Immigration Law

COULD ELECTION YEAR POLITICS HELP RECAPTURE BILL'S CHANCES?

Posted on September 24, 2008
Yesterday, I wrote about a great bill that was introduced by Senator Menendez that would recapture hundreds of thousands of unused green card numbers, ease the strict per country limits that cause long lines for nationals of some countries and also make it easier to get a waiver when someone is subject to an unlawful presence bar...

SEVIS FEES FOR F, J AND M STUDENTS GOING UP

Posted on September 24, 2008
$200 for Fs and Ms. $180 for Js. sevis fee - Get more Business Documents

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE STILL NOT ABLE TO MOVE IMMIGRANT VISA RECAPTURE BILL OR NURSES BILL

Posted on September 23, 2008
For the third week in a row, the committee fails to move forward on these bills despite being scheduled today for a markup. And, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, tomorrow is not looking much better. Lovely.

IMMIGRATION NO LONGER THE GIFT THAT KEEPS GIVING FOR ANTI-IMMIGRANT REPUBLICANS

Posted on September 23, 2008
Bashing immigrants doesn't appear to be working so well as in the past for the xenophobic wing of the Republican Party. That, plus pressure to tone things down and not embarrass their presidential candidate who is trying to woo Hispanic voters, help explain why we're not seeing the nasty ads of recent elections past.

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CAN IMMIGRANTS HELP ADDRESS THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

Posted on September 23, 2008
A lot of people may not be aware that hundreds of thousands of highly skilled immigrants - people with bachelors, masters, Ph.Ds, medical degrees, etc. - are stuck waiting in a queue for green cards that can last ten years or more. These are precisely the people who can help keep American competitive and they could provide some needed help in resolving the banking crisis that has gripped the country...

MENENDEZ INTRODUCES RECAPTURE BILL IN SENATE

Posted on September 23, 2008
Senate Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has introduced S. 3514, the Reuniting Families Act, a bill to recapture unused family and employment-based green cards which were left on the table in the years 1992 to the present. The bill would also change the per country limit of 7% to a more reasonable 10%...

THE DUMBEST IMMIGRATION BILL OF THE YEAR

Posted on September 21, 2008
There is no shortage of politicians who have sought to find silly angles to capitalize on the public's anxieties in the post-9/11 world. And this week its out old friend Tom Tancredo (who is doing the world a favor and leaving Congress after this session) who wins the award...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: JOHN DAVISON - PARENT'S RESOURCE

Posted on September 19, 2008
British-born John Davison is a video game industry veteran who has teamed up with fellow industry insider to create whattheyplay.com, a web site that provides resources to parents trying to monitor the video games their kids are playing. I first heard about the company a few months ago when Davison was a guest on NBC's Today Show to talk about the controversial new video game Grand Theft Auto 4...

BORDER PATROL THREATENING TO REVOKE CITIZENSHIP OF AMERICANS

Posted on September 19, 2008
A reader sent me this news article quoting Joseph Giuliano, deputy chief border patrol agent in Washington State. The article notesThe parents who entered the country illegally are still required to attend their court date and go through deportation proceedings, he said...

JUDGE ISSUES A VERDICT IN RHODE ISLAND

Posted on September 19, 2008
Recently, I wrote that the ACLU is suing the governor of Rhode Island to prevent the implementation of his executive order mandating that all state contractors use e-Verify. The ACLU claimed that this was a measure that was beyond the powers of the governor...

NEW AD HITS MCCAIN ON IMMIGRATION

Posted on September 19, 2008
From America's Voice:

LATINO VOTERS GROWING ANGRIER

Posted on September 19, 2008
Is this really a surprise? The Pew Hispanic Center reports that 1 in 10 Hispanics in America was stopped by law enforcement authorities this past year for checks on their immigration status. That same study shows that 50% of Latinos (and 63% of foreign-born Hispanics) say their situation in the US has deteriorated over the past year...

DID MCCAIN MIX UP SPANISH PRIME MINISTER WITH SOUTH AMERICAN DICTATOR?

Posted on September 18, 2008
It's relevant because he made this possible gaffe in an interview with a Spanish-language radio station in Miami and the interview is getting extensive airplay in the Latino community. It's also apparently causing a rift in US-Spain relations. I think McCain was mixed up and this may not have been the biggest gaffe in the world...

ICE ACCUSED OF TARGETING DAY CARE CENTERS

Posted on September 18, 2008
Wow, DHS better hope there is no truth to this. An immigration advocacy group, the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, is claiming that ICE officials are now targeting migrant and seasonal Head Start centers in some states. Yvette Sanchez, president of the association claims "Several kids and babies died in the fields because parents were fearful of sending them to Head Start...

OBAMA AND MCCAIN BOTH SUPPORTING MORE H-1B NUMBERS

Posted on September 18, 2008
Both are fine on this issue. McCain wants to get rid of the cap and set limits based on market conditions. Obama wants a temporary increase, but also wants more green cards and to make it easier for foreign students to stay and work after they finish.

