Soviet Immigrants Expose U.S. Citizenship Grind (Full)

Olga Kay juggled in the Russian circus before hitting YouTube fame and launching kids’ sock brand Moosh Walks. Svetlana Newsome arrived from Kazakhstan with $300, faced sudden widowhood, then became a spiritual healer for leaders. They got hammered by shady agents, paperwork nightmares, and endless limbo—but triumphed. This ep uncovers the brutal truths of America’s immigration system: scams, costs, waits that break you, and why they’d still choose it.

Timestamps:

• (00:00) Circus Tents to Citizenship – what it actually takes
• (01:39) Meet Olga and Svetlana – from Crimea and Kazakhstan roots
• (02:53) Personal Immigration Nightmares – agents who robbed them blind
• (11:13) Legal Hurdles & Limbo Life – years stuck in paperwork hell
• (26:41) Advice for Future Immigrants – don’t trust anyone, save every receipt
• (37:51) Moments You Finally Feel American – crying in the citizenship ceremony
• (41:17) English Was the Real Boss Fight – laughing through the pain
• (44:28) Open Borders Debate – raw takes, no filter
• (48:40) System Bottlenecks Exposed – why everything takes forever
• (01:06:17) Biggest Immigrant Myths Busted – lazy? criminals? think again
• (01:09:28) Final Gut-Punch Reflections – would they do it again?

Connect:

• Olga Kay – Moosh Walks| X | Instagram | TikTok | Youtube
• Svetlana Newsome – The Light Freedom | Instagram | Youtube

📢 Solving America’s Problems Podcast – Real Solutions For Real Issues

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🌍 Join the conversation on Instagram | YouTube | X

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Solving America’s Problems— Jerremy and Dave just sat down
with two women who left everythingbehind to chase the American dream.
Olga fled a tiny Crimean village at 16,joined the Russian circus, landed in
America with Ringling Brothers — thenspent the next fifteen years trapped in
limbo because one shady agent from whenshe was seventeen still haunted her file.

(00:25):
Svetlana showed up from Kazakhstan with$300, watched her visa expire, went
illegal for years — then got deniedcitizenship for a decade after her
American husband suddenly died, forcingher to restart the clock at zero.
Both paid scam lawyers five-figure fees,lived five to a bedroom, worked three
jobs — and still waited SEVEN YEARSbefore they could even visit their own

(00:49):
mothers without risking permanent exile.
They finally made it.
But the system that almost broke themalso forged two of the most relentless,
grateful citizens you’ll ever meet…
Dave Conley, what are wediscussing in this episode?
In this week's episode of SolvingAmerica's Problems, what if the

(01:11):
very trials that break systemsbuilt unbreakable citizens?
We dive into the realities of firstgeneration immigration where the promise
of opportunity collides with yearsof waiting fear and systemic hurdles
that leave millions in limbo withgreen card backlog stretching decades,
courts drowning Under 4 million pendingcases, the path to citizenship becomes
an endurance test, one that demandsextraordinary resilience and produces some

(01:34):
of the nation's most devoted Americans.
Our guests this week knowthis journey firsthand.
Olga, Kay left a Russian circus at 16to pursue opportunities in America.
Becoming a YouTube star.
And now founder of Moosh Walksa children's brand built on the
growth mindset and resiliencethat powered her own journey.
Sve Lana Newsom arrived in Americafrom Kazakhstan with $300 in a dream

(01:57):
surviving profound loss and transformingher life into spiritual service.
Earning a doctorate and todayguiding world leaders through
their own transformational journey.
That's this week on solving America'sproblems from circus tense to citizenship,
what it really takes to becomeAmerican with Olga and Svetlana Newso.
America sells theworld's greatest promise.

(02:17):
Come here, work hard, become one of us.
14% of everyone living inAmerica was not born here.
That's one in seven ofyour neighbors coworkers.
The people making this country run.
But here's what they donot tell you at the border.
Green card weights canstretch 20 years citizenship.

(02:39):
It's a marathon through a minefieldwhile immigration courts collapse under
more than 4 million pending cases.
I'm Jerremy Alexander Newsom herewith my co-host Dave Conley and this.
Solving America's problems.
Our guest today did not just survivethe gauntlet, they conquered it.
Olga Kay went from performing inthe Russian circus with Ringling

(03:01):
Brothers to becoming a YouTubepioneer, entertaining millions and
now runs Moosh, walks a children'sbrand, empowering the next generation.
Solana Newsom arrived with just$300 to her name, rebuilt her
life after a devastating loss, andemerged as a spiritual teacher.
And healer to world leaders

(03:23):
thanks so much for being on the show.
Jerremy.
I wanna cry already.
You, you're already excited, huh?
I'm
Yeah.
Excited.
inside.
This has been a journey and you justreminded me how hard it has been,
and I'm so glad we're all here.
Yeah.
Likewise.
I think that's pretty common withindividuals that we speak to regarding

(03:43):
anything, but most specifically,those that come to this country.
And make it because it is a lot of work.
It's very struggling,it's very challenging.
So do this for me.
I'll have Solana startFirst, paint us a picture.
What did America mean to you beforeyou arrived, and how has that vision
changed now that you're a citizen?

(04:05):
Thank you, Jerremy for thisbeautiful and powerful question.
America growing up felt like adistant sound, a distant voice
that was for someone else, it feltlike the beautiful of luxury and

(04:26):
abundance and all possibilities.
But it was not for me orfor anyone else that I knew.
And fortunately the growing up inKazakhstan, the time started to shift.
The energies between Americaand Russia started to shift.
The Soviet Union collapsed andthings became just a tiny bit closer.

(04:50):
And then when the opportunity revealeditself to come to America, and it was
obvious that I had to jump into thatopportunity and create some of myself.
And that's really my only prayer waswhen I was a little girl from God, is
to just gimme an opportunity in life.
That's how I wanted because lookingat my family, at my neighbors, I

(05:15):
knew what my life would be therewas simply was no opportunity to do
anything greater or anything better.
In order to exceed, especiallyduring those times, you had to be a
part of some kind of mafia, a partof some kind of really dark space.
Otherwise, a person that had goodcould not succeed in that environment.

(05:41):
I remember coming to UnitedStates the very first time.
Two things really just blew my mind.
The first I saw this lady,she was in her sixties, was a
long nails and a short hair.
She was wearing this beautifulpurple outfit and she was alive,
she was vibrant, she was leaving.
And I just remember that backhome, members, my grandmother,

(06:04):
my neighbors, they were allpreparing to die in their fifties.
They were saving money for the funeral.
At that time, it was the ending.
And here it was a golden age era.
It was just the beginning.
I was like, oh my goodness,you can have that.
You can live like that.
And then the second observation thattook place was when men treated women

(06:28):
the possibility of true love and aspace of admiration and equality.
And it wasn't just being aservant in a family any longer,
and therefore I knew that.
is the country where allthe dreams come true.
And if you really put your intention andyour energy, your education, and you want

(06:54):
become greater, everything is available.
Amazing.
Beautiful.
Just hold the mic just a couplemore inches from your face.
Perfect.
Olga, about you?
Rockstar?
Wow, that's a powerful story.
So I was 16 years old and accordingto my mom, I always wanted to live in
America ever since I was a little girl.
I don't have a memory of that, but Idid grow up in a tiny village in Crimea.

(07:18):
And when Soviet Union fellapart, we had to do something.
So we, I call it, ran away withthe Russian circus and we joined
my aunt on the road in RussianCircus, and we started traveling.
I was 14 years old and withintwo years I went all over Russia.
Every month I traveled to a new place,and then we stopped at Moscow for a

(07:44):
couple of months, and that's when wegot discovered to come to America.
And I remember thinking,I'm about to turn 16.
I'm gonna go to America.
We have two year contract withthe Ringling Brothers Circus.
I'm just gonna go there and I'm gonnacome back because I love Russia.
I love traveling in a Russiancircus, but it would be really
cool to see a new country.

