Immigration Law

SENATE PASSES CONRAD 30 AND RELIGIOUS WORKER EXTENSION

Posted on March 12, 2009
The Senate has passed by unanimous consent HR 1127 which extends the Conrad 30 and religious worker green card programs until September 30th. The President is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: SERGEY BRIN - GOOGLE FOUNDER

Posted on March 12, 2009
35 year old Russian-born billionaire Sergey Brin has probably had more of an influence on the American public than nearly any one I've ever honored here at Immigrant of the Day. I don't think I need to tell all of you how important the company he founded is to the American economy and our national ethos...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: TOMOAKI KATO - SURGEON

Posted on March 11, 2009
Many Americans are today learning who Tomoaki Kato, MD is. The Japanese born surgeon and professor at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York performed one of the more amazing surgeries about which I've ever heard...

APPEALS COURT WON'T OVERTURN ARIZONA EMPLOYER SANCTIONS LAW

Posted on March 11, 2009
Unless the Supreme Court weighs in, the Arizona law is going to be around awhile. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has now washed their hands of the matter and will not overturn Arizona's employer sanctions law.

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SHERIFF JOE IS BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT!

Posted on March 11, 2009
About time. According to the AP:Federal authorities told a high-profile Arizona sheriff Tuesday that they will investigate his department over allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.The U.S. Justice Department said in a letter to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that investigators will focus on alleged patterns of police discrimination based on national origin...

LOU "I LOVE LEGAL IMMIGRATION" DOBBS GOES AFTER FOREIGN NURSES

Posted on March 10, 2009
Lou Dobbs loves to tell people he's not anti-immigrant - he just is against illegal immigration. Follow the rules, and he's just fine with people coming to America. Uh huh. Remember the brouhaha last year when Lou Dobbs had an on air freak out over a report I authored showing more than 100 negative reports on legal immigration on his show over the last five years? Dobbs claimed the stories were mostly about abuses in the legal immigration programs and he didn't have a problem with the programs themselves...

HEALTH CARE COMPANIES COMMENT ON PRESIDENT'S REMARKS ON FOREIGN NURSES

Posted on March 10, 2009
The American Association of International Healthcare Recruitment (AAIHR) an organization of US based international healthcare recruitment service providers which has the stated goal of promoting legal, ethical, and professional practices for international healthcare recruitment, has commented on President Obama's remarks last week on foreign nurses and the nursing shortage: The American Association of International Healthcare Recruitment (AAIHR) applauds President Obama?s public recognition of the United States? severe nursing shortage at last week?s White House Health Summit, as well as his commitment to addressing this important issue in a bipartisan manner...

SENATE VOTES TO TABLE E-VERIFY FIVE YEAR EXTENSION

Posted on March 10, 2009
An attempt to amend the Omnibus budget bill to extend the E-Verify program by five years has failed after Senators voted 50 to 47 to table the measure indefinitely. This likely means three things - 1. E-Verify will be extended until September 30th.2. Congress will presumably deal with a permanent authorization as part of a comprehensive bill this summer...

APRIL VISA BULLETIN SHOWS RETROGRESSION FOR EMPLOYMENT CASES

Posted on March 09, 2009
Really bad news for people in the EB-3 category. Priority dates in the April 2009 Visa Bulletin show backwards movement of two years. But there is some positive movement in the family numbers. Here is the DOS explanation:Despite the established cut-off date having been held for the past five months in an effort to keep demand within the average monthly usage targets, the amount of demand being received from Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Offices for adjustment of status cases remains extremely high...

COHEN INTRODUCES PATIENT VISA BILL

Posted on March 08, 2009
I'm proud of my hometown's Congress Steve Cohen who has just introduced HR 1033, a bill that would make it easier for people coming to the US for medical treatment to get a visa for their trip. The bill will also make it easier for parents of children coming to the US for long term treatment to be able to get employment authorization documents...

RECESSION ISN'T RESOLVING NURSING SHORTAGE

Posted on March 08, 2009
Even as the unemployment rate tops 8% in the US, the shortage of nurses is still not getting better. We still need nursing immigration relief.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: ALAN CUMMING - ACTOR

Posted on March 08, 2009
I've enjoyed watching the film performances of Scottish-born actor Alan Cumming even since he played villain Boris Grishenko in Goldeneye, one of my favorite James Bond films. He also starred in one of my kids favorite movies, Spykids. The versatile Cumming also won a Tony award for playing the Emcee in the recent Broadway revival of Caberet...

