Parole in Place: What it is and what it isn’t

The Hill

By:  Margaret Stock

Another day, and yet another story about immigration policy with commentators who ignore the facts, overreact, and fling the dreaded “amnesty” word around without sufficient research.

Let me take the opportunity to clear up some misconceptions about the “Parole in Place” available for certain close relatives of U.S. service members and veterans.

ADVERTISEMENT

Parole in place is not a new program and it is certainly not “amnesty.”  The administration has merely issued a Policy Memorandum that clarifies an existing policy that carries out a law duly enacted by Congress.  This policy, known as “Parole in Place,” is grounded in the statutory parole authority given to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Immigration and Nationality Act.  That law allows the Executive Branch to issue immigration paroles, including paroles in place, and the immigration agencies have been issuing such paroles for decades.  The existing military immigration parole policy—started under the Bush Administration when Michael Chertoff was the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security—allows some undocumented relatives of U.S. military members and veterans to stay in the U.S. lawfully while they pursue green cards.

The new Policy Memorandum merely ensures that this existing law is applied consistently by USCIS employees to U.S. military family members.  Such consistency has been lacking because agency employees previously had no written guidance from headquarters with regard to what family members were subject to the policy.  This lack of guidance resulted in errors, so that, for example, the Nebraska USCIS field office denied parole in place to the wife of a disabled Iraqi war veteran and member of the Nebraska National Guard in the mistaken belief that the National Guard is not part of the Army.  The memo will reduce such errors by agency employees.

The memo also explicitly acknowledges the value of the policy: Our nation’s broken legal immigration system has caused harm to our military.  Military members suffer emotional distress and related stress because they are terrified that their family members might be deported while they are serving our country.

To read the full article, please click:  Parole in Place: What it is and what it isn’t

Deportations Drop as Obama Pushes for New Immigration Law

Bloomberg Businessweek

By Michael C. Bender

The Obama administration has cut back on deporting undocumented immigrants, with forced departures on track to drop more than 10 percent, the first annual decline in more than a decade.

In his first term, President Barack Obama highlighted record deportations to show he was getting tough on immigration enforcement, which Republicans and even some Democrats have demanded as a condition for overhauling existing laws.

The last fiscal year was different. The government deported 343,020 people in the U.S. illegally from Oct. 1, 2012, to Sept. 7, 2013, the most recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement data show. If that pace continued through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year, removals would reach a six-year low.

The drop, which comes as Obama faces growing criticism from Hispanics over deportations, is a result of a new policy of focusing limited enforcement resources “on public safety, national security and border security,” ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said. “ICE has been vocal about the shift in our immigration-enforcement strategy,” she said. “Our removal numbers illustrate this.”

Legislation to revamp the U.S. immigration system is stalled because of resistance from Republicans in the House of Representatives. Republican lawmakers opposed to changes backed by both Obama and former President George W. Bush, including offering a path to citizenship to the country’s estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants, have demanded tougher enforcement before considering new legislation.

Pushing Back

Yet as deportations climbed to a record 409,900 in fiscal 2012, Obama has faced pushback from the Democratic Party’s Hispanic backers, who helped provide his victory margin in two elections. There have also been protests from immigration activists, most recently at a speech he gave last month in San Francisco.

“He’s going to continue to be confronted,” Representative Luis Gutierrez said of Obama, a fellow Illinois Democrat. “You can’t say you’re going to protect the undocumented and give them a pathway to citizenship, and then deport them in unprecedented numbers.”

Even with the recent decline, about 1.93 million people have been deported during Obama’s five years in office. That approaches Bush’s eight-year total and is almost as many as in the 108 years between the administrations of Presidents Benjamin Harrison, when Department of Homeland Security records begin, and Bill Clinton. 

To read the full article, please click:  Deportations Drop as Obama Pushes for New Immigration Law

January Visa Bulletin Available

To see the complete U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for January 2014, please click:  January 2014 Visa Bulletin

Family-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Family-Sponsored	All Charge -ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	08DEC06	08DEC06	08DEC06	22SEP93	01JUL01
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	01SEP13	08SEP13
F2B	01JUN06	01JUN06	01JUN06	01APR94	01MAY03
F3	15APR03	15APR03	15APR03	01JUN93	01FEB93
F4	01OCT01	01OCT01	01OCT01	01NOV96	01JUL90

Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Employment- Based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	08DEC08	15NOV04	C	C
3rd	01APR12	01APR12	01SEP03	01APR12	15FEB07
Other Workers	01APR12	01APR12	01SEP03	01APR12	15FEB07
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs	C	C	C	C	C

Advocates Struggle to Reach Immigrants Eligible for Deferred Action

New York Times
By Kirk Semple

The two women had spent a couple of afternoons wandering a heavily Chinese neighborhood in Brooklyn on a seemingly straightforward quest: to find young, undocumented immigrants and enroll them in a federal program that lets them stay in the country for at least two years and work legally.

But after they canvassed bakeries and restaurants, Internet cafes and bubble tea shops, and buttonholed scores of workers and customers, who were mostly suspicious if not downright hostile, the challenge of their mission had begun to weigh on them.
      

“Chipping away at the ice,” sighed Susan Pan, the legal fellow at Atlas: DIY, an advocacy group for immigrant youths, as she and her colleague, Wendy Tsang, paused to drink a restorative cup of milk tea. “Trust is extremely critical.”

      

Across the country, immigrant advocates have been confronting similar challenges amid a renewed push to sign up immigrants for the program, known as deferred action.

      

The effort has acquired a sense of urgency as comprehensive immigration legislation has stalled in Congress, dimming the possibility that lawmakers — at least in the near term — might provide a path to citizenship for those here illegally.

      

The program, President Obama’s signature immigration initiative, is open to certain immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Recipients of the reprieve are protected from deportation, allowed to work and, in many states, to obtain a driver’s license; they can renew their status after two years.