(08:05):
And I immigrated here.
So my journey to immigration was.
Very easy.
In the beginning, I got paperworkfrom a very big company.
I got my social security,I got my working visa.
I was getting paid $250 a week, which Ifeel like my family would only see that

(08:27):
much money in two or three months of work.
And right before we left myvillage, I remember we were
getting paid in bags of sugar andbags of grass that we can give to
Wow.
and then we turn it into milk and cheeseand butter and trade with our neighbors.
So this was this whole new world for me.
But like I said, I never reallythought I'm gonna stay here.

(08:49):
I thought I'm gonna go back.
And from the age of 16 to 18,I've learned how to speak English.
I've learned how to drive a car.
I was getting paid $250 a weekand I had my first bank account.
And when I turned 18, I realized that.
I don't even know what I'll do in Russia.

(09:11):
None of those things were even availableto me, and I had no idea I needed those
things to feel like a and capable of.
bigger things.
And I remember realizing I will dowhatever it takes to stay in this
country at 18, even though my familywas still left behind in Russia and
figure out what the next steps were.

(09:33):
And then I got another contractwith another family circus, and
that's when I quickly realizedthat circuses in America are just.
Carnies and you are not as respected andyou have to work so much harder when you
work for family circuses versus a bigcorporation or like wrangling brothers.
that's when I started realizing thatI have to come up with a new way to

(09:55):
live in America, use my skill andtalent, and build a better life.
And I immigrated, I moved thento Los Angeles and I started my
journey, which led me to so manydifferent things and opportunities.
But that's how I got here.
And I do, I have similarfeeling about the country.
I remember thinking if I work hard.

(10:18):
It will be rewarded because inRussia and Ukraine, Crimea, at that
time I was watching my family workso hard and getting nowhere, and
my mom had two different collegedegrees and she couldn't get a job.
And I remember thinking, I willnever follow the academia route.

(10:40):
I will just use my talent and mystreet, wisdom and build myself
in this country the best I can.
Wow.
Those are really cool stories.
Dave and I will neveruse the word village.
Like both of you talk, have such fondmemories about that, like using that term,
it's really endearing, but also at theexact same time, very revealing meaning

(11:03):
you chose something bigger, you chosesomething more, and coming to this country
was definitely a huge leap of faith.
we'll start with you, Olga,and then we'll go to s Laa.
Thinking about the immigration processthat you went through, where did it help
you where did it make things harder?
Yeah, a little picture of the process.

(11:25):
So I came here with Ringling Brothers.
I had my visa that coveredmy job for that company.
After that I had an agent who got me adifferent visa, which is oh one visa.
It's the most extraordinaryvisa for the best people out
there with the best skills.
With that visa, you have aneasier route into a green card.

(11:46):
However, that agent later wason the run with the FBI, and
luckily I didn't continue myimmigration journey through him.
He's still part of my fileand it still hunts me today.
And that's how difficult it is.
I became an American citizen in 2016,so it's been almost 10 years now.

(12:10):
And it still hunts me that he'spart of my file and he since
went to jail, passed away.
He's gone.
But it still hunts me and my family thatperson was part of my immigration journey.
But what happened after I was in arelationship with another juggler, I was
a juggler in the circus and we were livingtogether and our goal at that time was get

(12:33):
a visa so I can start traveling, leavingAmerica and travel with him on cruise
ships because that was his frame of work.
And a lawyer at that timetold us it's September 11th
time, you will not get a visa.
Everything is backed up.
If you guys already living together,you might as well just get married.
And we're like, okay, we'll get married.

(12:53):
So I got married and I got mygreen card through marriage.
However, when I was applying for mycitizenship, I got denied because
of this agent, who was my agentwhen I was 17, I had to act fast
and figure out what to do next.
My green card was expiring.

(13:15):
I've been in this country for almost15 years at this point and realizing
that, oh, this could be the endand I don't know what to do next.
Whoa.
What about you, Phila?
I came in states on a J one Visa.
It was a work and travel program at thattime, and I believe it still exists.
And if you were in a university,you could enter into the program and

(13:41):
come to America for three months.
Through the summer and work.
And that was my firstexperience of America.
I remember going back home telling mymom, I will be going to America again
because I have window for one moreyear, but I will not be coming back.
I do not know what the journey willbe, but it will take me a lifetime
to create what it will take mefive years to create in America.

(14:06):
And it was very difficult sayinggoodbye because it was saying goodbye
and going to now when my grandfatherwas sick at that time and he was my,
like my father, knew he would be dyingand I would not be able to go and
be with him or visited the funeral.
So it was a very difficult goodbye andit took me a very long time to understand

(14:26):
what it took from my mother to let me go.
It's not only until I became amother, I could understand the power
that you send out your child withand the prayer and hopes and beliefs
that everything will turn out okay.
And yes, I was on a visa and I had a job.
And second time I came to Las Vegasand I got a job in a fashion show mall.

(14:50):
I was in the retails.
I got a second job.
I was sending money back home tosupport my family and everything was
going well until my visa expired.
And there was a time toreally think what to do?
What is next?
Because there are very littleopportunities when you do not have money.

(15:12):
When you are still new in a country andyour visa expires, the lawyers fees are
astronomical To go to college, you cannottruly afford to pay for the college.
And then you, even if you are workingtwo, three jobs, the college fees
as a immigrant are still insane.
So what happened is my visa collapsedand I started illegally in the country.

(15:34):
So I was a legal immigrant.
Thankfully my employer at the timeeither didn't pick it up or just closed
the eyes on the expiration of the visa.
I still had my, social security.
I was paying the taxes and I was working.
Long story short, a few yearslater, I met an incredible
man that was my first husband.

(15:57):
dated for a little while and we knewthat we were going to be together.
We wanted to be together,we wanted to build a family.
He proposed, I got married andthat is how I was able to get.
My green card.
one thing is that I remember I knewof so many different abilities and
programs that were available forwealthy people that if you had $500,000,

(16:20):
that you can get that EB five visaand you can invest in the states.
And there was so many opportunities.
And I remember just walking like with thetears in my eyes, wishing that someone
would just believe in me, worry me thatmoney, or see the potential cause I
was willing to give everything for thisopportunity and it wasn't available.

(16:45):
And the only thing thatwas left is an illegal.
It's amazing.
I wanna add something to this as well.
one thing that not many peopletalk about is how long it takes
to get some kind of paperwork toeven go back to see your family.
I was in a similar position where Icame here at 16 just like Yu Laa, I

(17:07):
didn't realize what a sacrifice myparents made until I became a mother
and realizing that my kid is gonna say,oh, I'm just gonna move to France, and
then I'm not able to come and visit him.
It would just break my heart.
So what they did, and again,they thought, I'm gonna come
back, but I just never came back.
And what happened for me, I was inthis country for three years working

(17:31):
under a contract so I could not leave.
So at this point I'm going from 16 to 19.
I can't leave the country becauseI'm doing shows every night.
And after that, I startedchanging my immigration status.
Then I can't leave the countrybecause I'm changing my status.
You're just not allowed to leave.
You can leave the country,but you cannot come back in.
So you have to wait for yourstatus to clear and you pretty

(17:55):
much have to wait for your greencard, which is another two years.
Long story short, after that, I didn'thave enough money to go back to Russia.
So then I had another year ortwo where I just couldn't go.
And I remember seven years afterleaving my family, mother called
me and she said, I feel like I'mgonna die and I will not see you.
Can you figure out a wayto come and visit me?