ICE AGENT ACCUSED OF TAKING BRIBES

Posted on March 08, 2009
Roy Bailey, an ICE agent in Detroit, has been accused of taking bribes including cash, free meals, landscaping services, and even casino chips in exchange for favors. Does this story sound familiar?

HAITI REFUSING TO ACCEPT BACK ITS DEPORTEES

Posted on March 06, 2009
The country is so desperately poor and is still reeling from four recent hurricanes as well as food riots that it's not hard to see why it wants its citizens able to remain abroad and send home money to continue to do so. In the mean time, 30,000 Haitians awaiting deportation are in legal limbo...

OBAMA NOTES THAT FOREIGN NURSES ARE NOT A LONG TERM SOLUTION FOR SHORTAGE

Posted on March 06, 2009
I've gotten a few emails from folks concerned about remarks President Obama made yesterday regarding the role of foreign nurses in solving the nation's desperate nursing shortage. At a White House health care forum, President Obama discussed the nursing shortage with Congresswoman Lois Capps, a former nurse...

VISA PROGRAMS EXTENDED FOR ONE MORE WEEK

Posted on March 06, 2009
The Senate has been unable to pass the Omnibus budget bill containing extensions of the EB-5 and E-Verify programs and funding to keep the US government running is officially over today. In order to keep the country from shutting down, both houses of Congress will vote today on a continuing resolution to keep things going until March 11th...

TIME TO BRING BACK VISA REVALIDATION

Posted on March 06, 2009
The New York Times reports this week on worsening problems with visa processing for work status applicants at US consulates around the world. The story focuses on bureaucratic snafus, inadequate resource allocations and security clearance delays. I've also learned through my own sources that new security clearance procedures being secretly introduced could cause massive new delays in visa processing in the months...

E-VERIFY FIVE YEAR EXTENSION TO GET VOTE NEXT WEEK?

Posted on March 06, 2009
Anti-immigrant group Numbers USA is reporting that Senator Reid has agreed to allow Senator Sessions to get a vote on an amendment to the Omnibus budget bill to extend E-Verify by five years.

OUR GOVERNMENT INACTION

Posted on March 05, 2009

GAO REPORT QUESTIONS EFFECTIVENESS OF 287(G) PROGRAM

Posted on March 05, 2009

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: PAUL DEBA MANGO - SOLDIER

Posted on March 05, 2009

MICROSOFT FIRES BACK ON H-1B USE

Posted on March 04, 2009

HOUSE PASSES HR 1127 EXTENDING MD AND RELIGIOUS WORKER VISA PROGRAMS

Posted on March 04, 2009

10 IDEAS FOR REFORMING THE H-1B PROGRAM

Posted on March 04, 2009

THE BRAIN FLUSH

Posted on March 03, 2009

BILL INTRODUCED TO PERMIT E-2 INVESTORS TO GET GREEN CARDS

Posted on February 28, 2009

CONSULAR OFFICER CONVICTED OF EXCHANGING VISAS FOR STRIPPERS AND JEWELRY

Posted on February 28, 2009

RAID = ROGUE?

Posted on February 26, 2009
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a raid Tuesday on Yamato Engine Specialists, a manufacturing company in Bellingham, Washington. This is the first work site raid since President Obama was sworn in and appears to have been conducted without the knowledge or approval of either the President or his new Secretary of Homeland Security who have both expressed their concerns with the use of raids as opposed to other kinds of enforcement measures...

HOUSE PASSES E-VERIFY AND EB-5 PROGRAM EXTENSIONS

Posted on February 26, 2009
They're included on the Fiscal 2009 Omnibus spending bill and will keep those programs going until September 30, 2009. The Conrad 30 and religious worker expirations are still coming next week unless a separate bill is passed or the Senate decides to get them in their version of the Omnibus.

IMMIGRATION JUDGES CALL FOR APPOINTING ONE OF THEIR OWN TO RUN EOIR

Posted on February 25, 2009
From the National Law Journal (subscription required): A group of immigration judges called for the U.S. attorney general to appoint one of their own as the next chief immigration judge, to reform what has been a problem-plagued and overburdened agency for years...

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