To read the full article, please click:  Advocates Struggle to Reach Immigrants Eligible for Deferred Action

How Republicans Can Benefit From Immigration Reform

Bloomberg
By Lanhee Chen

President Barack Obama’s suggestion that he’d be willing to entertain piecemeal efforts at immigration reform is a devilish trap for Republicans. The best way to avoid it is to agree to a comprehensive set of reforms to fix our broken immigration system.

From a policy perspective, some reform would certainly be superior to the status quo -- basic changes, such as better tailoring guest worker and visa programs to the needs of our economy and improving border security, are sorely needed. But such partial change is a dangerous political trap for Republicans.

In my view, Republicans are therefore left with two alternatives: passing nothing at all, or embracing a complete set of reforms that addresses the legal status of those who came to the U.S. illegally. Between these two, Republicans should embrace comprehensive reform. It’s good policy and good politics.

That entails a significant shift in direction. The Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation last summer, and the bill has subsequently languished in the House, where its prospects are grim at best. Now, with President Obama’s approval ratings in the tank because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s horrific rollout and congressional Democrats desperate for a win going into 2014, there is newfound interest in trying to jumpstart the stalled effort for immigration reform.

To read the full article, please click:  How Republicans Can Benefit From Immigration Reform

Boehner hire signals new hope for migrant reform

USA Today

House Speaker John Boehner's hiring of a former top aide to Sen. John McCain to advise him on immigration issues has renewed hopes that House Republican leaders are planning to move forward on reform legislation next year.

Boehner's hiring of Rebecca Tallent as assistant to the speaker for policy handling immigration issues comes amid intensifying pro-reform activism on Capitol Hill as time runs out on the 2013 legislative calendar.

Tallent, most recently director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., worked for McCain, R-Ariz., for years, including a stint as his chief of staff. Before that, she was an aide to then-Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., who, like McCain, was a supporter of comprehensive immigration reform.

"I'll be focusing on trying to get this sticky immigration situation worked out," Tallent wrote in an e-mail announcing her final day at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

To read the full article, please click:  Boehner hire signals new hope for migrant reform

For immigrant women, domestic violence creates a double shadow

Washington Post

Deysi Gonzalez’s diary begins with this sentence: “On July 3, 2002, I met the man I thought would be the love of my life.” Instead, she continues in neat Spanish script, the handsome acquaintance who courted her in Guatemala turned into a possessive bully who stalked and beat her. When she tried to go to the police, she writes, he threatened to kill her.

Gonzalez remained with her abuser, bearing two sons and hoping that the man would mellow. Several months ago, after years of torment, she fled to the United States. Now, she faces a terrible dilemma. She is desperate to reunite with her children but terrified of being deported.

“I miss my babies so much, but I can’t go back. I know he will find me and kill me,” Gonzalez, 26, said recently, sobbing as she stared at a cellphone image of two little boys. Around her sat a dozen other Hispanic women who had gathered at La Clinica del Pueblo in the District. All are victims of domestic violence in their home countries or the United States, and most are here illegally.

In the national debate over immigration changes, little attention has been paid to a subset of immigrants who live in a double shadow: thousands of women who depend on abusive spouses for legal and economic protection in the United States, and thousands more who fled violent partners in their homelands and could be in danger if forced to return.
To read the full article, please click: For immigrant women, domestic violence creates a double shadow

Obama Calls for Quick Action on Immigration, and So Does a Heckler

New York Times -  President Obama is often heckled, but it is rare for a guest who is part of a White House-approved backdrop to shout out a protest while the president is in mid-speech.

But that is what happened here on Monday when Mr. Obama called on Congress to pass an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws.
      

“Mr. Obama, my family has been separated for 19 months now!” yelled a young man who stood with others on the riser behind the president at the Betty Ann Ong Chinese Recreation Center.       

 

Mr. Obama continued to speak, but the man did not let up. “You have a power to stop deportation for all undocumented immigrants in this country,” he said.

 

The president turned to address him. “Actually, I don’t,” he said. “And that’s why we’re here.”

 

As the event’s organizers tried to remove the man, Mr. Obama signaled no. “I respect the passion of these young people because they feel deeply about the concerns for their families,” he said. But, he continued, the United States is a nation of laws, and “it is not simply a matter of us just saying we’re going to violate the law.”

      

In his remarks, Mr. Obama reiterated his support for an immigration overhaul split into multiple pieces of legislation, as House Republicans have proposed.

 

To read the full article, please click:  Obama Calls for Quick Action on Immigration, and So Does a Heckler

Biden visits immigration advocates fasting on National Mall

L.A. Times - Vice President Joe Biden paid a visit Friday to immigration advocates who have been fasting on the National Mall, lending White House support to the push for House Speaker John A. Boehner to take up the proposed immigration law overhaul now stalled in the House.

“As my father would say, come hell or high water, we’re going to win this,” Biden told the group, according to organizers of the fast, now in its 11th day.

Boehner insisted this week that Republicans in the House are committed to considering immigration legislation, but he declined to say when they would take up the issue. Advocates had urged him to bring the bill to a vote by the end of 2013, but that now seems increasingly unlikely.

The immigration issue deeply divides the GOP, and Republican lawmakers are split over what advocates call the cornerstone of any reform effort -- a route to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country without legal status.
To read the full article, please click:  Biden visits immigration advocates fasting on National Mall

We need more legal immigration, not less: Guest opinion

The Oregonian - The guest opinion by Elizabeth Van Staaveren uses claims of runaway population growth to urge a moratorium on immigration for an extended period.  This amounts to nothing more than fear mongering.

Baby boomers, those Americans born between 1946 and 1964, number 77 million, nearly one quarter of the U.S. population. This vast segment of our population is beginning to retire - the first of the baby boomers turned 65 in 2011.  Retiring baby boomers in the coming decades will create unprecedented challenges to our economy, and immigrants and the children of immigrants will play a key role in helping us succeed as a nation.  Americans 65 and older will make up nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population by 2030, compared with 13.1 percent in 2010.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that 33.7 million job openings will arise from the need to replace workers who retire or move to different occupations between 2010 and 2020. Current birthrates and current levels of immigration combined will not keep up with the increase in percentage of the elderly population, and legal immigration will need to be increased to fund Social Security and Medicare, to replace retiring workers, and provide healthcare to the elderly.  Increased immigration cannot singlehandedly save Social Security and Medicare, which are projected to become insolvent in the next two to three decades, but it can help. 