(18:18):
And I remember going back.
Seven years later, I was in mytwenties now a whole different person
than my family remember me being.
And I didn't know howto talk to my family.
I was visiting them for the firsttime and I have this whole other
life that I've been living andthey're still, expect me to be the

(18:40):
16-year-old girl who's coming back.
anyways, it took a couple of daysto get comfortable again and find
our language again as a family.
But I remember thinking, I have tomake sure to visit them once a year
so I don't forget who my family is.
Yeah.
I love these very powerful andemotional stories, and thank you

(19:01):
for sharing them with not onlyus, but all of our listeners.
And since we're here,in this energy, right?
America granted you a wonderfulopportunity, but at what personal cost?
Some of you are both sharing thatnow, but what is one sacrifice
that you rarely share publicly?
Maybe something that you haven't thoughtof for a while or something that most

(19:23):
people like Dave and myself, who were bornhere might not even recognize or realize.
Let's start with whoever,
Whoever's ready to speak first,
whoever's ready to speak.
Exactly.
so with Lana, go ahead.
I feel like definitely being in arealization that the sacrifice of the
family was so big, and I feel likein other countries, the structures in

(19:47):
Kazakhstan and Russia, Ukraine, the familystructure is very close very intertwined.
Losing that, becoming all by yourself,figuring life all on your own, recognizing
that your parents have no idea or anyblueprint of what your life is going to

(20:07):
be like, they cannot guide you recognizingthat people in America cannot really
guide you because they have no clueof what it takes build yourself and
to become something in this country.
And therefore, the big sacrificeis a growing up that needs
to happen extremely fast.

(20:28):
You absolutely cannot mess up in anyshape or form because if you mess up in
any way, you are going to be get departedand you are going right back home.
You have to figure yourself out.
You have to stay in a space ofhonor of wisdom, and it's hard.
It's hard for a very young person in thevery beginning, but definitely having no

(20:51):
guidance and being so far away from thefamily when you lived with your family,
majority of your life is a huge sacrifice,
Let's see if I can add something.
I think Solana, you said it perfectly.
It's you lose that and you're right.
Family also doesn'trealize how hard it is here

(21:12):
right?
they think about America.
You're getting paid now you'regetting paid way more than we
You're making so much money, you're fine.
You are fine.
And you, but then you have to realizeeverything is so much more expensive
and legal fees are astronomical here.
And back to my immigration story.
I came here legally, everythingwas great, but then as I was

(21:33):
applying for my citizenship I didit myself without any lawyers.
And I remember not hearing back and I'mlike, something is going on with my case.
It's been a while.
Something is not right.
I keep calling.
They keep telling me like, you haveto wait for the official letter.
They would not sayanything over the phone.
And I remember gettingthat official letter.

(21:55):
There was so many pages saying thatmy citizenship was denied due to.
This agent that I had 10 yearsprior to this case, and I remember
thinking, okay, what's next?
I can't, there's no one, there'sno phone number to call back
and clarify what's going on.
So I had to, I remember overnight andluckily at that time I had some savings

(22:17):
and overnight, that was over 10 yearsago, I had to come up with $5,000, find a
lawyer and see if we can restart my case.
And other thing not many people talkabout is how many lawyers are such
fraud when it comes to immigration?
Thank you.
paying $5,000 and thisperson restarted my case.

(22:40):
And then we were still waiting.
I remember saying, Hey, mygreen card is about to expire.
I need to get some kind of paperworkback saying that it's okay or
extension for my green card.
And he was saying it would be another$7,000 if we wanna expedite it.
And obviously I didn't wanna do this.
At that time I was traveling so muchfor different conferences and I came

(23:02):
back from New York and I opened thisletter and it says, congratulations,
you now will be an American.
Come to this place.
I was traveling for two weeks,so it said, come tomorrow.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, what if Istayed in New York a little longer?
I would've missed this letter.
And if you don't show up for yourappointment, you then wait for three to
five extra years to get an appointment.

(23:23):
And there's no one to talk to.
You just have to hope thepaperwork is doing its work.
Wow.
Yeah that's wild.
so you said thank you to Olga whenshe mentioned that about a lot
of lawyers being scam artists.
Do you have more information on that?
Many of that?
So many of them.
I got scammed by two and finally Juanwas able to pull something together.

(23:45):
That's all to say
I
to find.
And actually how much did it,
to get scanned?
So many times.
yeah, so first time it was $5,000.
really all you do for the first coupleyears, you work for the legal fees.
just, I lived with five other It was fiveof us in one bedroom apartment for two

(24:07):
years, and we were saving everything.
We were working two through threejobs and it was all going to the legal
fees and we were sharing the rent.
That ended up being like $150 a person.
are the lucky ones.
Exactly.
came in here and we didn'thave to escape prosecution and

(24:28):
really work under the table.
Minimum wage where you cannot evensave up for any type of legal fees.
So what kept you both going?
You're here in the land of freedom you'refacing of these invisible barriers that
you weren't told about, that you weren'taware of, that no one guided you through.

(24:52):
be so persistent?
Because there was no other choice.
The going back into nothingness,into no hope, least for me,
into no life was not an option.
I was willing to suffer, tostruggle to go without, to.

(25:16):
Cry nights and days todo whatever it takes.
Just to have this opportunity to makesomething of myself, I would do the
same thing back home in a different way.
Still struggle, still very hard andthere was absolutely no promise that

(25:37):
it would change in any point of life.
For me I feel like whenI. Got to this country.
I was 16.
I was still forming as an adult.
I became a completely differentperson who is optimistic, loves life.
And I feel like in Russia I was moreserious and I was more afraid of things.

(25:57):
So going back for me wouldmean going back to being afraid
and not be a go-getter, be a
Yeah.
for me.
That's how different, when I speakRussian, I'm a different person.
When I speak English, I am just bubbly.
I love everything.
Everything is possible.
Everyone can achieve anything.
In Russia, I would've been,I don't have education.

(26:21):
I'm a nobody.
I don't know what I'll do here.
Where in America, not sayingthat non-educational no education
gets you far in America, but inAmerica you can build a dream.
Where in Russia.
Everyone looks at the paperworkbefore they give you an opportunity.
Yeah.
Fascinating.
So I think now is a really beautifultime to just start making this unique

(26:47):
pivot into would you tell otherswho are working on coming into this
country other immigrants who Toexperience the exact same life and
opportunities and freedom as yourself.
What do you start tellingthose people presently?
I'll say don't unless you times over.

(27:08):
First of all, it's a lot harder.
I've been here for 25 years.
Everything is a lot more expensive.
There is more opportunity, butthere's also less opportunity.
The way I see it, a lot ofindustries are collapsing from
my end, from where I came from.
I had this conversation with my brother,I immigrated my mom here eight years ago.

(27:29):
I was talking to my brother becausewhen conflict between Russia
and Ukraine started my brothersaid, maybe I'll just leave.
And we had a conversation.
I realized I don't think I'll haveto support my brother, because I
think it's gonna be really hardfor him to break into this country
at his age and build a new life.

(27:50):
So beautifully said.
I would say that America is definitelya country of dreamers country
of entrepreneurs, visionaries.
It is not a country of safety.
It is not a country for workers.

(28:12):
And if you do not have thisentrepreneurial spirit within you,
if you are not able just to movewith the waves of the politics and
unsettled energies and still holdthe vision, this is not the country.
There are other countries toimmigrate that are a lot more stable.

