Welcome to our Immigration News and Opinions detail page from myGreencard.com. http://www.myGreencard.com 2010-03-19T16:31:05+01:00 http://www.myGreencard.com http://www.myGreencard.com/images/mygreencard_small.jpg text/html http://tinyurl.com/yagdy9p Albuquerque Immigration Examiner, March 16, OPINION. For those of you who recently immigrated to the United States from countries with repressive regimes, the latest antics by high level Republicans may seem eerily familiar. In case you have been too busy trying to make a living during to the Bush recession, consider these recent events: First, there is Liz Cheney’s attempt upstage her father, the former Vice-President Dick Cheney, as chief of un-American activities. Recall that Cheney, acting the part of Dr Strangelove, ushered in new lows in America’s world standing by introducing torture in our name, starting an unnecessary war in Iraq based on flawed intelligence, and harboring an obsession with secrecy that would make the Kremlin envious – at least until he left office. text/html http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/mar/16/english-language-schools-students-visas The Guardian (U.K.), March 16. English language schools are planning a legal challenge against the Home Office over fears that the UK will lose thousands of jobs and £400m in income through tighter visa regulations this year. English UK, the body that represents most language schools, says it will seek a judicial review of home secretary Alan Johnson's decision to prevent students with only beginner's English from entering Britain for English language courses. The regulations, announced last month, were in response to concerns about illegal immigration and radicalisation of students at UK institutions following the bombing attempt on a US-bound aircraft on Christmas Day by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a British-educated Nigerian. Announcing the rules, Johnson said they would also prevent scams involving applications from older women 'who had long ceased education' and were trying to bring dependant husbands into the country. text/html http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/16/union-objection-puts-immigration-push-at-risk/ Washington Times, March 16. Sen. Lindsey Graham walked out of his immigration meeting with President Obama last week and said the president needs to pressure labor unions to accept a temporary-worker program as part of any bill. Less than a day later, the AFL-CIO said that was a no-go. Among all the other potential pitfalls, the divide over how to handle the future flow of foreign workers, which has bedeviled the immigration issue for years, once again threatens to halt any progress on immigration reform. 'By taking this position, the AFL-CIO ends any realistic chance of legislation this year,' U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Randel K. Johnson said this weekend, only deepening the rift between businesses and unions. Businesses say they need to make sure they can get access to foreign workers because there are jobs Americans won't take. But labor unions fear such a program would depress wages for American workers, and in the current economy, with unemployment hovering at 10 percent, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said a new temporary-worker program 'would be political suicide.' text/html http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34470.html Politico, March 16. Republicans are threatening to make life difficult for Democrats if they try to push health care reform through the Senate using the budget reconciliation process. The response from Democrats: What else is new? Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) told POLITICO on Monday that it will be 'much, much harder' to reach bipartisan consensus on anything if Democrats push ahead with reconciliation. Financial regulatory reform 'could easily fall victim,' Kyl said. text/html http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0315/New-immigrants-avoiding-big-cities-study-finds Christian Science Monitor, March 15. US immigrant populations are spreading out, a study released Monday found. New immigrants and their US-born descendants are expected to grow by 117 million by 2050, making up 82 percent of the US population growth over that period, and will 'have important implications for housing demand at a time when aging baby boomers are expected to retire and leave the housing market,' the study predicts. New immigrants who once flocked to the large 'gateway' cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago are now heading for smaller metropolitan areas like Detroit and Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sarasota, Fla., and El Paso, Tex., according to the study, released by the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. text/html http://www.cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2010/03/16/ithaca-urges-congress-pass-immigration-reform Cornell Daily Sun, March 16. The City of Ithaca Common Council this month addressed the nationally contentious issue of immigration by unanimously passing a resolution on March 3 that calls on Congress to replace the enforcement-only policy, cease raids and provide a pathway for legal citizenship. Alderpersons Eric Rosario (I-2nd Ward) and Maria Coles (D-1st Ward) introduced the bill after working for months in conjunction with the Tompkins County Immigrant Rights Coalition, Catholic Charities Immigrant Center and Tompkins County Workers Center. The resolution condemns the current laws, stating that 'our nation’s immigration system continues to be broken, with the federal government pursuing an ineffective enforcement-only strategy that attempts to make the nation’s antiquated immigration laws fit current realities.' text/html http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/03/15/20100315immigration-reform-democrats.html Arizona Republic, March 15. Democrats' failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform could hurt them with Latino voters in November's congressional elections, leaders of immigrant-rights groups warn. But support for an immigration bill could come with its own political cost from voters on the other side of the issue, leaving lawmakers no easy choices. 'For most elected officials, it's a no-win situation,' said John Garcia, a political-science professor at the University of Arizona. 