Immigration has always played a key role in U.S. economic growth. Immigration is part of our national identity. Immigrants fill labor shortages, create businesses, and contribute to the tax system. In Oregon, immigrants make up nearly 10 percent of the total population, constitute 10.7 percent of business owners and have generated $1.1 billion in annual business income.  Instituting a legalization program for Oregon’s undocumented population will create 6,700 additional jobs and generate in excess of $492 million for Oregon by 2020, according to REMI. Creating a roadmap to citizenship and expanding high-skilled visa programs as proposed by S. 744 and H.R. 15 would add $293 million to Oregon’s gross state product in 2014.

To read the full article, please click:  We need more legal immigration, not less: Guest opinion

Immigrants Closely Tied to Military Get Reprieve

New York Times - The Obama administration issued a new policy on Friday that will allow immigrants in the United States illegally who are close relatives of active military troops and veterans to stay and move toward becoming permanent residents.

The long-awaited memorandum, coming after three years of deliberations by Department of Homeland Security officials, was an effort to untangle knots in immigration law that left many soldiers worried that their immigrant family members could be deported while they were deployed.

 

The administration applied the policy broadly, extending it to all active-duty members of the armed forces, to reservists including the National Guard, and to all veterans. Their spouses, children and parents will be eligible for a “parole in place,” a term that means they will be authorized to remain in the United States and many can proceed with applications for legal residency.

      

“This is an enormous step forward for military families and military readiness,” said Margaret D. Stock, a lawyer at Cascadia Cross-Border Law in Anchorage, who is a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel. “These problems had been a complete nightmare for many military people to deal with.”

 

To read the full article, please click:  Immigrants Closely Tied to Military Get Reprieve

Activists to fast on Capitol Hill until Congress passes immigration reform

Washington Post - As an icy wind whipped the sides of a packed tent, five activists committed themselves Tuesday (Nov. 12) to fast from food and drink and to camp in front of the U.S. Capitol until Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform.

“I know that there are going to be difficult days ahead of me,” said Eliseo Medina from the Service Employees International Union. “I know that going without food will not be easy and I know that I will suffer physical hunger.

“But there is a deeper hunger within me, a hunger for an end to a system that creates such misery among those who come here to escape poverty and violence in search of the American dream.”

Religious and labor leaders joined immigration activists at the launch of the “Fast for Families: A Call for Immigration Reform and Citizenship.” Many will participate as “solidarity fasters,” fasting for a shorter time.

To read the full article, please click:  Activists to fast on Capitol Hill until Congress passes immigration reform

December Visa Bulletin Available

To see the complete U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for October 2013, please click:  December 2013 Visa Bulletin

Family-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Family-Sponsored	All Charge -ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15NOV06	15NOV06	15NOV06	22SEP93	01JUL01
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	01SEP13	08SEP13
F2B	01MAY06	01MAY06	01MAY06	01APR94	22MAR03
F3	08MAR03	08MAR03	08MAR03	01JUN93	22JAN93
F4	08SEP01	08SEP01	08SEP01	22OCT96	01JUN90

Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Employment- Based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	08NOV08	15NOV04	C	C
3rd	01OCT11	01OCT11	01SEP03	01OCT11	08JAN07
Other Workers	01OCT11	01OCT11	01SEP03	01OCT11	08JAN07
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs	C	C	C	C	C

Court Approves Settlement in National Class Action Lawsuit on Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers

Washington, DC – On Monday, November 4, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones ordered the final approval of a nationwide class action settlement agreement. The settlement will help ensure that asylum seekers, who have fled persecution in their home countries, are not unlawfully prevented from working and supporting their families while the government adjudicates their cases.  The changes will commence on December 3, 2013.

The agreement stems from a case filed in December 2011 by the American Immigration Council and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), with co-counsel from the Seattle law firm Gibbs Houston Pauw and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.  The complaint challenged widespread problems with the “asylum clock”—the system government agencies use to determine when immigrants who have applied for asylum may obtain permission to work lawfully in the United States.

The case, filed on behalf of asylum seekers around the country, alleged that the current system unlawfully denies asylum applicants the opportunity to obtain employment authorization if their asylum applications have been pending for six months or more. Some end up waiting several months or years for the government to make a decision on their asylum applications.  Indeed, one plaintiff from China had been waiting nearly 10 years for his case to be resolved.

“Under the settlement agreement, the process for getting work permits will be more transparent and fair, and the government will be more accountable for errors in determining asylum seekers’ eligibility for work authorization,” according to Mary Kenney, Senior Staff Attorney with the American Immigration Council.

“We are very excited that after the Court’s order, we are only four weeks away from changes that will help thousands of asylum seekers, people who were placed in desperate circumstances, unable to seek employment to support themselves and their families while waiting for their asylum applications to be resolved,” said Chris Strawn, director of the asylum unit at NWIRP.

To read the full article, please click:  Court Approves Settlement in National Class Action Lawsuit on Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers

Gutierrez: House Will Use GOP's Piecemeal Approach To Immigration Reform

Huffington Post

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a leading proponent of comprehensive immigration reform in the House, said Thursday in a radio interview that the GOP preference for a piecemeal approach is likely to win out.

"We are going to do them piecemeal, but in the end you're going to have a full menu," Gutierrez said on Chicago Public Radio's "Afternoon Shift." Gutierrez has said before that he's open to a piecemeal approach to immigration reform, as long as it eventually includes different measures affecting security, the so-called Dreamers and new workers.

Gutierrez acknowledged that Democrats need to change their strategy, given the current balance in Congress.

"Democrats in the House of Representatives have to stop negotiating from the point of view that they're in the majority," he said. "We're not."