(28:35):
America has never been stable, butalso it is still, in my opinion, the
greatest country that exist in a worldwith no matter how many problems we
are experiencing right now, opportunityfor the ones that are feeling their
within and the desire to bring theirdream into the reality exists here.

(28:59):
And I
I like that.
is for the younger crowd, maybe I'mprojecting, but imagining myself
immigrating now in my forties, Ithink it would be a lot harder.
But when I was young and I was justfull of energy and no fear of anything,
like anything goes, this is just gonnabe another lesson I'm gonna learn.

(29:21):
I feel like I'm a lot more safe now.
So if you're young, there'sstill a lot of room.
I so agree with that.
People ask me all thetime, how did you do it?
How did you immigrate?
Weren't you afraid?
I'm like, no, I was 19 delusional.
Life is amazing.
Nothing can go.
I'm wrong.
Everything is working out for me.
Like you need to have this like young,naive optimism to keep believing, right?

(29:46):
I feel like the people who have beenreally put down by life, it becomes
so difficult to believe and when youare young, you just rise up and you
keep believing and you really need tohave that quality to make it in us.
I agree.
I'm extremely interested aboutthe answer to this question.

(30:06):
So if both of you amazinghumans could redesign.
Just one step in the path from arrival tocitizenship, what would that change be?
First of all, I love my struggling story.
I feel like it makes me who I amtoday, so I would not change anything.

(30:29):
However, let me think about this.
Go ahead with Lana.
So if I were in a position to change theimmigration reform the way it is right
now, I definitely would not send people.
Back to their countries because tocome into this country, especially to

(30:52):
go through the borders, to go throughthe rivers, to go through the oceans,
you have to be so desperate withouthaving any opportunity in life really
see a little bit of glimpse of lightthat exists in this country to do that.
And if someone has raised theirlives, relationships, everything.

(31:13):
They put everything in theline and they are already here.
And America has been acountry of opportunities and
believing in their dreams.
would grant them anopportunity for a dream.
And the way it would look is thatI would give, it'll be something

(31:34):
different like a new type of visa,a visa that doesn't exist yet.
And it would be for the people whoare here illegally now they have this
type of visa for two years they willneed to renew it every two years.
And obviously if there is anycrime two years, they cannot renew
it and they have to be sent back.
But with that visa, now you have,maybe it's not social security,

(31:59):
maybe it is a different card.
You are able to pay taxes.
So you are paying intothe system of America.
You are not just being paid underthe table and then in two years
your visa no, that visa gets renewedand you have another two years.
And so you can start creatingand building life in America.
And around eight year mark, believeit is a. Time that you've proven that

(32:25):
you want to be here, that you are agood person, that you are paying your
taxes, that you are working very hard.
And during that time, you canapply for the green card and then
within two years you'll receive it.
So it'll be a 10 year immigration process.
And yes, there are so manydifferent parts to it.

(32:46):
I believe yes, childrenshould go to school.
The healthcare, none ofus gets any healthcare.
We all pay for the healthcare.
So those people will needto pay for the healthcare.
So I do not believe that we needto give them anything extra than
the American people are getting.
And it's okay to have a harder conditionfor them, but at least we can give

(33:10):
them an opportunity to do and makesomething of themselves in this country.
Yeah,
This is what I would do.
and it's like building a credit score.
I like your system a lot.
You're building your credit score, you'reproving that you're a reliable person year
after year, and you get more opportunity.
yeah, the problem is that there'ssuch a long wait to get a green

(33:31):
card or to get any kind of response.
I have a friend who is under the asylumcase right now for eight years and similar
situation, pay the lawyer this muchfee, pay more if you want it expedited.
She's not able to pay more.
So she's been waiting and she finallygets her letter saying, come for.

(33:51):
They interview her lawyer says,I don't have time because we have
so many clients we have to takecare of, so we have to delay it.
Which I don't know how long she'snow stuck in that waiting line.
It may just bring something up.
is all of the problems of poor people.

(34:12):
This is all of the problems ofthe people that do not have money.
Because if you live in another countryright now and you have $800,000 to invest,
you have your green card in eight months.
This program been around forever.
It is still here.
It is still available.
So everything we are talking about,the opportunity is so hard, it
doesn't exist for regular people.

(34:33):
If you have wealth, can be thebiggest douche on the planet earth.
And yes, you will get a green card andyour spouse and your children under 21,
the game is played very differently.
And that angers me a little bit.
so you brought up a very good, interestingpoint though that is gonna create a little
bit of confusion because you mentionedthat in order to be here in America,

(34:58):
you need an entrepreneurial spirit.
And guess who the people are.
They're gonna create the wealth indifferent countries who have the
amount of money to pay for that visa.
It's gonna be people that have theentrepreneurial spirit, are the
people that have the money in theircountries to come over and pay for that.
So you're rewarding the exact same people.

(35:18):
You're just doing it faster.
I hear your point, and I agree withyour point, and I agree with a part
of the point because it is alsopeople that are not entrepreneurial.
The ones that come from a rich family,the ones that have been given everything,
the one that didn't make innocentout of themselves and their country.
And that is a majority of them,they have money, not because

(35:40):
they started from ground zero.
Like a lot of people do in America andthey become something, it's very hard
to start from ground zero and become amultimillionaire in Russia, in Kazakhstan,
in Mexico, especially doing it a right waywithout mafia, without corruption, without
all shady stuff with the government.

(36:01):
So while I love the idea that those areentrepreneurial people, the majority
of those people are just being bornwith a golden spoon and the people
that come from wealth, and thereforemoney gives them this opportunity.
And Jerremy and I talked to a topimmigration attorney, our last

(36:22):
series on this, uh, a couple of weeksback, and she agrees with Yu Laa.
Like we, we need a different set of, uh.
It needs to be different.
Like for instance, if you are a worldclass entrepreneur and you wanna
start a business in a place like theUnited States, it has rule of law and
it has like actual like the peoplethat you need in order to build that.

(36:42):
You can't get a visa.
If you're a top salesperson, if you,if you're running a business here
in the United States and you're topsalesperson is in Mexico or Canada or
Europe, they can't get a visa like it.
Sure.
If you're a scientist,yeah, you can get a visa.
But if you are anything else, like,if you want to build something that
is unique in America, forget it.

(37:04):
It's incredibly difficult.
So, Svetlana, you and, and a topimmigration attorney completely agree,
like we, we can't have this tieddirectly to business because businesses
also feel very shackled in this.
We need this, tied to theperson and what they can do.
And that's, that seems veryAmerican to so many people.
But what I, we also hearda lot from you about.

(37:24):
Sacrifices and scams and uncertaintyand fear and this medieval bureaucracy.
I, first, I am, I applaud you.
Like the amount of bravery that it wouldtake for me to even think about this
at 16, 17, 18 years old is nowhere.
Like the bravery that it takesfor somebody to pick up and be

(37:46):
like I'm going thousands of milesaway and I'm gonna give it a shot.
Thank you.
That's amazing.
And tell me a good story aboutyour immigration journey.
Was there a moment whereyou said, wow, this is home.
The moment I got a passport and thetears were rolling down my eyes and my
cheeks and just I remember going yes.

