Immigration Law

ICE ANNOUNCES OVERHAUL OF DETENTION SYSTEM

Posted on January 27, 2010
Progress. From The Arizona Republic: The moves described by John T. Morton, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, address oversight, medical care and tracking of detainees at facilities in Arizona and across the country...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: ZYGI WILF - NFL TEAM OWNER

Posted on January 25, 2010
Born in Germany to Holocaust survivors who immigrated in the 1950s, Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilfis certainly has lived the American dream. His parents were amongst the very first beneficiaries of the US refugee admissions policy enacted in the wake of World War II and the Wilfs were able to start their lives again and build a highly successful real estate business...

COMPROMISES COMING ON IMMIGRATION REFORM?

Posted on January 25, 2010
Last week, Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced the Bipartisan Reform of Immigration through Good Enforcement Resolution in the lower house of Congress. According to Congressman Chaffetz, the resolution does three things: · make E-Verify mandatory for all employers, and hold employees accountable as well; · provide sufficient border infrastructure and manpower to secure and control our borders; and, · reject amnesty and any legal status which pardons those here in violation of our laws...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: WYCLEF JEAN - MUSICIAN

Posted on January 24, 2010
One of the most visible members of the Haitian-American community this past several days has been international singing star Wyclef Jean. Jean is also a highly successful music producer. Jean records on his own as well as with the Fugees, a group he co-founded along with singer Lauren Hill and Pras Michel...

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MAYORKAS PROMISING TO EXPEDITE HAITIAN TPS APPLICATIONS

Posted on January 21, 2010
USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, himself a Caribbean native, visited Miami today to meet with organizations involved with assisting Haitian immigrants. Mayorkas will be under pressure to expedite work authorization requests. In related news, there is disagreement over whether the transport of Haitian orphans is likely to occur or not...

THE OPTIMISTS

Posted on January 21, 2010
Readers know that I'm the eternal optimist and I really believe that we're going to see improvements in our immigration system soon. It's nice to see that while the wimps are panicking and ready to pack it all in after the Republicans picked up ONE additional seat (and given Brown's sudden bolt to the left just one day after getting elected, it's not even clear he's a no vote anymore on CIR), at least a couple of pundits are making the case that we're still on track for CIR in the near term...

SUPREME COURT HANDS VICTORY TO DUE PROCESS FANS

Posted on January 21, 2010
From the Immigration Policy Center: Supreme Court Protects Immigrants' Access to Court Review January 20, 2010 Washington D.C. - The American Immigration Council applauds today's U.S. Supreme Court decision ensuring that immigrants facing deportation have fair process in the review of their cases...

WHY IS DARPA UPSET?

Posted on January 21, 2010
Back in 1958, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was created to respond to the Russian launch of Sputnik. The new agency within the Department of Defense was charged with keeping US technology ahead of the Russians. DARPA was also instrumental in developing much of the technology that is the backbone for today's Internet...

HAITIAN IMMIGRATION OPTIONS TELESEMINAR

Posted on January 21, 2010
Just wanted to plug a seminar I'll be moderating next Wednesday, January 27th at 2 pm eastern time regarding the various immigration options available for Haitians in the US. TPS will obviously be a big part of the program, but we'll discuss other issues as well such as orphans, issues for those in deportation proceedings, options for people not yet in the US, etc...

TPS FOR HAITIANS NOW OFFICIAL

Posted on January 21, 2010
DHS published its notice in today's Federal Register.

THOUSANDS PROTEST AGAINST SHERIFF JOE

Posted on January 19, 2010
Ten thousand protesters marched outside the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix to protest Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration enforcement policies. Can't think of a sheriff who got that kind of protest since the civil rights movement of the 60s. I'm not holding my breath that the Arpaio cares.

DOBBS WON'T RUN

Posted on January 19, 2010
At least that's what Volatile Lou is thinking this week.

ANTIS HOPING FOR GOP WIN IN MASSACHUSETTS

Posted on January 18, 2010
Massachusetts Republcian Scott Brown's web site has a pretty harsh position paper on immigration - the typical tea party-esque xenophobia one expects from the far right. All about enforcement and nothing about dealing with the millions of immigrants currently hear without status (other than deporting them all) or reforming our broken legal immigration system...

DHS CONFERS PAROLE STATUS ON CERTAIN HAITIAN ORPHANS

Posted on January 18, 2010
The other day I blogged that plans were in the works to airlift Haitian orphan children to the US. Today, Secretary Napolitano announced the first measure related to this. Children who are already in the adoption process - either because they have been legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intracountry adoption by the Haitian government or children who have been found eligible for adoption by an adoption agency and matched to prospective parents in the US - will be eligible to enter the US in humanitarian parole status.

TPS FAQ FOR HAITIANS

Posted on January 17, 2010
Haitians in the United States on January 12, 2010 are going to be eligible for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months. An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 applicants will be permitted to file as soon as notice is posted in the Federal Register (probably early this week)...

