Immigration Law

DREAM ACT GRADUATIONS THIS COMING TUESDAY

Posted on June 18, 2009
I received the following note from a reader and wanted to pass it on to all of you since this is a really important cause: I was reading your blog and I wanted to let you know about a DREAM Act event happening next Tuesday. The United We Dream Coalition and Dreamactivist...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: RICHARD WOLFFE - JOURNALIST

Posted on June 18, 2009
Tonight I saw British-born journalist Richard Wolffe on both CNN and on his regular spot with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. He's usually commenting on the day's American political news, but he's now also promoting his new book, Renegade. Wolffe covered the entire campaign of President Obama, from the day he announced he was running until Election Day 2008...

SCHUMER SUGGESTING NATIONAL WORKER ID CARD

Posted on June 17, 2009
From the LA Times: A ?forgery-proof? worker ID card, secured with biometric data such as fingerprints, is a favored idea of the new chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee, Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer, who will lead the effort to craft the Senate?s comprehensive immigration reform legislation, has publicly espoused the card as the best way to ensure that all workers are authorized...

FAIR RESPONDS TO FORDE STORY

Posted on June 17, 2009
From the FAIR web site.

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HATE CRIMES AGAINST IMMIGRANTS SURGE

Posted on June 17, 2009
A report from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund shows that hate crimes targeting Hispanics rose 40% from 2003 to 2007. The report can be found here. Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, the think tank of the anti-immigration Federation for American Immigration Reform told the Washington Post: Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which was criticized in the LCCREF report, said it was "another salvo against free speech by the pro-amnesty coalition ...

WE THE PEOPLE

Posted on June 16, 2009
Thank you NBC's Today Show for bringing to the American people this story of one family caught up in the immigration debate. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

LATEST HATE KILLER ALLEGEDLY CONNECTED TO FAIR

Posted on June 16, 2009
With all of the publicity recently received in the cases of the abortion clinic and Holocaust museum slayings, I'm surprised that this crime has not been getting a lot of publicity: An outspoken anti-immigration activist who was at the center of a series of violent crimes in Everett earlier this year now stands accused of the home-invasion killings of an Arizona man and his 9-year-old daughter...

WHITE HOUSE SUMMIT BACK ON THE CALENDAR

Posted on June 15, 2009
I had breakfast today with a few advocates and an Obama Administration official who noted that the immigration summit will now be held on June 25th. Encouraging. I also learned that the current expectation is that the immigration reform bill will likely start in the Senate and that Senator Reid is hoping for reform legislation to be considered in the fall.

REAL NIGHTMARE

Posted on June 15, 2009
The American Civil Liberties Union has a web site devoted to opposing the Real ID Act of 2005, the federal law that requires states to spend vast sums of money to revamp drivers licenses to make it impossible for illegally present immigrants to get the documents...

ICE DEPORTS US CITIZEN (AGAIN)

Posted on June 15, 2009
It's amazing that this happened. It's more amazing that this has happened several times. And it is most amazing that the media rarely covers these stories. Shouldn't this be the lead on the Today Show? This is not the most sympathetic lady in the world, but exile is pretty serious.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: FILEMON LOPEZ - THE VOICE OF THE OAXACA PEOPLE

Posted on June 15, 2009
The New York Times recently ran a profile piece on radio show host Filemon Lopez who broadcasts in native languages from a station in Fresno, California to poor Mixtec Indians from Mexico working in agriculture in central California. Lopez, a beneficiary of the 1986 legalization program, has been in the US for 30 years...

HOUSE PASSES BILL ALLOWING FOR VIDEO CONFERENCING INTERVIEWS AT US CONSULATES

Posted on June 14, 2009
Welcome news from the US Travel Association: H.R. 2410, the "Foreign Relations Authorization Act, FY 2010-2011", includes a provision that authorizes the Secretary of State to conduct a two-year pilot program to use secure, remote videoconferencing technology to conduct tourist visa interviews...

IMMIGRANTS OF THE DAY: IMMIGRANTS ON THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Posted on June 14, 2009
The LA Lakers are perhaps the most popular basketball team in the world, but, of course, my loyalty is to the hometown Memphis Grizzlies. One of my favorite players, Spaniard Pau Gausol, left Memphis for the Lakers last year and I still like the guy. Here are the Lakers international team members: Pau Gasol - Forward/Center - Spain Didier Ilunga-Mbenga - Center - Congo Sasha Vujacic - Guard - Slovenia Sun Yue - Guard - China

IMMIGRANTS OF THE DAY: IMMIGRANTS ON THE ORLANDO MAGIC

Posted on June 14, 2009
While hockey is better known for having immigrant players, the NBA has its fair share of global stars. The finals going on this week pit the Orlando Magic against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Orlando Magic has four international players: Adonal Foyle - Center - St...

HAVE SOCIAL SECURITY NO-MATCH LETTERS RETURNED?

Posted on June 13, 2009
Just days after the Obama Administration told a court it needed another month to decide how it plans to proceed with respect to litigation seeking to kill DHS' proposed no-match rule, the LA Times reports No immigration agents descended on Overhill Farms, a major food-processing plant in Vernon...