(38:09):
And my passport and going into theceremony and going through the citizenship
and just recognizing that moment.
Everything that it tookat that point already.
My first husband he died andthat was another crazy thing.
It was that if you are married, youget a green card, and then if you're

(38:30):
still married, then it is three years.
You can apply for citizenship,not if your husband dies.
Now you have to wait longer.
So there we are three more yearslater, and I felt like so much life
happened by daytime, so much grief,but so much also amazing things.
And really being there and being inthat energy and recognizing, wow,

(38:54):
like that was a moment of freedom.
was a moment of, from this pointon, do anything I wanted to do.
I can create all the light,I can create any business.
I can really step intomy voice, into my power.
Because you have those papers.
You are always looking back andwondering if it's going to be

(39:15):
taken away and at what moment.
Yeah.
And for me, that happened 15 yearsinto my journey in America, which
it doesn't change at this point.
I am an American in my heart and I'm stillworried what's gonna happen next because
I don't have this paperwork aligning.
But I remember thinking, oh, yesI have all the American spirit

(39:36):
and this is my country, and I'lldo whatever it takes to be here.
For me, it was September 11th.
I remember waking up in the morningand we had to do a circus show that
morning and the plane hit the buildingand I remember feeling so I will do
anything for this country to protectit, to be here, to fight for it.

(39:59):
And that was my moment where Iknew that I'm definitely gonna
stay in this country forever.
We did a series.
In this series we talked tosecond and third generation.
They described a phenomenon thatJerremy and I had never heard about,
and I think they called it Jerremy.
Do you remember what it was called?
It was like crab potting
Yeah
and I, believe it or not, I heard itlast night from my brother, from another

(40:22):
mother, because his father is Austrian.
And it's the, I did it the right way.
I did it the hard way.
And damn it, like it has tobe hard for other people too.
Almost like pulling theladder up behind you.
Have you experienced that incommunities here in the United States
or with other people like yourself?

(40:42):
I mean always talk about how Idid the hard way and every time I
recognize there is an easier routebeing taken, I am upset about it.
'cause I had to work really hardand I have to be and figure out
ways and, have a second job.
Do whatever it takes to make it work.
And when somebody is.

(41:04):
Saying, oh, for example, my whole thingis when you come to this country, I
remember I spoke zero English, andI would sit in my circus trailer
with a dictionary and I would study.
That was my goal, to study 10 words a day.
I instructed all of my Russianfriends do not speak Russian to
me because I'm in this country.

(41:26):
I have to be able to speak the language.
And I didn't speak to anybodyfor three months because I was
studying, trying to get better.
And then I went out, I went to ourwardrobe lady and I decided to practice
my English, and she responded back andshe was so excited because the first time
I spoke and she's blah, blah, blah, blah.
I was like, oh my gosh, I'm notspeaking for another six months.
This is too intimidating.

(41:46):
But I remember, so anytime I seepeople in this country who are not
putting that type of effort, I getvery frustrated because I remember at
16 I could have been running around.
Spending my money at the mall, butI was sitting in my trailer learning
how to speak this language so I canrespect this country as a foreigner.

(42:08):
I feel and I really believe that at somepoint we need to put down the hardship
story because otherwise it's just goingto penetrate more and more hardship into
the world and it's never going to end.
If you come in America as animmigrant, it's going to be hard.
It's going to be difficult.
It is new.

(42:29):
Yes, there are easier waysand they exist right now.
People immigrate, people wingreen cards, and they come here
on a green card that they want.
But guess what?
It's still difficult to figureout this world to figure out
America and how it works.
And so even though their journeynot as difficult as ours or the
way, my mind might perceive whathustle and struggle needs to be,

(42:53):
everyone goes through their struggle.
Who am I to say that your struggle isless of a struggle than my struggle?
And why do we need to be so attachedto everyone's freaking struggle and
being broken apart in order to bedeserving or worthy of something?
So yes, maybe at some point weneed to start leaning more into the

(43:13):
healing versus just attaching to thestory of how difficult my life was.
Therefore, everyone else'slife supposed to be difficult.
It needs to be difficult becausethis is a story that creates so
much distortion in the world.
Is the story that creates.
It just creates so much warand so much trauma all over the

(43:34):
world, and not only in America.
And at some point we'll need tostart creating a different story.
We had it hard.
We can help out other generationto stand on our shoulders.
We can guide them and we can showthem a little more different way
so that my children do not need tohave it as hard because guess what?

(43:55):
They will figure out.
Their heart life will be life.
be doing itself for them, and everyonewill have an experience to grow into
what they need to be grown into.
That's a beautiful point of view,hearing the struggle stories
for me gives me more hope.
I know it's possible when I hearthat someone overcomes something.

(44:16):
And for sure, our childrenobviously are not gonna experience
the hardships that we had.
Have at easy just by being born here,
We hope so.
That's true.
We hope so.
Oh my gosh,
So on that note then, on that topic,so far, everyone we've interviewed or
everyone we've talked to has had a similarviewpoint on this question, so I'm very

(44:38):
excited to see what you two both think.
Should we open the borders,then make it very easy.
If you're an immigrant, come.
I have a twofold answer on this.
Okay.
and for me, being in my forties.
Getting so lucky and havingmy first child, and maybe
that's the only one I'll have.

(44:58):
I constantly think about populationdecline or birth rates declining birth
rate rates decline all over the world.
And I feel like America has alwaysbeen so strong because we have so much
immigration and because we have somany more people that are being born.
But now that rate is also decliningand to thrive in the economy, we have

(45:21):
to have new people that are constantlybeing born and working into the system.
Let's say because of that, I feellike immigration is very needed
for the countries to survive movingforward, opening up the borders,
but at the same time opening upthe borders and anyone comes.
I feel like that's just gonna create aflood that is gonna be harder to manage

(45:47):
or given everyone enough opportunity,but at the same time, I feel like
immigration is very important partof the longevity for any country.
I love this Olga, and I believealso it's not black and white.
Nothing is black and white.
We can say open the bordersand don't open the borders.
Absolutely.
So yes, nothing is black and white.

(46:09):
That is just open theborder or close the border.
We saw the border open and it was itshit show, and with saw it closed, then
it's is so much fear that is going onand still NN not a great state to be in.
As with everything, there needsto be a creative solution.
It needs to be a new mindset, anew heart set that can look at it

(46:30):
and say, okay, how can we do it?
How we can maybe not openit, but crack open it.
How can we allow people who aretruly incredible that want an
opportunity, they're going todo really good for this country?
How can we allow them to come?
Can there be a process for it?
Can there be a group ofpeople that interviews them?

(46:53):
I definitely lean more into yes,versus just shut it down and let it
be just for I, I feel like it's goingto be so unnatural to America because
it is a country of immigration,like that's going to be a very new
America that we don't even know yet.
And again, I don't know, maybe it isgoing to be a great America, maybe not,

(47:14):
but it's going to be very differentin my belief system, is that the
door needs to be cracked open and theopportunity for people who are truly
wanted to be here needs to exist.
And we definitely have to have a newpath to immigration under financial
sector where there has to be a waywhere if I come to this country and

(47:39):
I'm working minimum wage, there hasto be some kind of immigration loan
that is taken out of my paycheck, thenmaybe I don't even see that money.
It just goes to that loan.
So I have this fund to pay for legal fees,but I feel like none of that is set up.
So everyone is just trying to skip by.

(48:02):
when they're faced with a hard problem,then they have nothing to offer for that.
And then people are just stuck andhiding and just creates this very hard
process for anyone who is involved,who even wants to do it the proper way.
Sure.
There's some people who are just.
Maybe they're here and they're justnot trying to do it the right way.
I'm sure there's a small percentageof people who are like that, but a lot

(48:26):
of people want to do it right way, butthey're not able to and creating some
kind of a system where they could payinto it, even if it's a small amount.
So there is paper trail that they'retrying to do it the right way.
Yeah.
One of the words that both of you haveused a few times now is legal, right?
Legal system.