ANTIS OPPOSE IMMIGRATION BENEFITS FOR AMERICAN SOLDIERS

Posted on September 18, 2008
This is how you can tell just how extreme they are.

OBAMA AD CRITICIZED FOR EQUATING LIMBAUGH AND MCCAIN

Posted on September 18, 2008
ABC's Jake Tapper takes the Obama campaign to task for its latest Spanish language ad. The gist of the piece is that McCain is not nearly as anti-immigration as the right wing radio host. The article admits that McCain has flip-flopped on immigration reform, but that his positions aren't as extreme as his party...

NURSE BILL MARKUP DUE TO BE COMPLETED TOMORROW

Posted on September 17, 2008
Press releases notwithstanding, HR 5924, the bill to allocate 20,000 green cards for nurses, is set to be completed tomorrow (it was supposed to be done last week). I'll let you know when it has happened.

AMENDMENTS DELAY CONSIDERATION OF BILLS IN HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Posted on September 17, 2008
Ugh! No movement today on bills to increase nurse visas and recapture wasted immigrant visa numbers. HR 6020, a bill to improve visa processing for soldiers and their families did pass and that's certainly great news. But there were so many amendment proposals on that bill that there was no time for anything else...

BREAKING NEWS: NINTH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS ARIZONA SANCTIONS LAW

Posted on September 17, 2008
The Ninth Circuit has ruled with the state in a complaint arguing that an Arizona law calling for the revocation of business licenses for companies employing illegal workers and requiring employers to use e-Verify will stand, at least for now. The court indicated that it would wait and see how the law was enforced and might entertain future challenges, according to experts...

OBAMA HITS BACK IN ADS AIMED AT LATINO VOTERS

Posted on September 17, 2008
According to Politico: The Washington Post gets some new Spanish-language spots from Obama, reminding voters of the anti-Immigration wing of the Republican Party. "They want us to forget the insults we've put up with, the intolerance," says the narrator, in Spanish, over a picture of Rush Limbaugh and quotes of him saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out...

SURPRISE! DOJ HAS FAILED TO KEEP PROMISE TO WEED OUT BAD IMMIGRATION JUDGES

Posted on September 17, 2008
Remember former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez issuing 22 reforms to clean up a number of well-documented problems with immigration judges around the country. They included a new disciplinary system, improvements to the appeals process and additional oversight...

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR: UH, NEVER MIND

Posted on September 17, 2008
Just posted on the DOL web site: September 17, 2008 The Department has been presented with evidence indicating that prior to its recent audits, many immigration attorneys believed that the Department?s rule regarding consideration of U.S. workers did not apply to them unless they represented not only the employer seeking the labor certification, but also the alien for whom the certification was being sought...

I BEG TO DIFFER

Posted on September 16, 2008
Some readers have emailed me expressing their disappointment that ILW.com effectively endorsed John McCain in its editorial in today's Immigration Daily: If we get President Obama, Democrats are going to be euphoric on Jan 20, 2009, and rightly so - being back in the White House, at last, after 8 long and bitter years...

UNIONS TRYING TO BLOCK NURSE VISAS

Posted on September 16, 2008
This is really something. Nursing unions are trying to block a bill to allow more visas for nurses despite a massive shortage that exists TODAY and which is endangering patients NOW and is instead pressuring Congress to reject the bill in favor of measures that MIGHT produce more nurses SEVERAL YEARS IN THE FUTURE...

RUSSIA AND KOSOVO ADDED TO LIST OF ELIGIBLE LOTTERY COUNTRIES

Posted on September 16, 2008
Buried in the State Department Visa Bulletin I linked to a couple of days ago was an announcement that the bar on Russians using the program would be ended and Kosovo will be listed as an independent country. The entry period will be from October 2, 2008 to December 1, 2008.

FOREIGN TEACHERS HELPING AMERICAN KIDS

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Washington Post reports on a trend that has grown over the last few years as the shortage of teachers around the US has grown more pronounced. A lot of school systems are now depending on international educators to help ensure that teacher-student ratios don't continue to worsen...

WHITE HOUSE ON THE DEFENSIVE OVER NEW HPV VACCINE REQUIREMENT FOR GREEN CARD APPLICANTS

Posted on September 16, 2008
When the cable news shows are talking about it, you know something's up. In July, USCIS began requiring female immigrants between 11 and 26 to get a vaccine to prevent the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a virus that is usually sexually transmitted. The agency discussed this new requirement in a recent public forum:Question: There is some concern among both CBOs and civil surgeons regarding the new requirement on the I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, to receive the HPV vaccine...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: WEI ZEN-WEI - CANCER RESEARCHER

Posted on September 16, 2008
While the world's attention was focused on the scary news yesterday on Wall Street, there was some hopeful news on another front. Researchers made an exciting announcement about breast cancer research. According to the BBC: A new vaccine has completely eliminated a type of breast cancer tumour in tests on mice, say researchers...

VIVA KENNEDY

Posted on September 15, 2008
I found a great web site for those of us who love political history.The site has a rich collection of television commercials from every presidential election since 1952. Here's one that I stumbled on that reminds us that Latino voters have mattered for a long time in this country...

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