This is what immigration authorities are supposed to do. If you want to stay in a country on some sort of temporary permit, it is quite normal for that country insist that you have a proven means of supporting yourself. A gross profit of $38,800? That means a much lower net profit. This is poverty level, and it is entirely reasonable for them to be asked to leave.

The fact that the immigration authorities ignore the southern border is a serious problem, but it has nothing at all to do with this situation.

"does not have the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimal living" for the visa holder and his family.

This makes me grrr. Who are they to decide this? What, they aren't spending enough on things they don't need, maybe? Can't have that now... *eyeroll*

@bradley13 - Poverty level? I think not.

http://liheap.ncat.org/profiles/povertytables/FY2010/popstate.htm

To get my Mexican FM-3 Rentista renewed (Rentista means I must prove I have income from outside Mexico) one must prove income for one person, 250 times the minimum daily wage in Mexico City, which is this year 57.46 pesos. That is about $4.50 USD right now. That means I must show at least $1150 USD a month income. We don't have to spend it; only show we have it coming in.

Actually, almost no one ever works for minimum wage. My SIL in Mexico City had a 15 year old servant some years ago, a cute, little Otomi girl. She got food, which for her family was a big help. She got a small amount of pay, probably minimum wage, maybe not... She was allowed to go to worker's school in the afternoon, and when she needed something for school, we gave it to her. Also, my nieces gave her clothes they did not want any more, which were actually nice clothes. The law doesn't allow one to count gifts for pay, but she may well have been very happy with the deal, because the money went to her mom anyway. Her family was extremely poor.

Here in my poor village, I have to pay closer to $20 USD a day for manual labor; more for skilled labor.

With a house paid for, as little as it seems, families can live on that. And, one quickly notes most of them are much happier than most Americans seem to be.

It does seem bad to kick them out when they are paying their employee taxes (assuming they are) and living within their means. Beyond that statement, I don't know.

I do know when we look at the millions of illegals living here, it is stupid to torture, to uproot, to cause suffering among those who come here legally and receive no hand-outs, over arbitrary income numbers.

This last month our cash outlay was around $500 USD, and that included the utilities for our mobile home in Texas, and $50 for phone/Internet, and around $100 for renewing my papers.

It varies, of course, if we buy something extra.

The big advantage here is not the cost of living. It is the standard of living. When some of your neighbors live in houses made of sticks and palm leaves, or one room block houses with corrugated metal roofs, one tends to be content with a lot less goodies. To have a 2850 square foot house; a car, even one with 170,000 miles on it, and to have Internet; washing machine; and running water, life is good. We ARE the Joneses.

I think a lot of 'cost of living' in the US is actually living up to the expectations created by what your friends and neighbors have.

This is just a cheap trick to earn political points. People like the Franks have no political clout and there is no visa vote coalition for the Democrats to grovel before. The Franks cannot be portrayed as ethnic victims nor do they have a Presidente like Calderon lecturing us on their behalf. They work hard and live clean and so the left considers them unworthy.

The US's nuclear option, when the collapse of our fiscal system is immanent, will be to become an international haven for affluent immigrants. If we were to selectively relax our immigration quotas and criteria, we would be able to import tens of millions of affluent people from the dying European nations, and other continents. This would enable us to moderate our tax burden by shifting the distribution towards surplus payers (i.e. those who pay more than they consume).

This discussion of "cost of living" or "standard of living" misses the point of the article. Key phrase: "[the E-2 Visas] are not intended as a path to permanent residency or citizenship."

I love old people. I love cozy New England "eateries." I also love people who play by the rules. The E-2 Visa is meant to attract significant investment (i.e. at least $100,000) in US businesses that will then hire US employees. Its not meant to allow indefinite residency to well-meaning, foreigners whose business is not helping out US citizens. Nine years is plenty of time to apply for a green card.

Yes, we can catch some of the refugee capital, human and otherwise. If we turn it to productive use we may weather the storm. If we burn it to finance another few years of insanity, not so much. Even though it comes with preconditions, it is actual hope, and precious.
--
phunctor

Well, I feel for these folks.
But, get serious.
Leaving Britain to run an eatery in the US?
What kind of thing is that?
Given the success rate of any kind of restaurant, and the numbers they quote, "eking out a living" seems to best describe their situation.
It is a sob story but, I think moving to another country and starting a business with no long term plan marks you as "someone we don't need".

Enjoy London, Mr and Mrs Franks.

bradley13, how about telling us all the difference between "gross" and "net" profit?

And nine years is enough time to get a green card?

Can you tell that to a few million people from Mexico, please?

This is just more inanity. Get here from Cuba, and the USCG will push you back into the sea. Get here across the Rio Grande, and the First Lady will personally welcome you.

How dare you come here from anywhere but Mexico! Get out, you filth! (Shoot a federal agent? You poor, poor misunderstood Hispanic nobleman! That mean ol' Fed was discriminating against you!)

The Federal and state governments will now seize the property you've invested in. Oh, yeah. Have a nice day!

I wonder which restaurant chain lobbied to have visas denied to foreign restaurateurs?

Try this sob story. This story actually has me a little mad.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/03/31/bc-borderblocked.html

Though I had a TN visa when I first moved to the US, my workplace paid for some type of H visa (I can't remember now, I only used it to to re-enter the country once) which held me over until my green card (which I paid for a lawyer to handle)came through. Seemed like the sensible thing for me to do and my work place agreed...really if they want to have you for a long term position, they should be willing to pony up the cash for the longer term visa to give you time to get a permanent solution.