TOP COPS: IMMIGRATION REFORM WILL PROMOTE LAW AND ORDER

Posted on June 13, 2009
I've heard from police before who believe that turning local law enforcement officers into immigration enforcement officers discourages people from reporting crimes and distracts the police from doing their jobs. They also know that illegally present immigrants are targets for criminals and this drives up the crime rate for everyone as crime is rarely contained in one community...

WHITE HOUSE ASKS FOR MY TIME ON NO-MATCH RULE

Posted on June 12, 2009
The White House has has asked for an additional month to formulate its position on the Social Security no-match rule that was released by President Bush but which has been held up in litigation. Assuming the judge agrees, the extension will mean that the President will have until July 10th to respond to a motion for summary judgment in the case.

MAYOR OF TEXAS TOWN LEAVES COUNTRY TO BE WITH SAME-SEX PARTNER

Posted on June 12, 2009
This is a decision thousands of couples face every year in America thanks to the anachronistic Defense of Marriage Act: The mayor of this West Texas sheep ranching town offered a stunning explanation when he suddenly resigned: He was in love with a man who was an illegal immigrant and had gone to Mexico...

JUDGE ORDERS USCIS ACCEPT CONCURRENTLY FILED I-360/I-485 RELIGIOUS WORKER PETITIONS

Posted on June 12, 2009
Expect USCIS to appeal this one. Thanks to Dan Kowalski for posting. Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

KAFKAESQUE

Posted on June 12, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports from India on the obscenely long security clearance delays affecting a number of scientists and engineers who thought they were going back to India for short visits. Instead, they're waiting on clearances based on their being experts in a critical technologies area...

WHITE HOUSE DELAYS IMMIGRATION SUMMIT AGAIN

Posted on June 12, 2009
This time no date for a future meeting.

REID: WE'VE GOT THE VOTES NOW FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

Posted on June 11, 2009
Harry Reid says he's got 60 votes to support an immigration reform bill. That's a pretty confident tone he's taking and I hope he's right. And for those of you who say that you don't have provisions in the bill helping your group - particularly employment immigration advocates - I'll remind you that the immigration reform bill is what is standing in the way of many other bills moving forward...

PODCAST: H-1B AND GREEN CARD PORTABILITY UNDER AC21

Posted on June 11, 2009
For those of you unable to participate in yesterday's call, here is our recording. Powered by Podbean.com We're about to get some expensive new phone equipment that should make the overall sound quality somewhat better.

ANNOUNCEMENT: 6/25 TELECONFERENCE - QUESTION AND ANSWER HOUR

Posted on June 11, 2009
I'm getting a lot of good feedback from you on the conference calls. We're going to do our next one on June 25th at 4 pm eastern/3 pm central/2 pm mountain/1 pm pacific and the hour will be devoted exclusively to answering audience questions. As always, the calls are free...

IMMIGRANTS OF THE DAY: IMMIGRANTS ON THE DETROIT RED WINGS

Posted on June 10, 2009
The other team competing in this year's Stanley Cup (which will end on Friday) is the great Detroit Red Wings organization. And they've got a mostly immigrant roster as well including these players: Daniel Cleary - Canada Pavel Datsyuk - Russia Aaron Downey - Canada Kris Draper - Sweden Jonathan Ericsson - Finland iValtteri Filppula - Finland Johan Franzen - Sweden Darren Helm - Sweden Tomas Holmstrom - Sweden Marian Hossa ? Czech Republic Jiri Hudler - Czech Republic Jakub Kindl ? Czech Republic Tomas Kopecky - Sweden Niklas Kronwall - Sweden

JULY VISA BULLETIN - MORE DISMAL NEWS

Posted on June 10, 2009
The July Visa Bulletin is out and there is really no good news. And there's terrible news for Mexicans and Chinese applicants. The Mexican 1st and 3rd family categories move backwards nearly two years. And Chinese EB-2 employment immigration applicants now join the Indian misery as priority dates retrogress five years (!) to January 2000...

DHS TARGETS BUDDHIST MONK

Posted on June 10, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports on a really interesting case (being argued by my old friend and fellow blogger Angelo Paparelli). USCIS has denied a green card application for a Buddhist monk who took an oath of poverty and is living in a monastery. USCIS considers the monk to be illegally employed despite the fact that he receives no income...

REMINDER: FREE TELECONFERENCE TODAY ON PORTABILITY

Posted on June 10, 2009
If you're on an H-1B visa or have an employment-based green card application pending, today's call may be useful to you. We'll be talking about how to use the AC21 law to move quickly to a new employer and also how to extend your H-1B status to make sure you remain legal and work authorized through the final processing of your green card...

SEE "THE LEAST OF THESE" ONLINE

Posted on June 10, 2009
The documentary about kids in ICE custody is actually available online.

IS IT RIGHT TO DETAIN CHILDREN?

Posted on June 09, 2009
My friend John Lamb in Nashville blogs today about ICE's Hutto detention center where whole families are jailed while awaiting deportation. I'm reminded of Charles Dickens' tales of debtors prisons in Victorian England where "lawbreakers" who violated British laws relating to debt were jailed right along with their spouses and children...

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