(48:46):
And it also sounds like for ourlisteners and for, the thousands
of people that tune into this everyshow and every week, from a private
opportunity, a legal application.
Literally a software, AIto help speed this up.
Seems like a really great opportunityultimately the threshold and the

(49:10):
bottleneck sounds like it's very tied upinto the legal system and to someone or
numerous individuals looking at paperwork,seeing paperwork, seeing the application,
making the decision, making the process.
Right now there are thousands andthousands of judges, lawyers, courts,

(49:32):
all tied up into just immigrationwhere every single story is different.
it also sounds like there is somesolution there where if that process
got sped up rather than 10 years,that number, that word, that phrase
has been thrown around a few times,10 years is a long fucking time.
That's a decade.
Let's figure out a way to get that processdown to, are you a citizen in three years?

(49:57):
Yes or no?
if you pass something, if you intosomething, if you get a credit system
built up we should figure out a wayto be able to shorten that process.
Because think a lot of it wouldbe minimizing that paper trail,
minimizing the time that a humanhas to look at certain applications.
Do you think I'm on the right path there?

(50:18):
I love your thinking and Ilove this path very much.
And also the observation thatanything that needs to be implemented
in the government or in thelegal or in the insurance world,
like everything takes forever.
And the pushback is so huge and for theallowing of AI to come in is going to be.

(50:43):
big.
So I'm not sure if just entrepreneurialindividual with this idea can
bring it into the government.
I feel like it'll need to be agovernment's desire, and at least right
now for where we at in America, thereis no government desire for any of it.
I think I have a solution.
You guys, we take

(51:05):
it to us.
50% of the new ice agents and we givethem a job processing claims instead.
And I think we solve theproblem in the waiting list.
We'll need to heal thema little bit first.
Yeah.
But we'd spend so much moremoney deporting people.
It would be better spent gettingpeople in the office processing these

(51:27):
claims because there's so much Goldis also there that could elevate
this country on the whole next level.
And unfortunately, these peoplearen't hiding because they're terrifi.
Yeah, that's a great way to put it.
I think many people, especially UScitizens or people that have this
extremely strict view on immigration,fail to realize that the top, I'd

(51:50):
probably wager to say the top 15richest individuals in the world that
live in the United States of Americaimmigrated here including Elon Musk.
So ultimately a lot of incredible humans,a lot of incredible ideas, beliefs.
When people get too stuck on theimmigration policy and they try to make it

(52:10):
extremely strict, they very often forgetto both of your points, which you've made
earlier, the history of America, thiscountry was built on immigrants, right?
Give us your sick, give us your tired.
Give us your hungry.
We will feed them.
We will clothe them.
That's what made this country great andto be the greatest country in the world.
We still have the greatest problems,and this is one of them, right?
Very few countries face the problem atscale that we do regarding immigration.

(52:33):
They all face it, especially countriesthat have borders, France, Germany,
England, Spain, Portugal, right?
There's a many other countriesthat have immigration problems.
It's just not to the scale that we do.
And so what Olga, what you'rementioning is, Hey, you have
this humongous budget, right?
ICE is now the 17th military organizationin the world with the stroke of a pin,

(52:57):
seemingly to me is a little bit excessive,the money that's spent on just simply
deporting people who were here illegally.
And you figure out a way to blend itwith what fella said earlier, which
was, Hey, you're all approved, butyou have to buy into this system.
And you have half of the individualsthat were brought in for ICE to process
a claim, to give people, to talkto people, to communicate, to have

(53:20):
conversations, put 'em into a system.
And I think you used the wordcredit check earlier or building
your credit report essentially.
Building your immigration credit Ithink does have a lot of validation
to it and a lot of validity.
I think we should propose this.
I think we should run for office.
Fantastic.
I love this.
Dave, you're ready to say something?

(53:40):
When we're talking about solutions,we've talked a lot about sort of
the legal aspects, and I know alot of this is wrapped up in legal.
Your process was wrapped up in legal.
Everyone that we've talked to secondand third generation, critics,
supporters, advocates, lawyers, everyonehas said that by far America is the

(54:03):
best in the world at integratingpeople from all over the planet.
Tell me about the cultural integration.
I'll give you an example.
I live in Miami.
English is very much the second language.
If you don't speak Spanish here,you're at a huge disadvantage.
And I've never been anywhere inthe United States quite like that.

(54:26):
And all of the people we've talked tosaid one of the things that their parents
emphasized, and, heard you say it as well.
English was so critical, and justthat small cultural shift of saying,
Hey, English is going to be important.
We're going to teach it,we're gonna make sure it's
immersive, is a real big step up.
So tell me a little bitabout your cultural journey.

(54:49):
Oh, the other thing thateverybody said particularly second
generation, is they love theirculture mainly through the food.
Tell me about the cultural aspects.
Things that aren't about politicsor about the administration
or about the laws around this.
What would you say maybe toimmigrants before they're arriving?

(55:10):
Something about improving their odds aboutbuilding a life here in the United States.
I say that English, absolutely.
If you speak the language,you have opportunity.
If you don't speak thelanguage, you have very limited
opportunities, almost nothing.
if you actually wanted to succeed inAmerica, you have to speak the language.

(55:30):
And the better language youspeak, the more opportunities
you will have to get better jobsright away to create more income.
Therefore, that income willhelp you to pay for the legal
fees and everything else.
If you don't speak English, you will beworking under the table somewhere and
it'll be very difficult journey for you.
I agreed and when I was 17, I was barelyspeaking English and I got lost in Miami.

(55:55):
And you're right, no one spoke Englishand I don't know how I got home.
I got lost in the gas station.
And I think that's why I havesuch a strong, like everyone
have to speak the language.
If I'm in this country, I haveto understand you and I'm doing
my best to communicate with you.
So I want everyone else to communicatewith the same language back.

(56:15):
Let's flip this around a little bit.
A lot of this is like federalbecause that's where it's at.
What could communities orneighborhoods or groups do to
make this easier for immigrants?
I have to go back to theimmigrant themselves.
You have to have the disciplineand the will to put in the work.

(56:36):
It doesn't matter what communities can setup for you, but if you don't wanna put in
that work, there is all of these availablethings around you would not be helpful.
And I believe there is quitea bit, at least in Las Vegas,
going on in the community.
I know there are all kind ofEnglish classes in the libraries.
That can be taken.
Yes.
sometimes it's inconvenient.

(56:57):
And again, immigrants, a lot of timesthey don't have a car, they cannot drive.
The bus system is not very good, butthings are available and if you want
to, you can find a way to get there.
my mother went throughsome of those classes.
A friend of mine also did and itreally helped her and she is doing

(57:17):
really right now and she didn't speakany English when she came to states.
So I believe that if you thinking aboutcoming to this country, you have to speak
English, start the process right away.
And what about the role of mentorship,How could that play a part in this?
From more established immigrantshelping newcomers to integrate faster?

(57:42):
Is that something that we should create?
That's mandatory, that's optional.
That's more open, more aware,more available, easier to access.
Would that help?
I feel like it would help, absolutely.
I think it's a really great ideato create something like that.
at least in my experience, there is almostthis unspoken code of immigrants that

(58:07):
when you meet another one that been in acountry a little bit less, you help out
and you educate and you show the way,and you show the path and you engage.
it was a part of my past.
And I know that it's been a pa now.
It's been a part of my past back.
And so there is almost like this unspokencode that I see you and I understand

(58:27):
your struggle and if I can make yourstruggle just a little bit less.
Just by even sharing that andunderstanding that or helping
in some kind of way or theconnection, I'm here for you.
And I see that culture,quite a bit with immigrants.
We definitely we see each otherand we know the difficulty

(58:51):
that we are going through.
And I think with us Eastern Europeans,I feel like we always find our tribe
and everybody has different stories.
So then you're like, oh, this isavailable and this is available.
Okay, I can do it this way and that way.
So we definitely have that.
But creating something specifically tohelp immigrants is just, immigrated to
Los Angeles, it would be so hard to findthat pocket and like, where's that pocket?