'It's just such a volatile and divisive issue.' Thousands of immigration-reform activists from across the nation - including some from Arizona - are expected to march on Washington, D.C., on Sunday to demand action from the Obama administration and the Democrat-led Congress. text/html http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/15/senate-chided-slow-approval-new-border-chief/ Washington Times, March 15. The failure by Congress and the White House to confirm a permanent head of the agency that protects America's borders against terrorists, drug smugglers and illegal immigrants is a national security concern, say three former U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioners who first warned key senators more than a month ago about their failure to act on the pending nomination. 'CBP is too important in too many areas to be without a commissioner for so long, and the time line concerns us,' said former commissioners W. Ralph Basham, Robert Bonner and Raymond Kelly, noting that the agency performs 'a vital security and law enforcement role' in protecting U.S. borders. text/html http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-immigrant-housing15-2010mar15,0,5494870.story Los Angeles Times, March 15. Recently arrived immigrants flocked to smaller metropolitan areas during the first half of the last decade, lured by less competition for jobs and cheaper housing, but they were not as likely to buy homes in such places, according to a study expected to be released Monday. The population of immigrants living in the U.S. for a decade or less jumped 27% in cities such as Nashville, El Paso, Bakersfield and Stockton during the first five years of the century, the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate reported. More traditional 'gateway' metro areas such as Los Angeles and New York registered a 6% decline in the number of these newcomers over that same period. text/html http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/86617-axelrod-illlegal-immigration-wont-be-addressed-in-this-health-bill The Hill, March 14. White House senior adviser David Axelrod made clear Sunday that concerns within the Hispanic Caucus about the exclusion of illegal immigrants from the healthcare exchange won't be addressed under the current legislation. Responding to the concerns of Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and others when asked by host Candy Crowley on CNN's 'State of the Union,' Axelrod said President Barack Obama believes 'this is not the vehicle through which to address our immigration issue.' Axelrod stressed that legal immigrants will be able to purchase insurance through a national health insurance exchange. Resolutions about illegal immigration are for another time, another bill, Axelrod said. text/html http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-immigration12-2010mar12,0,5784564.story Los Angeles Times, March 12. A pair of influential senators presented President Obama with a three-page blueprint for a bipartisan agreement to overhaul the nation's immigration system, but the proposal's viability is threatened by politics surrounding the healthcare debate. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), in a 45-minute meeting Thursday in the Oval Office, also asked for Obama's help in rounding up enough Republican votes to pass an immigration bill this year. Although details of their blueprint were not released, Graham said the elements included tougher border security, a program to admit temporary immigrant workers and a biometric Social Security card that would prevent people here illegally from getting jobs. text/html http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=161549 The Medill Reports, March 11. A man approached her and said that if the two of them combined their skills, they could be rich. He was not a lawyer, but he wanted to open an immigration legal advisory service. The practice would have been illegal. She turned him down. 'I want to work honestly,' she told him. Meneses, 46, has been helping people with tax and immigration papers for 17 years on Chicago’s North Side, translating forms and recommending attorneys. And in a line of work where honest practices and sound reputations are not a given, she is proud that some of her customers have been coming to her for more than a decade. text/html http://thehill.com/homenews/house/86125-hispanic-caucus-threat-to-vote-no-on-healthcare The Hill, March 10. A group of Hispanic lawmakers on Thursday will tell President Barack Obama that they may not vote for healthcare reform unless changes are made to the bill’s immigration provisions. The scheduled meeting comes as Democratic leaders and the White House are struggling to craft a final bill that will attract 216 votes in the lower chamber. Unlike abortion, immigration has flown beneath the radar, and almost seemed to vanish altogether as House Democrats have wrestled with how to accept a Senate healthcare bill far different from the one they passed in November. But immigration remains just as explosive an issue and carries the same potential to derail the entire healthcare endgame, a number of Democrats said. text/html http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_101/news/44027-1.html Roll Call, March 10. With the onus now on Congress to finish health care reform, President Barack Obama is turning his attention to a key constituency whose complaints about being ignored have reached a fever pitch: immigration reform advocates. Between the yearlong slog on health care and a spike in Democratic anxiety after the GOP upset in the election to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), proponents of immigration reform say Obama has failed to deliver on a campaign promise to advance their issue. The final straw for many was the scant reference to reform in his State of the Union address. “That’s when the grass-roots groups went from frustrated to angry,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a national immigrant advocacy organization text/html http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/85111-venture-capitalists-say-visas-for-immigrant-entrepreneurs-will-spur-jo The Hill, March 5. Venture capitalists lobbied Capitol Hill this week to win support for legislation offering two-year visas for immigrant entrepreneurs. Legislation sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the Start-Up Visa Act, would grant immigrant entrepreneurs a two-year visa if they have the support of a qualified U.S. investor for their startup venture. The bill has received plaudits from the technology community, which has long complained that there are not enough visas for skilled immigrants. Many of the most successful tech companies were founded by immigrants, such as Intel, eBay, Yahoo and Google. text/html http://www.migrationexpert.com/us/visa/us_immigration_news/2010/mar/0/260/uscis_revises_form_i-485_and_its_filing_locations US Migration Expert, March 5. Recently the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has revised Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and implemented new filing locations for the form. According to USCIS, the changes are part of an overall effort to transition the intake of USCIS benefit forms from Service Centers to Lockbox facilities; in an attempt to provide the public with more efficient and effective initial processing of applications and fees. Visa Applicants must now submit Form I-485 to a USCIS Lockbox facility, depending on the eligibility category under which they are filing, as provided in the form instructions. text/html http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/03/05/20100305lawmakers-pushing-new-e-verify.html Arizona Republic, March 5. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers led by Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords is pushing for a new federal system to verify who is legally allowed to work in this country. The proposed system promises to do a better job of preventing illegal immigrants from getting jobs than the current online system, known as E-Verify. A recent report found flaws in the existing system. First introduced two years ago by Reps. Giffords and Sam Johnson, a Texas Republican, the proposed system is only now gaining attention following the publication of the government-commissioned report, which estimated that more than half of the illegal immigrants run through the E-Verify system are wrongly being deemed authorized to work because they use stolen identities. text/html http://www.northjersey.com/news/86498372_28_000_Haitians_in_U_S_seek_protected_status.html The Record, March 5. More than 28,000 Haitians living in the United States, including more than 800 in New Jersey, have applied for protection from deportation since January, immigration officials say. The Obama administration suspended deportations of Haitians who had been in the U.S. by Jan. 12, when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a few days after the earthquake that undocumented Haitians would be eligible to apply for an immigration benefit known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which allows those who receive it to live and work here for up to 18 months. text/html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/03/MNIO1CAD3J.DTL San Francisco Chronicle, March 4. A San Francisco bus driver's wife and two stepsons, who faced deportation to Australia this week after a schoolyard fight and a city crackdown thwarted their attempt to win legal status, won a reprieve from federal authorities Wednesday. Immigration officials had ordered Tracey Washington and her sons, ages 13 and 5, to leave the United States by Friday because they remained here after their visa waivers expired in May. The family and their lawyer brought the case to public attention in a news conference this week. On Wednesday, officials said they would give the Washingtons at least 60 days to resolve their situation. text/html http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/04/homeland.security.posts/ CNN News, March 4. The war on terror is being fought without some key generals. The Obama administration, more than a year after taking power, and Congress have not filled some key positions in the Department of Homeland Security -- notably the top jobs at the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection. Together, the two posts manage about half of all DHS employees. But for differing reasons, the posts are unfilled or occupied by placeholders. In the case of the TSA, Erroll Southers -- whom President Obama nominated in September -- withdrew from consideration in January after a contentious confirmation battle with Senate Republicans. The White House has yet to name a new nominee, all but ensuring the post won't be on board for months. text/html http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/03/04/govt_offers_new_assurance_census_data_is_private/ Associated Press, March 4. With the 2010 population count looming, the government provided new assurances Thursday that information Americans fill out on their census forms will be kept confidential and not be used for law enforcement. In a letter to Congress, the Obama administration provided its legal position that census data cannot be disclosed under the Patriot Act, the nation's main counterterrorism law. The government has previously given legal assurances the information will not be used for immigration enforcement. text/html http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100304_4399.php?oref=topnews NextGov.com, March 4. The State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs is rolling out a new online application process for nonimmigrant visas aimed at reducing processing time. This is the bureau's first step to building the Consular Electronic Application Center, a Web-based system that eventually will host online applications for immigration visas and passports. The new nonimmigrant visa application, DS-160, combines three forms into one online platform. Once an applicant submits the document online, consular officers can screen it before the visa interview and ask the candidate to fill in any missing information. Applicants must complete the form in English, but they can view as pop-ups foreign translations of the questions. text/html http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/03/01/gvsg0303.htm American Medical News, March 3. Annual health spending on noncitizen immigrants is about half the spending on native U.S. citizens, largely because many noncitizens lack jobs with health insurance and are ineligible for most public coverage, according to 'Trends in Health Care Spending for Immigrants in the United States,' published