Immigration Law

IS CIS REALLY NON-PARTISAN?

Posted on May 14, 2008
On the web site of the anti-immigration Center for Immigration Studies, the organization's mission is listed prominently: The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization founded in 1985. It is the nation's only think tank devoted exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States...

WELCOME TO AMERICA

Posted on May 14, 2008
This article has been linked in the comments, but it really merits raising the profile of the often horrible way tourists are treated by our immigration officials. Heavy handed, overzealous, rude CBP officials have done serious damage to the American economy and have also seriously damaged the image of our country abroad...

THE TEN FOR TEN PLAN

Posted on May 14, 2008
Alan Nash, a Houston lawyer, has developed a very interesting and innovative white paper laying out a plan for immigration reform. While I am not in full agreement with some of the plan, it does add ideas to the discussion. According to Nash, The heart of the ?10 for 10? plan is this: Any non-citizen in the U...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: DUFFY - SINGER

Posted on May 14, 2008
I love this young British singer who is now taking America by storm. Duffy (her actual name is Aimee Anne Duffy) has a really snappy hit song in Mercy and it is now at the top of my IPod playlist. Click on the link below and enjoy.

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IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: ANDREA BACCARELLI - SCIENTIST

Posted on May 13, 2008
Italian-born Harvard scientist Andrea Baccarelli made headlines today for heading up a team that has linked air pollution to a higher risk of blood clots. Here's how CBS News describes the discovery: Air pollution increases the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) -- dangerous blood clots in the veins -- even at pollution levels the EPA deems "acceptable...

H-1B ADVOCATES PESSIMISTIC ABOUT NEAR TERM CHANGES

Posted on May 13, 2008
Several good immigration bills continue to be held up by an inability to agree on the question of incremental versus comprehensive improvements to the immigration system, according to a panel that spoke to the Heritage Foundation yesterday. On the H-1B question, Republican Immigration Subcommittee Counsel George Fishman, someone who I usually disagree with on most immigration issues, had some interesting points to make on the subject: Although Smith's brief "emergency" H-1B bill doesn't propose new checks on the system, Fishman said his boss is aware of concerns about their abuse and wants to strike a balance...

CLOCK TICKING ON E-VERIFY

Posted on May 12, 2008
Congress is going to have to decide on whether it wants to extend the E-Verify system. The authorization for the electronic employment verification system expires in November.

ICE RAIDS NATION'S LARGEST KOSHER MEATPACKING PLANT

Posted on May 12, 2008
Wow. Up to 700 workers were arrested at Agriprocessors in Iowa, the nation's largest Kosher meat processing facility and one of the largest Kosher meat processing plants in the world. Whether DHS realizes it or not, this will have an immediate and substantial impact on the country's Jewish community...

ANOTHER MAJOR STORY ON DETENTION DEATHS

Posted on May 11, 2008
Hopefully the media attention will translate in to action by ICE to clean up its act.

THE WALL AND AMERICAN WILDLIFE

Posted on May 11, 2008
CNN reports on how jaguars and other endangered animals are facing new threats as a result of the construction of a border wall. [This is a link to a video download of Rusty Dornan's story].

ICE TARGETS MAUI RESTAURANTS

Posted on May 09, 2008
I don't know that this is particularly unusual - raids happen every day across the US - but I did think it interesting that even Hawaii relies on the labor of illegally present immigrants. If there aren't enough Americans to work in Hawaii - Hawaii! - what more evidence do you need that we need immigration reform?

MCCAIN: ANTIS IN GOP HURTING PARTY'S IMAGE

Posted on May 09, 2008
And the tightrope walk continues. Is McCain pro-immigration this week or the enforcer?

IMMIGRATION HUMOR: THE GUY FROM BOSTON

Posted on May 09, 2008
I'm not sure if this is supposed to be humorous or not. But this rant is so over the top, I had to laugh. WARNING: If profanity offends you, don't click on the link. Watch here.