(59:13):
Oh, is it 10 miles away, three miles away?
But it's still gonna take me an hourto get there to talk to somebody.
It just becomes a lot of barriers.
So those pockets have to beavailable all over the place.
So people like, oh, I'm in CulverCity and around the corner there's a
group that meets about immigration,and I can learn more things and
see how I can advance myself here.

(59:35):
But I believe right now with theworld that we are in, even right now,
that we are having the conversationin such a way we can actually have
something more central that is online.
We can build systems online, we canhave the communities, we can have maybe
people that facilitate and they'rewilling to give their time online.
And guess what?
You can go to library andaccess a computer for an hour.

(59:59):
So with the internet being where it is at,I feel like it is definitely very possible
to create support for the immigrantsthat is led by other immigrants.
And I love this idea, Jerremy.
In 2025 and beyond, I would say thatprobably 98% of every human that's in the

(01:00:21):
US is gonna have access to a cell phone.
And with every flip, phones are gone.
So pretty much every phone'sgonna have access to cell towers.
And if you have access to cell towers,you have access to internet, which again,
makes it faster and easier and obtainable.
'cause again, really what I'm doingand the point of this entire show, as
we all know is solving the problems,coming up with solutions where dilate and

(01:00:44):
discern and dictate and both myself andDave sit down and then just collaborate
on what we've actually learned andwhat we think would work because I do
plan on running for office all again.
I want to implement a lot ofchanges and shifts and opportunities
that I think could be faster orjust, more available or easier.
I do believe that there does.
Need to be a sprinkle ofhardship, meaning prove yourself.

(01:01:07):
If you're gonna come to this country,we wanna make sure that you're an
incredible human being, but at thesame exact instance, that can be
something that should be simplerthan it is now which is fun.
But just as an exciting question thatI think would be enjoyable for me
and Dave to hear what's one thing youstill find confusing about us culture?

(01:01:30):
Eating mashed potatoeswith cranberry sauce.
I would go with mashed potatoeswith the skin on top too.
Okay.
We never, ever, we had all eatenlike that are not cooked, or
broccoli that is not cooked.
Oh, honey, on top of fried chicken,
Oh, first of all, honey, oneverything is amazing to be

(01:01:53):
GRA Gravy.
I got comfortable with the skins andpotatoes because I've learned that
there's so many more vitamins in the skin.
So I'm like, okay, I'll deal with that.
I'm thinking, like I'msuch an American now.
My mom would always say, oh,you're such an American now.
And it's because, I prioritize workand I like to accomplish things and

(01:02:16):
I like certain things certain way.
What a great complimentto be called American.
I guess if my mom were to answer thisquestion, she would say, what a weird
concept of putting ice in your water.
No ice in water, please.
That was the biggest thing.
So do you still findyourself doing that still?

(01:02:37):
I
I.
I chill my water, butI don't put ice in it.
She was like, I don't need any ice.
I'm like, how?
How are you drinkingthis water with no ice?
This is mind blowing to me.
Yep.
There you
There you
I went the other way.
My boo is Turkish.
I couldn't even imagine iceand water at this point.
So you both mentioned food.

(01:02:58):
What is your comfort food?
In Russia, I grew up eating pelini, whichis the meat dumplings, and I ate them
ever since I was seven years old, andI'm still obsessed with it in America.
So many foods, I love Indian food.
Is that an answer?
That's something I could never havein Russia, so I love Indian food.

(01:03:19):
Yes, I feel like everything thatwas made, like bread type of things,
like I feel like we grew up on bread.
My grandma would be always bacon,pieros, all kind of things.
And so every time I am in that likerooted, soulful energy, like I wanted
to make something hardy and it wouldhave, some element of flour in it.

(01:03:43):
So that is definitely it.
It's just a part of aDNA fun question for me.
are there very few Russian restaurants.
Good
you, it's not that good.
It's not,
okay and I have to
it's the same stuff.
It's the same stuff.
It's same ingredients, whichjust mixed up in a different way.

(01:04:06):
mayo
A different way.
I don't know.
I have to disagree a little bit becauseI love Russian food, but my partner is
American and he is I cannot have this.
This is, it is just,everything is mixed with Mayo.
I just cannot have this coupleof things he enjoys, but he would
never wake up in the morning.
He's Hey, we should go out tonight.
Let's go to a Russian restaurant.
That would never happen.

(01:04:28):
She's never requested that.
Exactly.
It's never once.
Here's what happens to me.
I do crave Russian, especiallywhen I got pregnant.
I was like, oh, I wanna do is eat Russianfood and I would order all this Russian
food and then it would come to me, andthen I would say I could make it better
and then I just end up making it at home.
But I don't make it it is justa special occasion for me where
I'll make all the Russian food.

(01:04:49):
However, during Christmas in Russia,we would always make oreshki.
Let's see.
Yeah, so it's like a really it lookslike a walnut and it's a cookie that
is filled with boiled condensed milk.
It's delicious.
So every Christmas now I makethis, and my partner is obsessed.

(01:05:11):
And yes, Jerremy, you have to try.
I would like a deliciouscookie for Christmas.
That sounds great.
Oh my goodness.
That's not what I get.
That's not what he gets.
Nope.
I get herring under thefur coat for Christmas.
no.
He does every Christmas.
I make that beautifulsalad that he is oh my God,
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love it.

(01:05:32):
And we, I live in Los Angeles, so wedo have a few Russian restaurants, but
not a lot of them survive long term.
And I remember one of my favoriterestaurants in New York, it was
Ukrainian restaurant, and it went out ofbusiness as well, but it was the best.
And they had every single flavoredvodka you could think of, and

(01:05:53):
experience was incredible.
And they still shut down becausenot a lot of people like it.
Yeah.
Unless if it's a Russianrestaurant, unless you are Russian,
Ukrainian, like Soviet Union,you're not going to go there.
Yeah.
As you said, like you're not goingto wake up and say, I'm going to go
to Russian restaurant for experience.
You might do it once.
You'll taste their foot andyou're like, I will be just fine.

(01:06:14):
I'll open this question up for Davealso or anyone who wants to answer.
What's the biggest myth Americansbelieve about immigrants?
That we are taking their jobs.
Okay.
I feel it is a crazy myth.
A lot of those jobs that I've been rightnow done by immigrants, most of the

(01:06:37):
immigrants that do not speak the language,Americans don't wanna do those jobs.
Like Americans are privileged.
They want things easy.
They do not want towork more than 40 hours.
They do not want to work three jobs.
And they also very entitled and feellike they do just the best job ever

(01:07:01):
they didn't actually see other jobs.
And yes, a lot of times we have todo those jobs because Americans don't
wanna do those jobs and those arethe only jobs that are available.
when I was illegal, I was puttingflyers, pizza flyers at 6:00 AM
in someone else's apartments.
Like what American Wakes up was like,this is my job, don't take my job.

(01:07:25):
Please take it fine.
I also
yes, go ahead.
for your previous question.
You said the culture shock, what wasthe biggest thing where you're like, oh,
you in America now, like what happened?
I was in a circus.
I was 16.
We were rehearsing our show and I rememberwe're in the middle of rehearsing one of
the acts and something was not working.
We just had to figure outhow to fit it into the show.

