Episode 4: We Have Some ‘Splaining’ To Do– Immigration Basics with I Love Lucy

In this episode, Shai and Roderick revisit the 1950’s television show classic, I Love Lucy. Through exploring the iconic characters of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, our co-hosts will engage in an entertaining Immigration 101. The Immigration principles they will cover in this episode include: U.S. Citizenship, Visas, and Green Cards. Plus, Shai and Roderick give their takes on classic television and talk the greatest shows of all time.

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Show Notes

Welcome to The Hasta La Visa, Baby podcast, a deep-dive into the relationship between U.S. immigration law and fictitious characters from some of your favorite television shows and movies. Hosted by Gibney Immigration group attorneys Shai Dayan and Roderick Potts, each episode focuses on a particular character from a well-known show or film and guides listeners through an in-depth and entertaining exploration into the possible U.S. visa status that the featured character may have held while in the U.S. Listeners will learn about key immigration considerations through the prism of the fun and fictitious worlds presented in television and film.

For this episode, Shay and Roderick provided a crash course on some basic immigration concepts through the lens of iconic characters from the 1950s classic television show I Love Lucy. After summarizing the premise of the show and the impact it had on the future of all of television, Shay and Roderick run through some interesting facts about the show. Then, they focus their attention on the characters of Lucy and Ricardo. Lucy is a homemaker in her early 30’s who is always trying to become famous and make it into Ricardo’s nightclub act, though she doesn’t have much real talent. Ricardo, aka “Ricky”, is a Cuban-born struggling orchestra leader who eventually ends up owning a nightclub in New York City.

Shai and Roderick first unpack what being a U.S. citizen is all about. Methods of obtaining citizenship include being born on U.S. soil, parents passing down citizenship and naturalization.

Regardless of how a person’s citizenship is determined, there are rights, duties and benefits which come along with it. They also explain the purpose of visas and all of the different types out there.

Ricky likely secured his stay in the U.S. with some form of employment-based visa, on the bottom tier of U.S. immigration status. The middle tier is someone who holds a green card, which lawfully allows a non-citizen to live and work in the U.S. While a green card doesn’t grant all the freedoms of citizenship, it does have more freedoms than one would have with only a visa. Ricky could have received a green card through family sponsorship via his marriage with Lucy, who is an American citizen. He is a prime example of the American dream, beginning only with a visa and working his way up to full citizenship. Seeing as I Love Lucy is widely considered the greatest show of all time, Shay and Roderick wrap up the episode by naming the shows they consider the greatest shows of all time.

Links:

Learn more about the movie featured in this episode: I Love Lucy.
Learn more about Shay Dayan, Roderick Potts, and Gibney Anthony & Flaherty, LLP.
Connect with us at hastalavisa@gibney.com.
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