Gutierrez also said that the piece of immigration legislation that is most likely to get passed will be a version of the Dream Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for the Dreamers, people brought to the United States as children who also meet other requirements.

"My sense is right now, it is the area we can reach the most consensus," he said.

"The parents, to me, need to be included in this process. I don't vilify them or condemn them," Gutierrez said, but added that Dream advocates themselves have succeeded in winning the argument.

"The basic premise of this -- I didn't really like it too much when [Dream advocates] made it, because if somebody's innocent, then somebody is guilty. And I think there's a lot of innocence going around in this process."

To read the full article, please click:  Gutierrez: House Will Use GOP's Piecemeal Approach To Immigration Reform

Immigration compromise would unite torn-apart families

LA Times

As a comprehensive immigration overhaul stalls in the House, two border-state lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday that would tackle one aspect of the issue -- making it easier to unite American families split apart by past immigration law violations.

The effort from Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) could provide common ground among Democrats and Republicans, an opportunity to ease into a debate over what to do with one subset of the estimated 11 million people living in the United States without legal status.

The legislation is significant because while most Republican lawmakers have resisted providing a pathway to citizenship to those in this country illegally, some have indicated they could support legal status for certain groups of immigrants snared by problems with the existing laws.

“I have long said that we should never split up families, and today’s proposed law allows the careful and sensible evaluation of cases where American families have been wrongly separated, but still makes sure that our immigration laws are upheld,” Pearce said.

To read the full article, please click:  Immigration compromise would unite torn-apart families

Third Republican signs on to Democrats’ immigration bill, saying it “cannot wait”

NBC Latino News

Republican Rep. David Valadao endorsed the Democrats’ House immigration bill Wednesday saying it “cannot wait.”

Valadao joins Republican Reps. Jeff Denham, also of California and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida in supporting the sweeping immigration reform legislation.

“Addressing immigration reform in the House cannot wait,” Valadao said in a statement.
Valadao, who has a district with a significant Latino constituency, said he’s been working to find common ground with Democrats on immigration reform.

Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers of America, said in a statement: “We are glad to see he’s a man of his word and has moved into action to help pass a common sense approach to fixing our broken immigration system. A revised system that is fair to agricultural workers and makes business sense will benefit our Central Valley, state and country.”

Valadao said recently he has been trying to muster like-minded Republicans to demonstrate to his party leadership’s “broad support within the party to address immigration reform in the House by the end of the year.”

The California congressman is one of 10 Republicans targeted by the Latino Victory Project, a group conceived by actress Eva Longoria and Democratic National Committee Finance Chair Hector Muñoz. The group has pledged to spend $20 million to target the Republicans in the 2014 elections.

Valadao’s spokeswoman Anna Vitter said the congressman had generally agreed with much of the Democrats’ bill but had held off endorsing because of some technical concerns which he worked out with Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla, the bill’s sponsor.

To read the full article, please click:  Third Republican signs on to Democrats’ immigration bill, saying it “cannot wait”

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Supports Democrat-Led Immigration Bill

Huffington Post

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) became the second Republican on Tuesday to sign on to a Democrat-led comprehensive immigration reform bill that would increase border security, change the legal immigration system and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

The bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.), announced on Twitter that she had signed on to H.R. 15, and Ros-Lehtinen's office confirmed the news.

To read the full article, please click:  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Supports Democrat-Led Immigration Bill

Republican congressman Jeff Denham will join Democrats in immigration overhaul push

Washington Post

A Republican congressman from a heavily Hispanic district is breaking ranks from his party to join Democrats in an eleventh-hour push for a broad immigration overhaul before the end of the year.
Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) plans to sign on as the lone GOP member with 185 Democrats to co-sponsor a plan that would give millions of unauthorized immigrants the chance to attain citizenship.

A handful of House Republicans have expressed support for citizenship legislation similar to the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate over the summer. But Denham is taking the additional — and politically provocative — step of locking arms with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other Democrats trying to neutralize opposition from House conservatives and shake up a polarized immigration debate.

“I’m the first Republican,” he said in an interview. “I expect more to come on board.”

To read the full article, please click:  Republican congressman Jeff Denham will join Democrats in immigration overhaul push

President Obama on immigration: ‘Let’s do it now’

Politico

Immigration reform may not pass, but that’s no reason to give up the fight, President Barack Obama said Thursday.

The president made his long-awaited return to the issue in a brief East Room speech urging advocates to keep the pressure on House Republicans to take action on the Senate’s immigration bill, saying that only public pressure will lead to action.

And yet Obama expressed some of the same skepticism he decried, saying that while immigration reform is “the right thing to do,” it doesn’t have a clear path to success.

“Just because something is smart and fair and good for the economy and fiscally responsible and supported by business and labor and evangelical community and many Democrats and many Republicans, that does not mean that it will actually get done,” Obama said with a laugh. “This is Washington, after all.”

To read the full article, please click:  President Obama on immigration: ‘Let’s do it now’

November Visa Bulletin Available

To see the complete U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for October 2013, please click: November 2013 Visa Bulletin

Family-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Family-Sponsored	All Charge -ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22OCT06	22OCT06	22OCT06	22SEP93	01JUL01
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	01SEP13	08SEP13
F2B	22MAR06	22MAR06	22MAR06	01APR94	01MAR03
F3	08FEB03	08FEB03	08FEB03	01JUN93	08JAN93
F4	22AUG01	22AUG01	22AUG01	22OCT96	22APR90

Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Employment- Based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	08OCT08	15JUN08	C	C
3rd	01OCT10	01OCT10	22SEP03	01OCT10	15DEC06
Other Workers	01OCT10	01OCT10	22SEP03	01OCT10	15DEC06
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs	C	C	C	C	C

Silicon Valley readies immigration push

The Hill

The tech industry is beginning a full-throttle push for immigration reform now that the government shutdown fight is over.

Silicon Valley groups and top executives like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are planning a flurry of events and media campaigns aimed at pressuring the House to vote on immigration bills before the end of the year.

