Immigration Law

SISKIND'S IMMIGRATION BULLETIN - 4 MAY 2009

Posted on May 04, 2009
Some of you who visit my web site may know I've been publishing a newsletter on immigration law online for the last 15 years, making it, to the best of my knowledge, the oldest online law firm newsletter. The newsletter is distributed by email as well...

SUPREME COURT RULES ICE GOING TOO FAR IN USING IDENTITY THEFT CHARGES IN IMMIGRATION PROSECUTIONS

Posted on May 04, 2009
From the NY Times: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that the federal government has been going too far in using identity-theft laws to prosecute undocumented workers who use fake identification to get and hold jobs. In limiting the use of a law enacted in 2004 that has become a favorite weapon of the authorities who go after illegal immigrants, the justices said that to use it, a prosecutor must be able to show that a defendant knew that the identification he used actually belonged to another person...

DESPITE ECONOMY, MOST AMERICANS STILL IN FAVOR OF LEGALIZATION OF IMMIGRANTS

Posted on May 03, 2009
The New York Times published a poll this week that only 30% of Americans would like to see the twelve million illegally present immigrants in the US deported. And 65% would like to see them legalized either on a temporary basis or given a path to eventual citizenship...

SCHUMER: IMMIGRATION REFORM WILL HAPPEN THIS YEAR

Posted on May 03, 2009
Interesting. The Chair of the Senate's Immigration Subcommittee is sounding pretty confident that an immigration plan will be signed by the President before 2009 is over.

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IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: MARIO MOLINA - PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR

Posted on May 02, 2009
President Obama has selected three foreign-born scholars to serve on his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The first of the three immigrants on PCAST is Mario Molina. Professor Molina, a Mexican native, is the winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: AHMED ZEWAIL - PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR

Posted on May 02, 2009
The third of three immigrants on the the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is Professor Ahmed Zewail, the winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Zewail is a professor of Chemistry and Physics at Caltech and is the Director of Caltech's Physical Biology Center...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: BARBARA SCHAAL - PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR

Posted on May 02, 2009
The second of three immigrants on the the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is German-born Barbara Schaal. Professor Schaal teaches biology at Washington University in St. Louis and is the first woman to ever hold the position of Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences...

OBAMA PROMISES TO PUSH FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM THIS YEAR

Posted on May 01, 2009
Congrats to President Obama on his first 100 days in office. And well done on keeping immigration reform on the front burner. During his prime time press conference last night, the President had this to say about immigration reform: Okay. Lori Montenegro...

ARE WE PLAYING WITH FIRE WHEN IT COMES TO NURSING IMMIGRATION

Posted on May 01, 2009
Very shortly, Congress will consider legislation that could allow 60,000 foreign nurses to come to the US. We face a shortage that will approach a million by the end of the next decade. On a daily basis, the lack of nurses is a serious problem, but not so noticeable to the typical American...

MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE REVIEWS E-VERIFY

Posted on May 01, 2009
This is a pretty thoughtful analysis that discusses the good and bad points of E-Verify, looks at how the mandatory E-Verify program is going in Arizona and discusses proposals to improve the electronic employment verification system. Definitely worth the read if you're following this topic.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: RICHARD WEBBY - FLU FIGHTER

Posted on May 01, 2009
As the swine flu maybe pandemic dominates the news and immigrants are being falsely blamed by demagogues on the airwaves, its nice to hear about an immigrant who is helping to save us all from this bug. Dr. Richard Webby, a New Zealand native is right here in my home town of Memphis leading the team at the world renown St...

WHITE HOUSE GEARING UP FOR EMPLOYER IMMIGRATION COMPLIANCE CRACKDOWN

Posted on April 30, 2009
The New York Times reports that tomorrow Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be sending instructions to agents in field offices aimed at changing their enforcement focus from work site raids that largely resulted in mass arrests of workers to I-9 audits and undercover investigations mainly targeting employers...

EXTREMISTS BLAMING IMMIGRANTS FOR FLU

Posted on April 30, 2009
Sometimes you overplay your hand. Keith Olbermann's take is here.

WHY IS STATE DEPARTMENT USING IMMIGRATION POLICY TO PROVIDE FOREIGN AID TO CHINA?

Posted on April 29, 2009
Some of you may know that I've been a co-author of the annually published LexisNexis' J-1 Visa Guidebook for the last dozen years. J-1 visas are used by a variety of folks including students and researchers training in a lot of fields. For many decades, J-1s from developing countries have been required to comply with a requirement to return to their home countries for two years following their J-1 time in the US...

PRO-IMMIGRATION SPECTER SWITCHING PARTIES

Posted on April 28, 2009
Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has announced he is switching to the Democrats and will run for the Democratic nomination for Senate in the Keystone State next year. The Democrats will have a filibuster-proof sixty seats after Al Franken is soon sworn in...

