THE @THEHURONEMERY
HURON EMERY HURON HIGH SCHOOL, 2727 FULLER RD., ANN ARBOR MI 48105
DEC 2025 VOL. 11, ISSUE 3
The longest wait in America: The struggle behind
ASF PAGE 7 THE BASICS OF PRINTMAKING
SPREAD PAGE 8-9 WARMTH WITHIN
H1B HEMANTH TAVANE BROADCAST EDITOR When I think about what “home” means, I do not picture a flag or a map. I see the street in Ann Arbor where we live, the DJ Bakery where we buy our fresh donuts, Huron High School where I push past the slow-moving traffic, and Gallup Park where I learned to ride a bike. What I do not usually say is that on paper, I am a temporary visitor in the only country I remember. I came to the United States from India when I was four years old, and for the past decade and a half, my family has been stuck in the slowest line imaginable: the employment-based green card backlog. To understand this limbo, you need to know how the system works. Each year, about 140,000 employment-based green cards are available for
Graphic by Kayla Fu
ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 12 WICKED REVIEW & MIDNIGHT EATS
NEWS
STATISTICS FROM PEWRESEARCH.ORG
400,000 H1B applications approved in 2024
73%
briefs
HURON IMPLEMENTS NEW ATTENDANCE AND TARDY POLICY JAEWON LEE NEWS EDITOR
of H1B recipients are Indian workers and their families, a number unchanged since 1990, even as demand has soared. The H-1B program acts as a temporary bridge, letting U.S. employers hire specialized foreign workers while they seek permanent residency. On paper, you work on an H-1B, your company sponsors you, and you eventually get a green card. In reality, for people from countries like India or China, the journey is far longer due to a rule that no country can receive more than 7% of the total green cards each year. This cap, intended to be fair, creates huge backlogs for high-demand countries. New Indian and Chinese applicants can expect years-long waits. Those years-long waits are my childhood. They are my parents’ 30s and 40s. They shape how I think about my whole future.
My family’s story fits this pattern almost too perfectly. My dad first came to the United States on an H-1B visa to work in a job that required his specialized skills. Around 2014, when I was still in elementary school, my dad’s employer sponsored our green card application. At the time, we were told it could take several years, but that the process was moving. A decade later, we are still waiting. It’s estimated that I might get my green card around 2030, but it’s not guaranteed; if the backlog grows, it could be even later. That means I will probably graduate high school, go to college, and become an adult in a country that still has me labeled as a temporary dependent whose right to stay here is tied to my father’s job.
2.2%
denial rate in 2022
Amazon is the largest employer of H1B workers
The system doesn’t just slow us down; it shapes every choice my parents make, tying our fate to the willingness of a single employer to keep handling endless paperwork. My dad has had to walk away from higher-paying jobs because those companies wouldn’t sponsor his H-1B visa or support our green card process, not for lack of options, but because our READ THE FULL STORY ON THEHURONEMERY.COM
Attendance in PowerSchool. PHOTO BY KAYLA FU
Huron administrators set a new attendance policy on Dec. 1, 2025. The new rule now accounts for specific disciplinary action for certain amounts of tardies or absences. “Mr. Carter is always talking about how much attendance matters,” Huron freshman Sydney Anton said. “And it really does.” However, despite Carter’s words, numerous students arrive to classes late. That is why the new policy was implemented. Students who accumulate at least five tardies or unverified absences in one week will receive escalating discipline: lunch detention READ THE FULL STORY ON THEHURONEMERY.COM