's shortage. Friedman even goes as far as suggesting that an Immigration Officer should sit during one of those ceremonies and affix those students' diplomas with a U.S Citizen status.
Now, what about cherries' pickers, cleaning engineers or grass cutters? Yes, what about all those blue collar workers who contribute so greatly to our economy? And no, they're not taking away jobs from Americans, they're filling up jobs that Americans do not want. They take of our elderly in nursing homes, they clean up our offices after business hours, they cut off our grasses, they serve us fast food at check out windows, they pay taxes by sending money to their family using American companies such as: Western Union or MoneyGram. I believe the American government should find a way to let them stay here, they should augment the number of H2B visas, and give taxes subsidies to company that recruit and sponsor them.
And yes, if an illegal immigrant commits a crime, they should be deported no question asked. If a legal immigrant commits a crime, they should be tried squared and fairly.