Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Immigration bill 2013: Immigration vote may wait until October, Paul Ryan says

Politico - If you’re expecting floor action on immigration in the House, you may have to wait until October.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told attendees at a town hall in Racine, Wis., that his chamber could start voting on immigration bills that month – pushing the timeline for action in the House even further back.

“Tentatively, in October, we’re going to vote on a border security bill, an interior enforcement bill, a bill for legal immigration,” Ryan said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

The Republican-led House will also move on legislation for “people who are undocumented,” Ryan said.

To read the full article, please click:  Immigration bill 2013: Immigration vote may wait until October, Paul Ryan says

House Republicans favor helping children of illegal immigrants

Reuters - Republicans in the House of Representatives started to coalesce on Tuesday around the idea of legalizing the children who were brought to the country by their parents, marking their first step toward dealing with the millions of undocumented foreigners living in the United States.

Under pressure from members of their own party, religious groups and Hispanics, House Republicans are bucking their traditional position of opposing citizenship for illegal immigrants, saying those children should be given a reprieve.

"They surely don't share the culpability of their parents," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said at a hearing to examine the issue.

To read the full article, please click:  House Republicans favor helping children of illegal immigrants

Boehner Optimistic About Immigration Bill

NY Times - As the immigration debate dragged on during this particularly hot week in July, Speaker John A. Boehner offered perhaps his most optimistic assessment yet when asked how member education efforts were going in the House for an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws.

“I think it’s going pretty well,” Mr. Boehner told reporters on Thursday. “We had a great conversation last week. The more this issue is around, the more action there is in committee, the more information there is for the members to put their hands on. And, frankly, the American people are engaged in this issue as well.”

He added: “You know, it’s not just organizations that are up here lobbying for immigration reform. You got a lot of individuals, a lot of constituents, who have opinions on this, and all this serves to help educate our members.”

To read the full story, please click:  Boehner Optimistic About Immigration Bill

Monday, July 29, 2013

House panel plans hearing on children of immigrants

The Washington Post - Should the U.S. government grant citizenship or at least permanent legal status to the children of undocumented immigrants? The House Judiciary Committee plans to take up the issue at a hearing next week that could prove critical in how the House addresses immigration reform in the coming weeks.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) announced the hearing Wednesday, saying that it’s part of his plans to write a bill with House Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor (R-Va.) and others regarding how to deal with the children of immigrants.

“These children came here through no fault of their own and many of them know no other home than the United States,” Goodlatte said, adding that “This is one component of immigration reform — any successful reform plan must improve our legal immigration programs, strengthen border security and the interior enforcement of our immigration laws, and find a way to fairly deal with those who are currently in the country unlawfully.”

To read the full story, please click:  House panel plans hearing on children of immigrants

Obama Says Immigration Must Be Considered as Package

WSJ - President Barack Obama on Tuesday said overhauling the immigration system should be considered as a complete package in Congress, which is at odds with how House Republicans want to approach immigration legislation, and said it didn’t make sense to try to change the system without giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

“The danger of doing it in pieces is that a lot of groups want different things,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with affiliates of the Spanish-language news station Telemundo. He likened breaking up immigration system in pieces to trying to get his children to eat food they don’t like, saying “If you’ve eaten your dessert before you’ve eaten your meal, at least with my children, sometimes they don’t end up eating their vegetables.”

The president’s interview with affiliates of Telemundo, and other interviews he granted Tuesday to affiliates of rival Univision, are part of the White House’s approach to get the president to play a more visible role in the immigration debate. The interviews contrast with his more recent behind-the-scenes approach to the immigration debate, and could prove risky if he uses rhetoric that inflames Republicans wary of granting citizenship to illegal immigrants. White House officials have said the president may consider traveling to states with a strong Latino presence to help push the debate forward.

To read the full story, please click:  Obama Says Immigration Must Be Considered as Package

Janet Napolitano to Depart DHS Secretary Position

LA Times - Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, is being named as the next president of the University of California system, in an unusual choice that brings a national-level politician to a position usually held by an academic, The Times has learned. Her appointment also means the 10-campus system will be headed by a woman for the first time in its 145-year history.

Napolitano’s nomination by a committee of UC regents came after a secretive process that insiders said focused on her early as a high-profile, although untraditional, candidate who has led large public agencies and shown a strong interest in improving education.

To read the full story, please click:  Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security chief, to head UC

Thursday, July 11, 2013

August Visa Bulletin is Available

To see the complete U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for August 2013, please click:  August 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 01SEP06 01SEP06 01SEP06 01SEP93 01JAN01
F2A C C C C C
F2B 01DEC05 01DEC05 01DEC05 01FEB94 22DEC02
F3 08DEC02 08DEC02 08DEC02 01MAY93 01DEC92
F4 22JUN01 22JUN01 22JUN01 22SEP96 08JAN90

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 08AUG08 01JAN08 C C
3rd 01JAN09 01JAN09 22JAN03 01JAN09 22OCT06
Other Workers 01JAN09 22MAR04 22JAN03 01JAN09 22OCT06
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

Republicans in House Resist Overhaul for Immigration

New York Times - Meeting for the first time as a group to hash out their approach to immigration, House Republicans on Wednesday came down overwhelmingly against a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, putting in jeopardy the future of sweeping legislation that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Despite the resistance, Speaker John A. Boehner warned about the steep price of inaction, telling House Republicans that they would be in a weaker political position against a bipartisan Senate coalition and President Obama if they did nothing to answer the immigration measure passed by the Senate last month.

For the complete article, please click:  Republicans in House Resist Overhaul for Immigration

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Gay Couple in Florida is First to Obtain Immigration Benefits

Washington Post - A Bulgarian graduate student and his American husband are the first gay couple in the nation to have their application for immigration benefits approved after the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriages, their lawyer said.

The approval means Traian Popov, here on a student visa, will be able to apply for a green card, and eventually U.S. citizenship. But he won’t be able to work or visit his family back home for at least another three to six months while his application benefits are being be processed. And his marriage to Julian Marsh, performed in New York, still won’t be recognized in Florida where they live.

“It’s unbelievable how that impacts you,” Marsh told The Associated Press on Sunday. “They make you feel more and more like a second-class citizen and they don’t want you. And that’s how I feel about Florida.”

Full article available by clicking:  Gay couple in Fla. is 1st to win petition for immigration benefits, path to green card

Monday, July 1, 2013

Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, Applauds Supreme Court Ruling on DOMA

“I applaud today’s Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor holding that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. This discriminatory law denied thousands of legally married same-sex couples many important federal benefits, including immigration benefits.  I am pleased the Court agreed with the Administration’s position that DOMA’s restrictions violate the Constitution. Working with our federal partners, including the Department of Justice, we will implement today's decision so that all married couples will be treated equally and fairly in the administration of our immigration laws."

Original Press Release available by clicking:  Statement by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on the Supreme Court Ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act