“Despite the public perception of immigration reform being dead or on the back burner, we believe there’s an opportunity to make progress this calendar year,” said Peter Muller, director of government relations at Intel. 

“We think there is an opportunity — there’s a chance — for bills to move to the floor and be considered by the House in the next month or two, and that’s the final step to getting us to a final product.”

To read the full article, please click:  Silicon Valley readies immigration push

A way forward on immigration reform?

The Washington Post

Yesterday, President Obama declared he wants action on immigration reform “this year.” Today, Byron York reports that the prospects for reform are still alive, noting there is a core group of House Republicans still working on a series of proposals, though they are shrouded in great secrecy. These efforts, York reports, have the blessing of GOP leaders.

But is there really a way forward? Yes, there is.  It’s a longshot, but in an interview with me, Frank Sharry, the executive director of pro-immigration America’s Voice, explained how it would work.

The whole thing turns on this: Sharry tells me that if Eric Cantor goes through with his plan to introduce the so-called “KIDS Act,” which gives citizenship only to the one million DREAMers, immigration advocates and many Dems probably would be prepared to accept it — if Republicans are also willing to go to conference negotiations.

To read the full article,  please click:  A way forward on immigration reform?

Exclusive: Jeh Johnson Tapped to Lead Department of Homeland Security

The Daily Beast

The White House has settled on a former high-ranking Pentagon official to replace Janet Napolitano as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, two senior Obama administration officials confirm to The Daily Beast.
 

President Obama plans to announce his intention to nominate Jeh Johnson, who served as the Defense Department's general counsel during the administration's first term, at a White House ceremony tomorrow, one of the sources said.

Johnson, a well-known and trusted figure in the Obama White House, was a central player in many of the administration's most sensitive national security and counterterrorism policies, including the ramping up of the drone program, the revival of military commissions to try suspected terrorists, and the repeal of the Defense Department's ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces.

To read the full article, please click:  Exclusive: Jeh Johnson Tapped to Lead Department of Homeland Security

Obama plans to renew immigration, climate change efforts

The Washington Post

President Obama, fresh off a trouncing of congressional Republicans over the government shutdown, plans to renew his push for immigration legislation in the House while also pressing ahead with climate change policies and efforts to fix problems plaguing his signature health-care program.

But White House officials also acknowledged that many Republicans, particularly in the House, remain ardently opposed to much of Obama’s agenda and may be unwilling to help him accomplish key legislative goals.

The assessment came as Obama and his aides welcomed the fiscal deal approved by Congress on Wednesday night, which will fund the government until the middle of January, lift the borrowing limit through Feb. 7 and establish negotiations over a long-term budget agreement.

The deal — which White House aides said Obama would have happily signed before the shutdown that began Oct. 1 — meets the president’s demand that his health-care law not be significantly modified in return for a functioning government.

To read the full article, please click:  Obama plans to renew immigration, climate change efforts

Obama plans immigration push after fiscal crisis ends

Reuters

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that stalled immigration reform would be a top priority once the fiscal crisis has been resolved.

"Once that's done, you know, the day after, I'm going to be pushing to say, call a vote on immigration reform," he told the Los Angeles affiliate of Spanish-language television network Univision.
The president's domestic agenda has been sidetracked in his second term by one problem after another. As he coped with the revelation of domestic surveillance programs, chemical weapons in Syria, and a fiscal battle that has shut down the U.S. government and threatens a debt default, immigration has been relegated to the back burner.

But Obama, who won re-election with overwhelming Hispanic backing, had hoped to make reforms easing the plight of the 11 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
In June, the Senate passed an immigration overhaul, but House of Representatives Republicans are divided over the granting of legal status to those in the country illegally, a step many see as rewarding lawbreakers.

Although the president had sought comprehensive reform, he said last month he would be open to the House taking a piece-by-piece approach if that would get the job done.

Obama on Tuesday blamed House Speaker John Boehner for preventing immigration from coming up for a vote.

"We had a very strong Democratic and Republican vote in the Senate," he said. "The only thing right now that's holding it back is, again, Speaker Boehner not willing to call the bill on the floor of the House of Representatives."

Boehner said the sweeping Senate bill would not pass the House and has said the lower chamber would tackle the issue in smaller sections that would include stricter provisions on border protection.

To read the original article, please click:  Obama plans immigration push after fiscal crisis ends

Officials Still Targeting Non-Violent Immigrants, Despite New Obama Guidelines

Fox News Latino

Obama administration guidelines issued in December calling for immigration detainers to be reserved for the most dangerous foreign nationals are going largely ignored, according to a new analysis of federal data.

Fewer than 10 percent of detainers actually targeted people who are considered a threat to public safety and national security, contrary to the stated objective of the new guidelines, said a report by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC.

Slightly more than a third, or 38 percent, of people who had detainers requested for them had a record of a criminal conviction, including minor traffic violations, the report said.

“If traffic violations (including DWI) and marijuana possession violations are excluded, then only one-quarter (26 percent) of the individuals against whom detainers were issued had any conviction,” said the report.

“In fact, comparing agency data from both before and after the new [federal immigration] guidelines were issued reveals that fewer — not more — individuals on whom detainers were placed have had any record of criminal activity, let alone serious criminal conduct.”

A detainer is the term used for requests that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency sends to local police asking them to hold immigrants who are arrested so that ICE can take them into custody. Many police agencies, however, have said they will no longer honor ICE requests to hold immigrants who are not violent offenders.

To read the full article, please click:  Officials Still Targeting Non-Violent Immigrants, Despite New Obama Guidelines

Luis Gutierrez: Shutdown or not, there's time for immigration reform

Chicago Sun Times

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) — long the face of immigration reform — told the Chicago Sun-Times he still believes a bill can make its way out of the U.S. House this session, despite the ongoing stalemate from the government shutdown.

“I think it’s important to put pressure on Congress. I think we are in a very dark, bitter contentious moment in which you are not able to discuss this or any issue,” Gutierrez told the Sun-Times today. However: “I still think we have an opportunity later this year.”

