Immigration Law

H-1B HEARING TOMORROW IN THE HOUSE

Posted on March 30, 2011
The House Immigration Subcommittee is holding a hearing on H-1B visas tomorrow. The witness list includes USCIS' Donald Neufeld of Neufeld Memo fame, Bo Cooper, a former USCIS general counsel who now practices immigration law, Ron Hira, a professor and well-known H-1B critic and Bruce Morrison, a former Congressman who chaired the House Immigration Subcommittee and has worked privately on immigration advocacy projects over the years...

EMILY WAS DEPORTED

Posted on March 30, 2011
Ruben Navarette writes in the San Francisco Chronicle that four year old Emily Ruiz, the American girl who was denied entry to the US when her grandfather was sent back to Guatemala, was deported despite the denials of an embarrassed Department of Homeland Security...

REPORT: 1 IN 4 SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS ARE FOREIGN-BORN

Posted on March 30, 2011
No surprise and it illustrates how dependent the US is on these highly qualified foreign professionals. Policymakers need to recognize the immediate need for visa liberalization for science, technology, engineering and math professionals and also begin to address why our young people are not going in to these fields in sufficient numbers...

USCIS BACKTRACKING ON SAME SEX MARRIAGE POLICY CHANGE

Posted on March 30, 2011
Get it together, USCIS. People's futures hang in the balance here. From this morning's New York Times: The most recent crossed signals started at meetings last week between immigration lawyers and officials from Citizenship and Immigration Services. The officials said that some cases involving gay married couples had been suspended while the agency sought guidance from its lawyers about issues related to the marriage act...

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IT'S OFFICIAL: USCIS ACCEPTING SAME SEX MARRIAGE GREEN CARD PETITIONS

Posted on March 29, 2011
From Metro Weekly: Following up on reports from this weekend, Metro Weekly just received confirmation from Christopher Bentley, the spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, that cases of foreign partners who are married to a same-sex partner and would otherwise be eligible for a green card are on hold in light of questions about the continued validity of the Defense of Marriage Act...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: DINAW MENGESTU - AUTHOR AND WINNER OF VILCEK PRIZE

Posted on March 29, 2011
The Vilcek Foundation is the organization that has as its mission raising awareness the contributions of immigrants to the arts and sciences. The foundation is honoring authors in connection with a panel it is hosting next week in New York entitled "The New Vernacular: Immigrant Authors in American Literature...

99 IMMIGRATION BLOGS

Posted on March 29, 2011
The web site Mastersdegree.com has put together a nice compilation of immigration resources on the web that is worth reviewing. Several of the sites were new for me and I've been bookmarking many of them. Aside from the US resources, there's also information on immigration to Canada and other countries.

NY LEGISLATOR PROPOSES STATE VERSION OF DREAM ACT

Posted on March 29, 2011
The New York Times is reporting that a legislator in the state is proposing a bill that would expand rights and benefits available to people that would likely have been eligible for the DREAM Act had that bill passed in Congress. Among other provisions, the bill would allow such beneficiaries to get drivers licenses, access to state college financial aid (in state tuition is already available under existing law) and the ability to take state jobs...

NFAP: EMPLOYERS HAVE PAID OVER $3 BILLION IN MANDATORY FEES TO HIRE SKILLED FOREIGN NATIONALS IN PAST DECADE

Posted on March 29, 2011
The National Foundation for American Policy has issued a report showing that in addition to meeting prevailing wage requirements, employers hiring H-1Bs are paying mandated government fees that have amounted to more than $3 billion over the last ten years...

MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR FAKING H-1B TECH WORKER PETITIONS

Posted on March 29, 2011
From the San Francisco Chronicle: A Concord man was sentenced on Friday to six months in prison and three years of supervised release, for making false statements on 11 applications for high-technology worker visas, United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Patrick Durkin, Special Agent In-Charge of the Diplomatic Security Service announced...

JUDGE HALTS DEPORTATION OF SAME SEX SPOUSE

Posted on March 29, 2011
Wow, another major win for advocates of immigration equality for married gay couples in just a 24 hour period. From the Voice of America: For the first time, a U.S. judge has suspended the deportation of the foreign-born same-sex spouse of an American citizen...

TWO USCIS OFFICES ACCEPTING SAME SEX MARRIAGE GREEN CARD PETITIONS

Posted on March 27, 2011
Hat tip to a helpful reader for this very encouraging news being reported by Newsweek. Readers may remember my posting a story last month that the Obama Administration has decided not to defend the reprehensible Defense of Marriage Act in court (though not surprisingly, House Republicans have taken up doing that work)...

HISPANIC CLOUT GROWING

Posted on March 26, 2011
2010 census data is gradually being released and it should worry anti-immigrants, particularly the Republican Party which has tried to appease the Tea Party gods by embracing a xenophobic agenda. Here's the latest, courtesy of CSM: White Americans are still the majority in the United States, but they?re rapidly being overtaken by Hispanics, according to the latest Census Bureau report, and this could have important political ramifications...

WWII VET FIGHTS OVER HIS CITIZENSHIP

Posted on March 25, 2011
Bumping this story up from the comments. For those of you who have not heard about this, a 95 year old World War II veteran recently has been challenged on his long held belief that he's a US citizen. The story has caught fire on the web and now has more than 20,000 comments...

