Why Don’t People Take Immigration Seriously?

I’ve worked in the visa space for almost two decades. I’ve seen everything from impeccable, self-filed applications I couldn’t have done better myself to pure pig feed, some mistakes I can understand, like forgetting to submit the I-130a supplemental spousal petition with the I-130.

But others like: petitions written with a sharpie, half-completed forms, answers that show the person didn’t read a single instruction. I get that budgets differ and professional help isn’t always affordable, but even many self-filed cases show minimal effort. Honestly I have more respect for the fraudsters since they put in significantly more effort than some of these self-filed petitions.

Immigration is life-altering, yet some folks treat it like a raffle entry. If you don’t actually want to come to the U.S., why spend $675 and apply at all? And I really don’t understand why people facing deportation don’t hire an attorney immediately. The stats are brutal: roughly 90% of people who go to immigration court pro se lose. If they don't care then why not just leave on their own terms then? Why go through a humiliating and grueling deportation?

This is a serious question. Why do so many people treat something this important so casually?