Gutierrez, who is in New York City promoting his new book: “Still Dreaming; My Journey from the barrio to Capitol Hill,” said he’s still optimistic that immigration reform will happen, arguing he believes the numbers are there. He put the timetable more toward Thanksgiving.

“No longer is it the group of eight or the group of seven,” Gutierrez said, referring to the “Gang of Eight,” U.S. lawmakers who worked together to hash out an immigration reform, bipartisan compromise in the U.S. Senate. Gutierrez said he’s hopeful pointing to the consensus reached in the U.S. Senate. “Clearly a majority exists” who are in favor of reform, he said. He pointed to a recent report that said more than 80 House Republicans support legalization — not full citizenship — for the undocumented.

To read the full article, please click:  Luis Gutierrez: Shutdown or not, there's time for immigration reform

House's 'SAFE' Act Threatens Support for Immigration Reform

Huffington Post

For decades, we have pushed Congress to create a road to citizenship for the 11 million aspiring Americans living and laboring in our country. True immigration reform, however, cannot be achieved if creating this road comes at the cost of giving up or undermining our most cherished civil rights.
Reform in exchange for rights is exactly the sort of bargaining some members of the House of Representatives hope to engage in during the present debate over immigration. Today, the National Immigration Law Center joined over 100 other immigration reform advocates in rejecting this kind of political horse-trading.

Such an agreement might include the SAFE Act, a dangerous piece of legislation proposed in the House of Representatives that could spread racial profiling laws like Alabama's and Arizona's across the country.

It doesn't need to be this way. The House already has on its table immigration proposals that include creating a long road to citizenship for the 11 million, a faster path to citizenship for DREAMers, and provisions that would allow these aspiring Americans to fully integrate into the nation's social and economic fabric, with most of the rights and responsibilities that come with full integration.

To read the full article, please click:  House's 'SAFE' Act Threatens Support for Immigration Reform

House Democrats have released their own immigration bill. Here’s what it does.

The Washington Post

The federal government has shut down and Congress can't even agree on basic measures to fund the government. But House Democrats are trying to urge everyone not to forget about immigration reform.

You remember immigration reform, right? That big, contentious debate that was consuming all of official Washington just a few short months ago?

On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and several other Democrats unveiled their own bill to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. The legislation is very similar to the bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Senate back in June — with one big exception: The House Democrats' bill would not include billions of dollars requiring 700 miles of new border fence, the way the Senate bill did. Instead, the House bill would set specific goals for border enforcement.

The House Democrats' bill has little chance of passing as is. Elise Foley of the Huffington Post reports that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has already ruled out putting it on the calendar. (Another bipartisan group in the House is struggling to come up with its own bill.)

To read the full article, please visit:  House Democrats have released their own immigration bill. Here’s what it does.

Immigration courts remain partly open but political asylum cases delayed

Washington Post

For tens of thousands of immigrants across the United States with pending immigration cases or legal procedures, the federal government shutdown will put some urgent matters on hold and allow others of less importance to move ahead.

Petitions for political asylum and non-emergency deportation cases are among the matters that could be delayed for months if the shutdown lasts more than a few days, according to immigration lawyers and advocates.

Meanwhile, some services for U.S. citizens and legal residents, which are financed by customer fees, will continue to be provided. Court hearings or other procedures for any immigrant who is in federal custody will also continue on schedule, and the Board of Immigration Appeals will hear requests for emergency relief from deportation as well as appeals for detained immigrants, according to the Justice Department.

To read the full article, please click:  Immigration courts remain partly open but political asylum cases delayed

Status of Immigration Agencies during the Government Shut Down

CIS Ombudsman: The CIS Ombudsman's Office will be closed and will not be accepting any inquiries through their online case intake system.

Department of Labor (DOL):  OFLC will neither accept nor process any applications or related materials (such as audit responses), it receives, including Labor Condition Applications, Applications for Prevailing Wage Determination, Applications for Temporary Employment Certification, or Applications for Permanent Employment Certification. OFLC's web site, including the iCERT Visa Portal System and the PERM system, would become static and unable to process any requests or allow authorized users to access their online accounts.

DOL's Office of Administrative Law Judges will be unable to perform any case-related activities, including conducting hearings. Hearings that have been previously scheduled will therefore be cancelled prior to the date of the hearing, and they will not be rescheduled for hearing until an appropriations bill or continuing resolution takes effect.

Customs and Border Patrol (CBP):
1.  All Ports of Entry are open. There is even no change in using overtime to handle flight arrivals and CBP continues to accept requests from airlines for new service. The Border Patrol and the Office of Air and Marine are also continuing with operations.
2.  The Admissibility Review Office (ARO) is open and continues to function.
3.  All global entry enrollment centers are open and interviews are continuing and all Trusted Traveler programs continue to function as usual.
4.  The CBP website will not be maintained during the lapse in appropriations.
5.  Approximately 6,000 CBP positions, primarily held by technicians and support staff, are impacted by the lapse in appropriations.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS): Due to the lapse in federal, DHS’s website will not be actively managed.

Department of State (DOS): The Department will continue as many normal operations as possible; operating status and available funding will be monitored continuously and closely for a lapse in appropriations.

Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR):   Court functions that support the detained caseload will continue, but other functions are suspended. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is processing emergency stay requests as well as cases where the alien is detained, including case appeals, motions, federal court remands, and bonds.

EOIR’s operations are limited during the lapse in government funding, so staff at the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals will not be available for photo identification verification to complete the eRegistration process. Upon its return to normal operations, EOIR will again be able to process eRegistration applications.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):  ICE detention and enforcement operations shall continue.

ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP):  SEVP’s offices will remain open. This continuation of operations is possible because SEVP is a fee-funded program and does not receive any government-appropriated funds. During this time, designated school officials and F and M students must continue to meet all regulatory requirements.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): All USCIS offices worldwide are open and individuals should report to interviews and appointments as scheduled. E-Verify is currently unavailable due to a government shutdown.

