Immigration Law

BAYH RETIREMENT COULD BE GOOD NEWS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

Posted on February 15, 2010
Today's news that Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh will be retiring is probably bad news for much of the Democrat's legislative agenda. But when it comes to immigration, this is probably a good news day. Bayh's last vote on comprehensive immigration reform was a bad one...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: WAYNE GRETZKY - TORCHBEARER

Posted on February 13, 2010
Though he is undoubtedly the most famous athlete Canada has ever produced, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky is now a naturalized American citizen living in the US. Canada hasn't held that against him and gave him the spectacular honor of lighting the Olympic torch in tonight's Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: JOHANNA CHAPMAN-SMITH - SINGER

Posted on February 13, 2010
Canadian-born singer Johanna Chapman-Smith was interviewed on a segment this morning about a subject with which I'm sure many of you can connect - the difficulties immigrants face when seeking entry at US ports of entry.I wasn't familiar with Ms. Chapman-Smith's music until I heard the story, but was happy to make the discovery.

PELOSI: WE'LL HAVE THE VOTES FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

Posted on February 12, 2010
Not that we haven't heard words of optimism before (with little evidence that they're anything more than words), but it's worth noting that Nancy Pelosi is again telling reporters that immigration reform still on track for this year. Here's how America's Voice summarized what she told Spanish-language paper La Opinion: A La Opinión interview with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, titled ?Pelosi advocates reform? (?Pelosi aboga por la reforma? ), appears today in all impreMedia publications...

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ILLEGALLY PRESENT IMMIGRANT POPULATION DROPS SHARPLY

Posted on February 11, 2010
A new DHS study indicates that nearly one million illegally present immigrants left the country between 2007 and 2009. Stepped up enforcement and the weak economy are simultaneously contributing the drop.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: MIKE NICHOLS - DIRECTOR

Posted on February 11, 2010
PBS launched a wonderful new series this evening entitled Faces of America which examines the family history of 12 notable figures in contemporary America. The figures profiled are diverse and include Dr. Mehmet Oz, Meryl Street, Kristi Yamaguchi, Malcolm Gladwell Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma...

ARPAIO: I HAVE THE INHERENT RIGHT TO ENFORCE IMMIGRATION LAWS

Posted on February 11, 2010
Maybe Joe has his own special Constitution.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: TOMMY HAAS - TENNIS PLAYER

Posted on February 09, 2010
Congratulations to German-born tennis player Tommy Haas who recently became a US citizen. Haas is the former #2 tennis player in the world. He reached that pinnacle in 2002, but recently began a major resurgence as evidenced by his reaching the semi-finals in last year's Wimbledon...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: STAN BROCK - HEALTH CARE HERO

Posted on February 09, 2010
British-born Stan Brock is the founder of Remote Area Medical (RAM), a non-profit health care company that has helped organize volunteer physicians, eye doctors, dentists and support staff to set up weekend-long events in large venues that offer vital health care services to the poor and uninsured...

ABA ENDORSES PLAN FOR CREATING NEW INDEPENDENT IMMIGRATION COURT

Posted on February 09, 2010
The American Bar Association endorsed a proposal at its winter meeting in Florida to create a separate immigration court system modeled on the federal tax courts. The ABA criticized the current system that the association says is overwhelmed and cannot function effectively since it is under the control of the Attorney General rather than independent...

MARCH VISA BULLETIN IS OUT

Posted on February 09, 2010
Modest improvements in a few categories. A few show no changes. Nothing to write home about, unfortunately. Here are the highlights: Family 1st - Advancement of worldwide, China and India numbers by three weeks to 22 June 2004. Mexico moves forward three weeks to 1 October 1992...

NEW STUDY SHOWS IMMIGRANTS ACTUALLY PUSH UP WAGES FOR NATIVE WORKERS

Posted on February 08, 2010
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute makes the case that immigrants at all wage levels actually lift wages for US workers:A key result from this work is that the estimated effect of immigration from 1994 to 2007 was to raise the wages of U...

REPORT: CANDIDATES IGNORE IMMIGRANT VOTERS AT THEIR PERIL

Posted on February 08, 2010
America's Voice has released a new report entitled The Power of the Latino Vote in the 2010 Elections. The organization released the following statement in connection with the report: Experts Highlight How Latino Voters Will Influence 2010 Elections 40 Competitive Races in 12 States Could Hinge on Latino Voter Turnout Washington, DC ? The Latino vote has grown exponentially since 2000, changing the political landscape in more than a dozen states across the country, and is poised to be pivotal yet again in the 2010 cycle...