(01:07:48):
And I remember somebody walks in andgoes, okay, it's lunch everybody.
And my mind was blown.
In Russia, you don't take lunch.
You work until you fix the problem.
Where in America you have labor lawsand you have to stop, and you have to
let people go, have lunch, and then youcome back and you start over, which a

(01:08:08):
lot of times it'll take you longer toget going, but that's just how it goes.
I think my answer dependson where you're at, right?
I think, you know, I grew up inWashington, DC and I think if you're
in an urban environment, I think oneof the biggest myths that you have
are immigrants are really great.

(01:08:29):
And the reality is, is immigrants are justimmigrants and they're just people, right?
And I think if you live outside ofurban environments, immigrants are
really scary and they're othered.
And then I've seen it in communitieswhere maybe agricultural communities,
immigrants are just integrated.
So I think it really just sort ofdepends, you know, like there, there
seems to be like odd black and white.

(01:08:51):
Mentalities around things.
And when we remove those barriersyou know, like, it's like, wow, these
are just people and they just are,they're just from someplace else.
But then again, you know, like ifyou spend any time in America, you
are from someplace else, right?
Like, I'm, I'm from Washington, I livedin San Francisco, I lived in Miami.
Like, I'm from somewhere else.
And it's just, it's just people.

(01:09:12):
So that's what I think the mythsaround immigration are, is that
it gets black and white and it'slike, nah, people are people.
People are people.
That is a statement from DC Dave Conley.
Very accurate as well.
All good.
Just wanna say thank you so muchfor taking your time to be here
and share with us your stories.
Share with us your victories of howyou overcame and how you are now just

(01:09:37):
such a rockstar American who createsvalue for people all over the world.
And it's Ana.
Thank you for sharing with us differentopinions, beliefs, thoughts on how we can
collaborate and come together as humans,as citizens to embark on love and healing.
It's gonna be an incredible episodefor every single person to listen.

(01:09:57):
And please feel free to share thisepisode with any of your friends
if they are immigrants or not.
We would love a five star reviewand they can share this episode.
They can tag us, solve USA Pod onX, or Solving America's Problems.
on Instagram, Olga Solana.

(01:10:17):
you so much for your time.
Thank you for having us.
. What did we learn, Dave?
What did we learn?
What did we learn?
One thing that I definitelylearned is the rhetoric.
The advertisement that come to America.
We have everything that you want,your dreams, the opportunity

(01:10:38):
that's still very much alive andprobably has been and probably will
continue to be for a very long time.
This is another statement byyou that we as a country have.
The best immigration policy process,although it's still flawed and it's
still archaic and still muddied at times,comparatively, we're still nailing it.

(01:11:01):
We're still doing quite well.
And that brings me hope because there,there can certainly be changes, there
can certainly be shifts, and I thinkSolana in this episode said that
really the mindset probably could,that could shift into is just one of.
Abundance, one of opportunity,one of prosperity.
One that saying, Hey,there's plenty to go around.

(01:11:22):
There's more than enough.
We can figure this out.
It's okay for us to do that, right?
It's okay for us to go, Hey,listen, we need more immigrants.
We want more people.
This is going to be something that's gonnaprovide more versus take away from, right?
That scarcity mindset of if immigrantscome into this nation, then.
If Americans aren't gonna have anyjobs, I think you need to be worried

(01:11:44):
a lot more about robots and AI takingyour jobs than you do immigrants.
That's actually happening for sure.
So we need to continueto figure out a way.
To build together, to createmore, to scale more, to entertain
more, to have more, right.
That's really the mindset of abundance,and I think that the right people
in place, the right policy changes,the right metrics and the right

(01:12:07):
discussions, the right stories, theright conversations and communications,
I think would create space for that.
And I also learned that in probablyabout six of our overall general topics.
Police reform being one of them, andnow immigration, that it's the legal
process that is one of the largestbottlenecks and probably the thing

(01:12:33):
that needs to get solved the fastest.
What did you learn DC.
I learned that immigrantsare tough as nails.
They're.
Bad asses.
Bad.
I hear people complainingabout their coffee, right?
And the hoops, the bureaucracy the fear.
I don't think that the vastmajority of people, certainly

(01:12:54):
the vast majority of Americans.
Would put up with any of that.
If we had anything that we had todo as native born Americans, that
was a of what immigrants have to gothrough, we would lose our minds.
There would be riots in the streets.
Every politician be thrownout like it would be bedlam.
kept on going and we did it.

(01:13:14):
I am blown away about,their bravery and the grit.
And I don't think that story isheard about immigrants because
their story is not unique.
Their story is pretty typical,even easier in some ways.
One of the big things I'velearned through this series is.
America is so good at thisand equally awful at it.

(01:13:37):
And the immigrants who go throughthis process and become American
citizens are like super citizens.
Like they are patrioticand they are proud.
And they are strong and they're tough.
And like they come here and theysucceed over and over again.
That's what I learned,like it sucks and they are.
Amazing.
Just truly amazing.

(01:13:59):
That part I do love.
Yeah.
When, if you come here andmost people come here, I think
Phila brought this point.
They come here, they really wanna be here.
They probably good chancethey're risking their life.
Or, danger, physical danger 'cause it'snot easy to get here from another nation,
FYI, so it's probably gonna be very hard.

(01:14:19):
They wanna be here.
You mentioned this in another place,they had to skip all the other countries
that they could have easily gone to.
It probably would bealmost if not as safe.
They're skipping them.
They just go, they keep going.
They keep walking throughall the different countries
and borders to get here.
So the people that do make itreally wanna be here, and they're
not gonna give it up easily.

(01:14:40):
And so they're gonna try, they'regonna produce, they're gonna provide,
they're gonna create, and they're reallygoing to be a bedrock of this nation.
They're gonna be your school teachers.
Janitors, they're gonna beyour construction workers.
They're gonna be your individualsthat are building this country from
the inside out, the people that wemight not give a lot of credit to
they're gonna win because they have to.

(01:15:02):
It's no longer a for them, it becomes amust, and that must becomes a standard,
and that standard dictates their life.
I also learned, Dave, that I thinkthat we got some solutions, man.
I think we're getting to a point wherea lot of immigrants really like the
idea, and I do as well along with theimmigration attorney, like some type
of checklist credit, credit score esquetype of approach where it's like proof

(01:15:25):
to us have the system in place that youcan, build live here, maintain, create.
It's trackable.
It's 2025, right?
Like we can easily build something that'strackable, that's replicatable, that's
easy, that's simple to install, thatpeople can willingly sign up for and be a
part of where they can pay into a system.

(01:15:47):
They can be a part of the systemwhere we do make it faster, easier,
quicker to be a citizen here.
So our.
This is our final episode.
We'll have a wrap up.
That'll be our next one from this.
But I want you thinking about this.
Okay, this is my thought experimentbetween now and when we do
our, what did we, our overall,what did we learn in this?
Because I keep hearing thisone thing, which is, it was

(01:16:10):
hard and I'm better from it.
I'm curious on the solution side, if.
' cause we've also heard, it'soh, let's make it easier.
Let's make it faster.
Let's make it, and I'm wondering if no.
We keep it hard, we just takeall the stupid out of it.
Like we keep, we pull out thebureaucracy, we pull out the confusion

(01:16:30):
and the fear and the uncertainty.
But it, it's still hard, right?
Like maybe it still isthis trial in a sense.
I don't know if that's right ornot, but I wanna think about it.
Because.
There is some value to that.
I don't know if maybe it's not fair.
I don't know that's whatI'm gonna be thinking about.
I ask that maybe you do too.
Or maybe ask your lovely wife.
In our next episode, ladies and gentlemen,it's gonna be an absolute doozy where both

(01:16:53):
Dave and myself discuss are we removingthe greatest gifts that immigrants
give themselves, that America givesthem as well the challenge to create
and the obstacle to become better.
We'll see you in the next episodeof solving America's Problem.