Government Shut Down - How it is Affecting Immigration Court

Immigration courts nationwide are continuing to adjudicate detained cases. Court functions that support the detained caseload will continue, but other functions are suspended. For specific information about a particular court, please visit http://www.justice.gov/eoir/ICstatus.htm

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is processing emergency stay requests as well as cases where the alien is detained, including case appeals, motions, federal court remands, and bonds. The stay line is open (for emergency stay calls only), but all other telephone lines have been switched to closed status. The BIA Clerk’s Office staff is accepting all filings and will be open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

During the government shutdown, the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer will maintain its ability to issue subpoenas and accept for filing any complaints that must be filed to comply with statutory deadlines.

Key House Democrat: Immigration Plan Won't Progress Without GOP Support

Huffington Post

House Democrats insisted on Friday that their plan to introduce a version of the Senate-passed comprehensive immigration bill was an important step forward for the reform movement -- even though they admitted it was unlikely to bring on many Republican members, at least initially.

But one key member, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), cautioned that introducing legislation isn't as important as convincing the GOP leadership to allow a vote on it.

"I think it's meant to rally Democrats, which is fine, but whether or not it's introduced, I don't think is going to be a material factor in terms of immigration reform moving forward," the ranking member of the House immigration subcommittee said, referring to the Democrats' plan.

House Democrats may release a bill that would combine the bipartisan legislation passed by the Senate in June with a separate border proposal approved by the House Homeland Security Committee. The idea is to propose something with support from both parties in the House, but so far, it's not clear whether any GOP members will sign on to the Democrats' proposal.

The new strategy is being spearheaded by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, with assistance from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), one of the top proponents of the reform and a Hispanic Caucus member, said Friday that it is meant to be a rallying point for Democrats.

To read the full article, please click:  Key House Democrat: Immigration Plan Won't Progress Without GOP Support

Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Quota reached for 2013

American Immigration Lawyers Association

The State Department has confirmed to AILA Liaison that employment annual limits have been reached, as is often the case at the end of a fiscal year. USCIS will continue to process pending adjustment cases, and is able to submit visa number requests for all cases which are being finalized. The State Department will place requests in a “Pending Demand” file. Eligible cases which have been submitted to the State Department that are within the October cut-off dates will be automatically authorized effective October 1, 2013.  No. 13092553

House Democrats Crafting Immigration Proposal

The New York Times

House Democratic leaders are working on a broad immigration proposal that they hope will reinvigorate the debate on Capitol Hill and pressure their Republican counterparts to pass legislation that includes a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country.

With an immigration overhaul languishing in the Republican-controlled House, taking a back seat to the fiscal fights that promise to occupy most of the fall, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, began working with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as well as with Representative Xavier Becerra of California, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, to put forth an alternative bill that she said she believes could garner bipartisan support.

Though no final decisions have been made, aides familiar with the strategy said, Democratic leadership hopes to introduce the bill in the next few weeks. Ms. Pelosi met repeatedly — in person and over the phone — with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus over the past two weeks, working closely with Representative Ruben Hinojosa of Texas, the group’s chairman.

To read the full article, please click:  House Democrats Crafting Immigration Proposal

House Republican leader lays out citizenship possibility for immigrants

NBC Latino

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday said immigrant children brought to the country illegally by their parents should be given an earned path to citizenship, and he endorsed the possibility of providing legal status to adult immigrants in the country illegally by using three avenues already in existing law.

Speaking at a GOP Conference Hispanic Heritage month event, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.,  said children of immigrants not legally in the U.S. could find their way to citizenship by serving in the military, through education and working in specific fields.

“For children brought here illegally by parents, I wouldn’t give them a special pathway to citizenship, I would give them an earned pathway to citizenship,” Goodlatte said.

Everyone else could use routes that already exist in law: sponsorship by a family member, including a U.S. citizen spouse, or sponsorship by an employer.

Using those methods won’t result in all of the 11 million people in the country illegally getting citizenship, but “will be a major solution to the problem if you were able to be legally present in the United States, able to work anywhere you wanted, able to own your own business, able to pay your taxes, travel to your home country and back or any other country you wanted to travel to,” said Goodlatte.

To read the full article, please click:  House Republican leader lays out citizenship possibility for immigrants

Billionaire Geek Meets Washington Chic on Immigration

Bloomberg

Facebook Inc. (FB) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg arrived on Capitol Hill in a business suit to meet a U.S. senator. For his next engagement, he emerged from a car in his familiar hooded sweatshirt and Nike sneakers to speak to a roomful of women and men in suits.

“People assume that we’re trying to be cool,” Zuckerberg, 29, told his Washington audience yesterday. “That’s never been my goal. I’m like the least cool person there is.”

Cool or not, a billionaire with 1 billion customers commands undivided attention where money and influence conjoin. That much was clear yesterday when Zuckerberg arrived for two days of private meetings with Republican and Democratic leaders otherwise occupied with a budget showdown threatening to shut down the U.S. government.

“He was very kind and thoughtful,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters after meeting today with Zuckerberg, who had donned a suit again. “He took pictures with all my staff.”

To read the full article, please click:  Billionaire Geek Meets Washington Chic on Immigration

GOP rep expects October immigration reform vote

MSNBC

Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte, chair of the House Judiciary Committee overseeing immigration, said he expected Congress to pursue reform legislation despite a tight schedule featuring debates over Syria, health care, and the debt limit.

Those and other issues “should not deter us from getting to [immigration] as soon as possible,” Goodlatte said in an appearance on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show on Tuesday.

Goodlatte said he expected votes soon, perhaps in October, on a series of smaller House bills on border security, internal enforcement,  guest workers, and high-tech visas.

“Those bills are ready to go to the floor of the House and it’s my hope they come to the floor of the House as soon as possible,” he said.

To read the full article, please click:  GOP rep expects October immigration reform vote

Department of State 2015 Diversity Visa Opening October 1, 2013

Online registration for the DV 2015 Program will begin on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and conclude on Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4).