US CONSULATES IN MEXICO LARGELY SHUT DOWN VISA OPERATIONS UNTIL MAY 6TH

Posted on April 28, 2009
Your Snoutbreak update (hat tip to Jon Stewart). From the State Department's swine flu memo: The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and all U.S. Consulates throughout the country have suspended all non-essential services to the public until May 6. Consular services for U...

TIMES: DOCTOR SHORTAGE THREATENS OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE REFORM PLANS

Posted on April 27, 2009
Universal health care does not just mean that every American has health insurance. It also means that they have access to doctors and nurses. And right now there are dire shortages in both fields. I've posted articles here on the nurse shortage (and you can see a lot more of my writing on this subject at my health care immigration blog at http://www...

ICE STILL DEPORTING AMERICANS (AND NOT APOLOGIZING)

Posted on April 26, 2009
More evidence that the agency is in serious need of reform.

NETHERLANDS CITIZENS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR EXPEDITED ENTRY TO THE US

Posted on April 26, 2009
This is encouraging. Here's how DHS says it will work: The Global Entry pilot project allows pilot participants expedited entry into the United States at any of the designated port locations by using automated kiosks located in the Federal Inspection Services (FIS) area of each airport...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS - YOUR NEW USCIS DIRECTOR

Posted on April 24, 2009
The White House today announced the appointment of Cuban-born attorney Alejandro Maryorkas as the nation's new Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Congratulations to Mr. Mayorkas on his appointment. President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today: Alejandro Mayorkas, Nominee for Director, U...

SENATE SET TO START HEARINGS ON COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

Posted on April 24, 2009
The Senate Immigration Subcommittee will kick off Congress' consideration of an immigration reform bill with a hearing on April 30th entitled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?" Here is the lineup: Panel I J. Thomas Manger Chief of Police, Montgomery County, MD Director, Major Cities Chiefs Association Rockville, MD Alan Greenspan Economist Former Chairman Federal Reserve of the United States Washington, DC Dr...

POLL: AMERICANS NO LONGER ALL THAT CONCERNED ABOUT IMMIGRATION

Posted on April 22, 2009
Rasmussen Reports indicates in their latest poll that only 5% of Americans list immigration reform as a top priority, a number that is consistent with historical numbers but is much reduced from the last few years when anti-immigration activists whipped up a wave of nativism not seen in many years in the US...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: LESLIE NIELSEN - ACTOR

Posted on April 21, 2009
OK, I have to admit that I'm a closeted fan of 1970s disaster movies. You remember them - Earthquake, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Airport (and Airport '75, Airport '77, Airport '79: The Concorde(!)) and assorted lesser known films of that lost genre...

HEROIC TRANSLATOR DENIED VISA TO COME TO THE US

Posted on April 21, 2009
Fox News (not generally known for sympathetic immigration coverage) reports on an Iraqi translator who has received multiple commendations for taking risks to save the lives of American soldiers. The translator has been denied a visa to live in the US, according to Fox, because of nonviolent actions he took to overthrow Saddam Hussein even though the US government was calling for regime change in Iraq at the time.

IMMIGRATION HUMOR: COLBERT INTERVIEWS SHERIFF JOE

Posted on April 21, 2009
Did Sheriff Joe realize he was being made fun of the whole time? Favorite line - Congrats on your Pulitzer The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cJoe Arpaiocolbertnation.com Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorNASA Name Contest

TEA PARTY INTERVIEW WITH "MAN WHO SHOT TWO ILLEGALS BURGLARIZING HOME"

Posted on April 20, 2009
Regardless of how you feel about illegal immigration, this story should make you concerned. The comments below the video clip raise a lot of interesting points.

REPORTERS WHO EXPOSED SHERIFF JOE WIN THE PULITZER PRIZE

Posted on April 20, 2009
This is the highest honor awarded American journalists - the equivalent of an Oscar or an Olympic medal for a reporter. According to the Pulitzer web site: [The Pulitzer is] Awarded to Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin of the East Valley Tribune, Mesa, Ariz...

21,000 H-1B VISAS STILL UNCLAIMED

Posted on April 20, 2009
USCIS announced that as of today, only 44,000 of the 65,000 H-1B visas available for fiscal year 2010 have been claimed. That is only slightly fewer than they announced had been used at the end of the first week in April. So much for the argument that H-1Bs are cheap labor that employers use to displace more expensive American workers...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: GABY MORENO - COMPOSER

Posted on April 19, 2009
I've started watching the new, very funny Parks and Recreation on NBC with former Saturday Night Live cast member Amy Poehler. The show has a very catchy theme song so I decided to go online to see if I could download it. It actually took a little digging around, but I found that it was written by Guatemalan-born Gaby Moreno...

1,000,000 PEOPLE NOW ON US TERROR WATCH LIST

Posted on April 19, 2009
Is it then at all surprising that security clearances for visas are now taking many months more to get? How long will it take every living human on earth to be added to the list? At this pace, probably not all that long.

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