Immigrants who attempt to live in the United States legally are finding it difficult to obtain a Green Card due to the outdated system and backlog in cases.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Immigration has been a hot topic of late. But amid the furor over illegal immigrants, the plight of legal migrants caught in a system that is slow, erratic, and often unresponsive is largely ignored.

The result: talented, hardworking people who play by the rules are trapped in limbo, and even close relatives of American citizens may wait up to a decade to enter the US.

“Ten years is half of a lifetime for a child,” says Cristina Rodriguez, a law professor specializing in immigration at New York University. “The backlogs are keeping families apart and diminishing confidence in the system.”

Up to 12 million migrants are living without proper documentation in the United States.