SENATORS INTRODUCE MODIFIED START UP VISA

Posted on March 21, 2011
Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Mark Udall (D-CO) have reintroduced the start up visa bill now that the new Congress is in session. The bill would grant two-year visas to entrepreneurs if they secure $100,000 from qualified investors...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: ALI VELSHI - JOURNALIST

Posted on March 20, 2011
Ali Velshi is CNN's chief business correspondent and also a regular anchor of the network's news broadcasts. He is the host of the weekly show Your $$$$$, which I often watch. He is regularly reporting from the field as well and if you're a regular CNN viewer, you have seen his work...

USCIS ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL ACOMODATIONS FOR JAPANESE NATIONALS

Posted on March 18, 2011
From USCIS: In light of the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds Japanese nationals of certain U.S. immigration benefits available upon request. USCIS understands that a natural disaster can affect an individual?s ability to establish or maintain lawful immigration status...

ARIZONA AND KANSAS BACK OFF IMMIGRATION BILLS

Posted on March 18, 2011
Wow, the home states of Russell Pearce, Joe Arpaio and Kris Kobach decide there are lines they don't want to cross. Arizona's legislature has killed five bills including the controversial birthright citizenship law. And Kansas has snubbed it's anti-immigrant pied piper (and Secretary of State) Kris Kobach by rejecting the Arizona-style bill he designed...

USCIS BACKS DOWN ON CONTROVERSIAL TEACHING HOSPITALS H-1B CAP INTERPRETATION

Posted on March 17, 2011
USCIS is retreating from its recently changed policy challenging the affiliations of America's teaching hospitals with America's medical schools. For the 10+ years that non-profit institutions could claim H-1B cap exemptions if they had affiliations or were otherwise related to colleges or universities, hospitals that trained doctors in their residency and fellowship programs - programs that are usually run in close coordination with a medical school - have been able to work outside the normal H-1B caps...

ANOTHER VALEDICTORIAN FACES DEPORTATION

Posted on March 16, 2011
What a waste of an opportunity for this country. From the Newark Star Ledger: Vidal Tapia is by all accounts International High School's brightest prospect. A teacher-described "pillar of strength" at the Paterson school, he carries a 4.0 GPA, a National Honor Society membership and a slew of community service hours...

MAKING STUFF UP

Posted on March 16, 2011
I saw the rather interesting report out this week from the Center for Immigration Studies that claims that 200,000 women in the US in temporary legal statuses are giving birth each year. Wow! That really must mean there is something to this whole wave of birth tourism which I've heard a lot about from the antis (though I've seen no evidence of it in my two decades of practice)...

STAY CLASSY, KANSAS ANTIS

Posted on March 14, 2011
Saw this on HuffPost Hill tonight: A Kansas legislator is open to using hunters in helicopters to control illegal immigration, and is making his case by likening immigrants to feral hogs. "Topeka -- A legislator said Monday it might be a good idea to control illegal immigration the way the feral hog population has been controlled -- with hunters shooting from helicopters...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: FESTUS EZELI - BASKETBALL PLAYER

Posted on March 12, 2011
Nigerian-born Festus Ezeli helped my Vanderbilt Commodores win a key, hard fought victory over Mississippi State in the SEC tournament. The red shirted junior has played an important role in helping Vanderbilt have one of its best season in years and the 'Dores will be relying on him to help them advance in the NCAA tournament.

WISH ME LUCK

Posted on March 12, 2011
I'm participating in the Wildman Triathlon in Orlando in the morning - a 1500 open lake swim, followed by a 25 mile bike ride then a 10K run. This sign at the lake might make me swim a little faster.

WISH ME LUCK

Posted on March 12, 2011
I'm participating in the Wildman Triathlon in Orlando in the morning - a 1500 open lake swim, followed by a 25 mile bike ride then a 10K run. This sign at the lake might make me swim a little faster.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: EDUARDO SAVERIN - ENTREPRENEUR

Posted on March 12, 2011
I've FINALLY gotten to watch The Social Network, the amazing movie that everyone saw ages ago. And I watched it on my Mac in a hotel room so it is hardly a cinamesque experience. But I am left going online to try and learn more about the people portrayed in the movie...

USCIS ANNOUNCES DISASTER POLICY FOR JAPANESE AS IT RESUMES HAITIAN DEPORTATIONS

Posted on March 11, 2011
A lovely message. USCIS announces a fairly modest accomodation for Japanese visitors in the US: This advisory is for Japanese and other foreign nationals from the Pacific stranded in the United States due to the earthquakes and tsunami devastation in the Pacific...

APRIL 2011 VISA BULLETIN RELEASED

Posted on March 10, 2011
Guest writer Legal and Still Waiting has once again did a superb job summing up the movement of visa numbers since last month. Very bad news for Family 1st applicants and the India and China numbers are still not keeping up in the employment categories...

ALABAMA BILL WOULD MAKE IT A CRIME TO BE OUT OF STATUS

Posted on March 08, 2011
This is the same state that brought us George Wallace, Selma, Bull Connor and the Letter from a Birmingham Jail so is this really a shocker?

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: ANDY BECHTOLSHEIM - ENTREPRENEUR

Posted on March 08, 2011
German-born Andy Bechtolsheim is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, one of the leading IT companies in the United States. The company was acquired last year by Oracle for $7.4 billion and is now known as Oracle America. Bechtolsheim and fellow Stanford graduates started the company in 1982 and Bechtolsheim remained with the company until 1995 when he left to start Granite Systems, a company that manufactured network switches...

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