ANTI-IMMIGRANT TANCREDO KICKS OFF TEA PARTY CONVENTION

Posted on February 07, 2010
There's a great op-ed in the Washington Post by Kevin Huffman that highlights some of the antics of the former Congressman: In our moderate, land-locked state [Colorado], my Republican neighbors would sometimes express puzzlement over Tancredo?s obsession...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: NAJI CHAMMOUT - HERO

Posted on February 07, 2010
My friend Dan Kowalski linked today to an article in the Detroit Free Press about Naji Chammout, a Lebanese native who has been waiting on his citizenship application to be approved for ten years years. That might surprise people when they learn that Chammout volunteered for the US Army in 2004 when he was a green card holder and served as a translator to top American military commanders in Iraq...

ARPAIO FACES SANCTIONS IN PROFILING SUIT

Posted on February 07, 2010
Gee, for someone who is so focused on law and order, Arpaio seems to think the laws don't apply to him.

JUDGE: STOP WASTING TAXPAYER MONEY PROSECUTING IMMIGRATION OFFENSES

Posted on February 06, 2010
In a time when the country is facing a $1.5 trillion deficit and the antis are calling for massive increases in spending on immigration enforcement, it's nice to see someone calling out the immigration prosecutors for what is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars...

PRO-IMMIGRANT GROUPS TARGET ANTI-IMMIGRANT DEMOCRAT

Posted on February 04, 2010
Philadelphia-area Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA) is coming under fire for supporting an anti-immigration resolution in the House. America's Voice has launched an online campaign to force Murphy to remove his name from the hardline resolution: America?s Voice announced today the beginning of an online advertising campaign to encourage Americans to contact Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA) and demand that he remove his name from controversial immigration resolution H...

LABOR APPEARS READY TO COMPROMISE ON COMMISSION PROPOSAL

Posted on February 04, 2010
One of the stumbling blocks in the behind the scenes negotiations to craft a bipartisan immigration reform bill that also has the support of business and labor unions has been a proposal to create a commission that would basically determine quotas for all employment-based immigration categories...

OBAMA'S AUNT PLANNING TO IGHT DEPORTATION

Posted on February 04, 2010
THe AP reports on developments in the case that caused so much controversy during the presidential campaign. Aunt Zeituni's lawyer is my friend Margaret Wong.

IMMIGRANTS OF THE DAY: THE CAST OF "LOST"

Posted on February 03, 2010
The final season of ABC's Lost begins tonight wrapping up the groundbreaking science fiction drama that is truly addictive and has one of the most complex plots ever devised for television. The show also has an international cast that American's have rarely seen and which makes the show even more appealing...

APPEALS COURT STRIKES DOWN PORTIONS OF OKLAHOMA IMMIGRATION LAW

Posted on February 02, 2010
This is a major blow to legislators around the country that have been trying to pass state laws regulating immigration. The case rules that the state of Oklahoma is preempted by the 1986 Immigration Act from trying to impose various sanctions on employers...

WHITMAN CAMPAIGN DISTANCES ITSELF FROM "PROUD RACIST"

Posted on February 02, 2010
Good.

NEW REPORT DETAILS OVERWHELMED IMMIGRATION COURT SYSTEM

Posted on February 02, 2010
From the National Law Journal (subscription required): Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the nation's immigration courts ? both overwhelmed by exploding caseloads and inadequate resources ? are ensuring fair decisions and due process for noncitizens, according to a top-to-bottom investigation of the system for removing aliens from the United States...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: DAVE MATTHEWS - MUSICIAN

Posted on January 31, 2010
South African-born Dave Matthews, the lead singer of rock band the Dave Matthews Band is having a great year with his most recent album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King nominated this evening for a Grammy for Album of the Year. Matthews gave a great performance at the Haiti telethon last weekend with Neil Young...

PROUD RACIST

Posted on January 31, 2010
A Santa Clarita, California city councilman has landed himself in to a heap of trouble for declaring himself a "proud racist" over his immigration views. Bob Kellar's controversial remarks are making the rounds on YouTube and the LA Times is reporting as well.

TURNING BAD IN TO REASONABLE

Posted on January 31, 2010
The Concord (NH) Monitor reports on a very anti-immigrant resolution being considered in the New Hampshire House of Representatives that was instead modified to be one that promoted solving immigration problems: The original resolution, sponsored by state Rep...

CONVERTED DOBBS COULD BE A KEY TO IMMIGRATION REFORM

Posted on January 30, 2010
This would be one of the more amazing political stories of the year. Democrats are apparently courting Lou Dobbs to be an advocate for immigration reform and Chuck Schumer recently met with the former CNN television personality best known for his anti-immigration views.

TWO PLUS TWO

Posted on January 29, 2010
Last week, White House adviser David Axelrod noted that immigration reform would not happen in the near term unless there was bipartisan support. That's really always been the case, but the comment seems consistent with something said this week by Senate Democratic leaders (as noted in an email alert sent by America's Voice today): During a news conference held by Senate Democratic leaders yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, Sen...

OPEN THREAD

Posted on January 29, 2010
Out consulting with circus performers. Sorry for the light posting this week, but if I can get back home tonight (and avoid the winter storm engulfing Tennessee), I'll try and start catching up on posting over the weekend.

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