in the March Health Affairs. Average per-person health care spending for noncitizens was $1,904 in 2006, compared with $3,723 for citizens, according to the study. Public spending on noncitizens also was relatively low. Between 1999 and 2006, it averaged $780 annually for noncitizens and $1,200 for U.S. natives, the article concluded. text/html http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/03/01/daily55.html The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, March 3. A group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs plans to bring thousands of tweets supporting a new startup visa to Washington on Thursday. The trip organized by venture capitalist Dave McClure of San Francisco-based Founders Fund is backing the creation of a two-year visa for immigrant entrepreneurs who raise a minimum of $250,000, with $100,000 coming from a qualified U.S. angel or venture investor. The immigrant entrepreneurs can then become citizens if they create five or more jobs (not including their own family members), attract another $1 million investment, or produce $1 million in revenue. The group has asked Twitter users to tweet their support at @2gov using the hashtag #StartupVisa at exactly 10 AM Pacific time on Wednesday. text/html http://www.cis.org/north/selling-green-cards-3 CIS Immigration Blog, March 2, OPINION. It's bad enough that people can buy their way into the United States, as described in a previous blog. But if a bill (S. 3029) introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) passes the price will be reduced to $100,000. The price was once was $1 million, then it fell to $500,000. And the $100,000 does not even have to be your money. For years the Congress set the price of an investor visa at $1 million, and the investment had to produce ten jobs for someone other than the migrant investor's family. Currently, you have to put up half a million and some consultant will figure out the needed "indirect" job-creating benefits, in the program as outlined by USCIS. As pointed out in the earlier blog, the half-million-dollar investment, once examined, turned out to actually cost the investor $113,500 and it would produce green cards for everyone in the family; so, if there were five in the family, that would be $22,700 per visa. text/html http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/2010/0302/Who-s-creating-US-jobs-Mexicans Christian Science Monitor, March 2. For Pierre Gama, the fourth kidnapping was the final straw. Armed carjackers made him drive his car in circles until he gave them the numbers to his credit cards. With two small children and a wife – who was with him during one such secuestro express – the security entrepreneur wanted out of Mexico City. Mr. Gama proposed moving to Canada, but his wife said it was too cold there. So he opted for an escape route a growing number of his wealthiest countrymen are taking: He bought his family’s way into the United States by spending about $200,000 on a San Antonio restaurant and catering business. text/html http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=12069761 Associated Press, March 2. Over the last several years, immigration hard-liners at the Arizona Legislature persuaded colleagues to criminalize the presence of illegal border-crossers in the state and ban soft immigration policies in police agencies - only to be thwarted by a Democratic governor's vetoes. This year, their prospects have improved: A proposal containing those two enforcement ideas has momentum, and even opponents expect the current Republican governor to approve the changes. Among other things, the proposal would make Arizona the only state to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants through an expansion of its trespassing law. text/html http://www.projo.com/news/content/WYATT_SIDE_03-01-10_KRHK23G_v8.38ade72.html Providence Journal, March 1. A federal judge will hear arguments this week on whether the federal government should be dismissed as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by Lin Li Qu, the widow of the Chinese immigrant detainee who died two years ago while in the custody of the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith. Qu, through her lawyers, has sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, as well as Wyatt and a host of others, claiming that they neglected to offer Hiu Lui Jason Ng, the detainee, the proper care when he complained of debilitating back pain in the final months of his life. Just before he died in August 2008, doctors discovered that Ng, 34, was suffering from advanced liver cancer and he had a fractured vertebrae. text/html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/28/new-irish-disapora Observer, February 28. In the tiny sub-post office at Liscarney, on the road out of Westport, under the snow-touched pyramid of Croagh Patrick, postmaster William Joyce is considering his schooldays. 'In my class maybe a third left. It was America then.' Joyce, 54, got married and stayed put. 'I've the farm as well as the post office and the wife works; one job is not enough around here.' His three teenage sons are at college, the first generation of the family to reach further education. 'I knew the boom wouldn't last. All the young crowd working on borrowed money with two cars to every house, out every weekend, they didn't see the day coming when it would have to be paid back. They knew nothing else. But the minute the banks stopped, everything stopped. text/html http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/28/us/AP-US-Embattled-Sheriff-Joe.html Associated Press, February 28. With a sheriff's helicopter beating overhead, the man known as ''Sheriff Joe'' stood behind a line of officers as 10,000 people marched past -- but this was not the usual show of affection and support for Joe Arpaio. ''Joe must go! Joe must go,'' whole families chanted, as they rounded the corner in front of the county jail complex run by the five-term Maricopa County sheriff famed for his confrontational tactics, his harsh jail policies and a gift for publicity. The parade of mostly brown-skinned people wanted to show they hated his trademark immigration patrols. For years, Arpaio has been the rare politician whose popularity remained rock solid no matter the criticism. He was the self-proclaimed ''America's toughest sheriff,'' unbeatable at the polls.