Gross profits are before expenses.

Lets say I sell a bushel of apples for $100.

Lets say the basket cost me $5, the gas cost me $15 to drive from my place to the farm to the hwy off ramp where I sell them, and $30 to buy the apples from the farmer

My gross profits is $100, my expenses are $50

So my net profits is $50

I feel for them but what I'd like to know where the sympathy is for all the American business owners who also had to shut down this last year due to the recession? Why is it only a tragedy when it happens to an immigrant couple?

Amy I get that. It was more of a general statement. I have seen a lot of postings all over the web about immigration and how unfair it has been lately. I just couldn't help but notice the irony in it. Everyone makes a big hooplah about immigration, and how people are being deported, and how unfair it is for this particular couple, and other immgrants who are being displaced lately, but then, no one gets upset when Americans are displaced. That was really what I was getting at with that. Not a reflection on you or this blog at all really.

I do believe that in this case, this is a little wrong, because clearly this couple was hard working and honest,and ran a succesful business,however I don't think it was completely the governments fault this time. I am not blaming the victim, but I cannot blame the govt 100% in this either. The risk was always there and it seems to me that this couple got complacent.

The E-2 Visa is NOT intended for permanent use. It's basically a work Visa, and it can be taken away at any time. They were here for 9 years. Was that not enough time for them to gain American citizenship? Or apply for permanent residency? Why didn't they do that instead of relying on the E-2 Visa to be renewed every year? I don't agree with the way this was handled, but it isn't 100% on the govt, at least in my opinion. There were ways to attempt to attain permanent resideny before the dealine rolled around. The way I read this, they waited until they were told that their E-2 Visa would not be renewed before they attempted to do any of that. It sucks, and I sympathize, but I think there were ways to attempt to prevent this in the first place that they didn't even consider until it was too late.

This sword cuts both ways. Just try moving to the UK from the US. It's a LOT harder.

They didn't have a path to citizenship or permanent residence. They knew that going in. I feel for them, but they weren't really wronged in any way. If I get into the UK on a work visa it's also not a path to citizenship, and I could be kicked out at any time. I know that. If I do get a job there and at some point I do get kicked out, well, boo hoo, I knew the risk I was taking and decided it was worth it at some point.

Here's another thing...

Mexico and Europe have some of the most difficult immigration policies. They enforce them strictly and frequently. Why is it such a big deal when we do the same?

So the Frankses may have messed up on how they went about obtaining and holding their visas. However, that misses the point that obtaining citizenship in the U.S. today isn't like Ellis Island of yesteryear. Nowdays, it's a cumbersome and irrational process -- and the difficulty has nothing to do with proving the immigrant's worthiness as a citizen, and everything to do with providing fodder for lawyers and politicians and regulators.

The sad thing is, there really is a need for a true comprehensive look at immigration reform. Part of the reason we have so many illegals is because the legal process is so difficult. Unfortunately, the open-borders crowd has made it absolutely clear that in Washington, "comprehensive immigration reform" is a code phrase for amnesty, and by doing so they have foreclosed any possibility of having a rational discussion about what really needs to be done with our immigration system.

Hmm, we are spending like crazy, raising tariffs, giving handouts to organized labor, and now stifling foreign investment.

If things are bad, why not approve all E-2s by business owners? those are jobs and stimulating the economy. Democrats pretend to be pro-immigration, but they really only care about the "right sort" of immigrants - poor non white people who will vote for them.

We are making all the mistakes that Hoover's administration and that congress made, and those in love with Obama think he is heading out OUT of danger? We are headed straight towards a great depression if we keep this up.

Another slightly funny article about immigrating to the US.
http://www.cracked.com/article_18552_so-you-want-to-be-american-5-circles-immigration-hell.html

Also not everybody wants to be a citizen. Me I do not want to be a Korean (language is hard and compulsory military service) yet my livelihood is working here. My visa here in Korea is perfect it does what it needs, so why not constantly renew.
I have to constantly renew every year - sometimes it is easy. But every few years the government makes it harder. Now some rules are understandable others are downright crazy. Like having depression can get my visa refused. Still it is a hell of a lot easier then getting citizenship. Thru I could always just marry into the country!

I feel for them but what I'd like to know where the sympathy is for all the American business owners who also had to shut down this last year due to the recession? Why is it only a tragedy when it happens to an immigrant couple?

Sabrina, these people did not shut down due to the recession, they were FORCED to shut down by the government.

Indeed the fact that things are bad makes this action even worse. When so many businesses are going under, our government is out there actively shutting down small businesses that are owned by non Americans. How will that help americans? All the other businesses they buy from (including american owned) now just lost another customer and they will be hurt. People who had money won't get to spend it in that area, hurting the economy of the area.

Even if some american (the "right sort" of business owner?) had the money to buy their business, they'd have to pay lawyers and transaction costs and regulatory fees to start it back up again. How much money will that take out of someone's pockets and put into government coffers instead of being used in the economy.

lujlp, like others, you're deluded about the meaning. If you still have expenses, you haven't met the classic Income - Expenses = Profit.

Redefining this doesn't fly.

From investors.com: "Definition of profit - The positive gain from an investment or business operation after subtracting for all expenses."

Not gross. Ever.