I've been here 10 years and I'm just about to pull the plug; The industry is more extreme and brutal here than anywhere else on the planet. Personally, in terms of your career, I think you'd be nuts to do it. You'll spend half your time wondering when it's all going tits up again and the other half wondering why you get paid sh!t.
As far as what Ferny said about working, I don't know on what basis he applied for a GC but I applied for mine because I was marred to a US citizen, I submitted a Work Authorization application as part of my GC application and got my work permit the next day. So, I'm not sure why he couldn't work.
Think very long and hard about it; this is not the promised land with regards to aviation.