STEVE KING WANTS TO DEPORT HAITIANS

Posted on January 17, 2010
The Ranking Member of the House Immigration Subcommittee would like to deport all Haitians so they can help rebuild their country. Yeah, I'm sure that's what's motivating this "compassionate" proposal. Wonkette, the often hilarious DC gossip blog, has nicknamed King The #1 A@#hole in Congress for just this sort of rhetoric...

MIAMI'S KROME DETENTION CENTER BRACING FOR HAITIAN INFLUX

Posted on January 17, 2010
Helping to save lives and deliver aid to people in Haiti is clearly the right thing to do from a humanitarian viewpoint. But the White House also realizes that if people have no hope for their future in Haiti, they will take to the sea. Rebuilding Haiti will be a key foreign policy goal for the US for just this reason, but it is inevitable that people will still try to come...

IF YOU LIKE BIG GOVERNMENT, YOU'LL FIT RIGHT IN WITH THE ANTIS

Posted on January 16, 2010
A reader sent me a link to a post at the The Future of Capitalism blog reminding folks that being pro-immigration fits right in to a conservative agenda: David Cameron, the British "Conservative" Party leader who favors a top income tax rate of 50%, also wants immigration restrictions that would limit Great Britain's population over the next 20 years to 70 million...

CBP OFFICERS TARGETING INDIAN H-1B ENTRANTS

Posted on January 16, 2010
My friend Cyrus Mehta reports on a disturbing incident that occurred last week at Newark's international airport. Apparently CBP officers got hold of the new Neufeld memorandum on H-1B workers at third party work sites and decided to start applying it on their own...

CLINTON HINTS THAT WHITE HOUSE WILL GRANT HAITIANS LEGAL STATUS

Posted on January 15, 2010
It's not official, but it sounds like the Obama Administration is getting ready to make some news. Secretary Clinton told CBS News today: ?Well, we have, as you know, many Haitian Americans. Most are here legally. Some are not documented. And the Obama administration is taking steps to make sure that people are given some temporary status so that we don?t compound the problem that we face in Haiti...

CATHOLIC CHURCH, WHITE HOUSE PLANNING TO AIRLIFT ORPHANS FROM HAITI

Posted on January 15, 2010
In the early 1960s, President Eisenhower worked with the Catholic Church to airlift 14,000+ unaccompanied minors from Cuba to America in an effort called Operation Pedro Pan. In a similar effort, President Obama is working with the Catholic Church to possibly airlift thousands of orphans from Haiti and allow them to remain in the US in a humanitarian parole status...

TPS GRANTED FOR HAITIANS

Posted on January 15, 2010
Just announced by Secretary Napolitano. Blogging from my iPhone so I'll report more later.

CYNTHIA RYAN, RIP

Posted on January 15, 2010
I just learned that sad news that a former colleague of mine, Cynthia Ryan, an immigration lawyer in New York City passed away. Cynthia practiced immigration law for nearly two decades and was a very capable lawyer who helped many people. She was also a warm, very funny and gracious person who was well-liked by those who knew her...

NEW STUDIES REINFORCE NOTION THAT CIR WILL HELP ECONOMY

Posted on January 14, 2010
America's Voice gives the rundown. A new analysis by the Drum Major Institute (DMI) found that the Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP bill introduced by Congressmen Solomon Ortiz and Luis Gutierrez late last year would "make the grade" for strengthening and expanding America?s middle class...

SIGN ONLINE PETITION TO GRANT TPS FOR HAITIANS

Posted on January 14, 2010
Glad an effort on this front is already moving.

JOE WILSON STILL LYING ABOUT BEING AN IMMIGRATION LAWYER

Posted on January 14, 2010
Well maybe he is following Seinfeld's George Costanza famous advice "It's not a lie if you believe it."

LA RAZA CALLS FOR TPS FOR HAITIANS

Posted on January 14, 2010
This is commendable and also an interesting development because it means that the pro-immigration community is essentially saying that it is necessary to allow one group to receive an important immigration benefit out of lockstep with comprehensive immigration reform...

ANTI-IMMIGRATION LEADER ADMITS TPS FOR HAITIANS IS NEEDED

Posted on January 14, 2010
Center for Immigration Studies head Mark Krikorian blogs today on the subject: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was invented precisely for cases like Haiti today ? when a natural disaster is so devastating that illegal immigrants from that country temporarily can't be deported...

HAITI TPS COMING?

Posted on January 13, 2010
As we watch the earthquake destruction in Haiti with horror, one group of individuals that will likely start to get attention is the population of Haitians currently in the US and who are obviously not going to be able to safely return home anytime soon...

SENATOR GILLIBRAND URGES OBAMA TO ADD HAITI TO TPS COUNTRY LIST

Posted on January 13, 2010
From Politico: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is asking President Barack Obama to grant temporary protected status to Haitians illegally living in the United States ? a move that would prevent people from being deported to the earthquake-devastated country...

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