Click on Diversity Visa Program Instructions webpage for the DV 2015 Instructions and any available translations.

Obama, on Telemundo, rules out freezing deportations of most illegal immigrants

The Washington Post

President Obama on Tuesday ruled out using his executive authority to freeze deportations for most of the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, saying such a move would violate federal law.

With a comprehensive immigration overhaul stalled on Capitol Hill, advocates have called on the president to move forward without congressional approval to halt the deportations, estimated at more than 1,000 per day.

But Obama said such a move is “not an option.” During an interview at the White House with Telemundo, the Spanish-language television network, Obama defended his decision last summer to defer the deportations of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the country illegally by their parents as children. The legal rationale in that case, he said, was to allow federal agencies to devote more time and resources to high-priority immigration cases such as those involving people with multiple criminal convictions.

To read the full article, please click:  Obama, on Telemundo, rules out freezing deportations of most illegal immigrants

Obama: Senate immigration bill would pass House if it got a vote

The Washington Times - President Obama said Sunday the immigration reform bill that passed in the Senate would get through the Republican-controlled House if leadership put it up for a vote.
“It would pass, it would pass,” Mr. Obama told ABC's “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”

House Republicans are walking a fine line in discussing immigration reform, a debate that’s stalled as the party tries to reconcile its concerns about a path to residency status or citizenship for people who came to the United States illegally with its lagging support at the polls among Hispanics — a key and increasing voting bloc.

Mr. Obama said the legislation that passed the Democrat-controlled Senate — providing a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented residents while tightening up border security — “wasn’t perfect, wasn’t my bill, but got the job done.”

To read the full article, please click:  Obama: Senate immigration bill would pass House if it got a vote

House Immigration Reform Measure Pushed By Group Of Republicans

Huffington Post - In the five weeks since he declared his support for a comprehensive immigration overhaul, U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster has gotten an earful.

One constituent told the second-term Republican that immigrants carry disease. Another said immigrants would steal jobs away from Americans.

"You cannot stop illegal immigration by rewarding it," another man said at a recent town hall-style meeting in Groveland, a rural community west of Orlando. "Amnesty is a reward."

As Congress returns to work this week after its summer break, Webster faces perhaps an even tougher crowd: fellow Republicans.

Webster is among about two dozen GOP lawmakers who support an eventual path to citizenship for millions of people who are living in the U.S. illegally. These Republicans are facing the daunting challenge of trying to persuade colleagues to follow them.

Most Republicans oppose this approach on citizenship, and there is little political incentive for them to change their minds. Only 24 of 233 Republicans represent districts where more than one-quarter of their constituents are Hispanic.

To read the full article, please click:  House Immigration Reform Measure Pushed By Group Of Republicans

October Visa Bulletin Available

To see the complete U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for October 2013, please click:  October 2013 Visa Bulletin

Family-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Family-Sponsored	All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	01OCT06	01OCT06	01OCT06	22SEP93	01JUN01
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	01SEP13	08SEP13
F2B	01MAR06	01MAR06	01MAR06	08MAR94	08FEB03
F3	22JAN03	22JAN03	22JAN03	22MAY93	01JAN93
F4	08AUG01	08AUG01	08AUG01	15OCT96	22MAR90

Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Priority Dates:

Employment- Based	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	15SEP08	15JUN08	C	C
3rd	01JUL10	01JUL10	22SEP03	01JUL10	15DEC06
Other Workers	01JUL10	22SEP04	22SEP03	01JUL10	15DEC06
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers and Pilot Programs	C	C	C	C	C

Congress May Go After Con Artists Who Offer Help In Immigration Cases

Fox News Latino - They spin visions of a new life in the United States, and give assurances that they can deliver the keys to the door that leads to the American Dream.

But too often, the immigrants who turn to these crooked lawyers or con artists who overstate their ability to do immigration work end up with nothing but more problems, and the scammers end up with their money.

Now, Congress is considering expanding protections for immigrants who might fall victim to these scammers.

Bills in both chambers are meant to address a potential spike in legal fraud against immigrants if Congress approves pathways to citizenship under comprehensive immigration reform. Lawmakers fear more immigrants could be approached by unqualified individuals who overcharge and sometimes offer no services.

To read the full article, please click:  Congress May Go After Con Artists Who Offer Help In Immigration Cases

Cap Reached for 2013 U Visas

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved the statutory maximum 10,000 petitions for U nonimmigrant status (U visas) for fiscal year 2013. This marks the fourth straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U visas in 2008.

Each year, 10,000 U visas are available for victims of crime who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to help law enforcement authorities investigate or prosecute those crimes. A U-visa petition requires certification of assistance from law enforcement.

The U-visa program was created by Congress to strengthen the law enforcement community’s ability to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crimes while also offering protection to victims. More than 76,000 victims and their family members have received U visas since the program was implemented.

USCIS will continue to accept U-visa petitions and process them in the order in which they are received. USCIS will resume issuing U visas on October 1, 2013, the first day of fiscal year 2014 and is when visas will be available again.

To read the USCIS release, please click:  USCIS Approves 10,000 U Visas for Fourth Straight Fiscal Year

White House Official Says Immigration Reform Vote Not Likely Until October

Fox News Latino - The Obama administration’s domestic policy director urged supporters of comprehensive immigration reform on Wednesday to do as the civil rights leaders of the 1960s did – not let opponents defeat them.

Cecilia Muñoz, one of the most senior Latino officials in the White House, linked the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech with today’s fight for immigration reform in an interview with Fox News Latino.

“Today is about celebrating how far we’ve come and recommitting to the work that is ahead,” Muñoz said, adding that just as the civil rights movement of the 1960s addressed jobs, so does immigration reform.

“Immigration reform is just one piece of the agenda,” she said, “we can now quantify what it means for creating jobs, not just for immigrants, but for the rest of us.”

To read the full article, please click:  White House Official Says Immigration Reform Vote Not Likely Until October