I have had conversations with people who like to say that all those people arriving at the Southern Border should enter legally like their family had done, but it is obvious that they really do not know what entering legally means since they do not realize, or chose not to accept, that the vast majority of those at the border are doing just that.

The usual response to having the number of those who reported to Ellis Island compared to those arriving and presenting themselves legally at Southern Border entry points is to brush past those facts and jump to bringing up those who sneak across avoiding the legal entry points as if that makes everyone there doing something illegal.

If that were the case, with 579,000 “illegal immigrants having come from Europe last count, that would mean all those coming from Europe must be illegal as well.

So, this is my public service explanation of how most people enter the country legally.

One of the most common ways to enter illegally, but safely, into the United States is through temporary visas that is allowed to run out with the holder disappearing into the shadows, or in some cases marrying a citizen.  There were 2.3 million immigrants on various temporary visas residing in the United States during 2016, half being temporary workers and their families, and 870,000 foreign students and their families. This foe not count those visa holders that are international students, exchange visitors, diplomats, and representatives of foreign governments and international organizations.

One way to gain the right to remain in the United States legally is to obtain a green card. After five years of being a legal resident of the United States, a person is eligible to apply for citizenship.

Getting a green card begins with an interview at an office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that most major cities have, Applicants must provide fingerprints, a photograph, and a signature prior to an interview to enable the department to conduct a background and security check.

The time between application and interview can range from four to 10 months. You may also be eligible for a green card if you marry a current citizen of the United States.

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If the immigrant has family in the United States, such as a parent, child or spouse, who is a U.S. citizen, they are eligible to become a citizen after holding green card status for five years and passing a language and civics test.

Spouses or children of a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) are eligible to immigrate to the United States, but can expect to wait an average of 13 years for this process to be completed.

Any person having a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent may be eligible to remain in the U.S. if your employer wishes to keep you on. Steep legal fees may be required, but if an employer can vouch for and prove that the person has special skills.

What is happening at the Southern Border may be different from that upon which people’s claims of family having come here legally are based, but is no less legal. People there are applying for legal entry and green cards as a refugee or through asylum. If a person is granted asylum in the U.S., eligibility for a green card begins one year after that status is granted.

The process begins when a person is admitted to the country as a refugee, obviously something that requires a person to be here, and after one year an application for a green card must be submitted.

Other ways to apply for and obtain a green card are he Diversity Immigrant Visa Program where immigrants are randomly chosen from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S., but just as with any lottery there are more people entering it than there are winners, the K-nonimmigrant program that allows fiancés and their minor children of US citizens to apply, and the special immigrant juvenile program for minors who have been abused or abandoned by their parents.

So when people make pronouncements and judgments about people coming to the border, and when they claim their family came legally as these people should, ask them what process they followed, and if they do not know, ask, then, how they know the entry was legal.