WILL GROWING HISPANIC POPULATION IMPACT ELECTIONS?

Posted on May 09, 2008
New Census data is showing rapid growth in Hispanic populations in a number of key states.

NEW USCIS OMBUDSMAN NAMED

Posted on May 09, 2008
Michael Dougherty will fill the position recently vacated by Prakash Khatri, the long-serving previous ombudsman. Dougherty's bio can be found here.

A LITTLE AT A TIME V. THE WHOLE ENCHILADA

Posted on May 09, 2008
One of the debates that has raged in the pro-immigration community over the last few years has been whether immigration should be fixed in a comprehensive way and attempt to pass one bill that fixes as many problems as possible or to try and make incremental changes...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: JOHN ROBERTS - NEWS ANCHOR

Posted on May 09, 2008
John Roberts is a familiar figure to most news junkies around the country. The Canadian-born broadcast journalist worked at CBS News from 1992 to early 2006 and frequently anchored the network's news broadcasts. He now anchors the daily American Morning program and is a frequent substitute on AC 360, Anderson Cooper's nightly news show...

IMMIGRATION HUMOR

Posted on May 08, 2008
Click the link for this immigration-themed political cartoon (hat tip to Dan Kowalski at Bender's).

RICHARDSON SAYS BORDER IS MORE SECURE

Posted on May 08, 2008
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has said he has seen significant improvement in security along the US-Mexico border. The Governor's statement is important because a key reason immigration reform was blocked last year is because many felt that enforcement should be addressed before any kind or legalization program was introduced...

A NEW AND IMPROVED E-VERIFY?

Posted on May 06, 2008
DHS has announced that it is making a three part enhancement to E-Verify that would decrease the mismatch rate for naturalized citizens. I've been blogging about this problem regularly since about 10% of naturalized US citizens show up in the system as being illegally present in the US...

NEW CHILD STATUS PROTECTION ACT RELEASED

Posted on May 06, 2008
My friend Dan Kowalski at Bender's forwarded me the attached changes to the CSPA. We're looking over the changes and will try and post what they mean shortly. Download CSPA_30Apr08.pdf

TIMES EDITORIAL FOLLOWS UP ON DETENTION DEATHS STORY

Posted on May 06, 2008
The Times is giving better coverage to problems in the immigration system than most newspapers in the country. And the editorial folks are to be congratulated for regularly letting our leaders know that thoughtful people are paying attention. Here's a key quote from today's editorial commenting on Nina Bernstein's piece: Congress has failed repeatedly to enact meaningful immigration reform, and the prospects in the next year or so are slim...

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARS TESTIMONY ON E-VERIFY

Posted on May 06, 2008
The Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee heard from a variety of witnesses today on the the impact of E-Verify. The testimony is now online.

MY BADGE OF HONOR

Posted on May 06, 2008
Some of you may remember in March my comments on the ridiculous claim that Lou Dobbs now makes that he only opposes illegal immigration and is a champion for those who want to come to the US legally. As one who has watched Dobbs' show regularly for years, I knew this was a bunch of malarkey...

TIMES DISCUSSES ISSUE OF DETAINEE DEATHS

Posted on May 05, 2008
Regular readers of this blog know that I've tried to call attention to the spate of deaths of immigrants in detention facilities around the US. I was very, very pleased to see prominent New York Times reporter Nina Bernstein cover this serious issue and that the Times gave her story a prominent above the fold spot on yesterday's front page...

BIPARTISAN NURSING IMMIGRATION RELIEF BILL INTRODUCED

Posted on May 04, 2008
Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) have introduced H.R. 5924, the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act. This bill has long been overdue. The US has a dire nursing shortage that is a serious threat to the nation's health care...

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: AJAY ROYYURO - GENOGRAPHER

Posted on May 04, 2008
Ajay Royyuro has a boring title - Senior Manager of IBM's Computational Biology Center. But the Indian-born scientist's job is very cool. Here's an interesting passage from his bio at IBM that I found especially interesting: Ajay will be the lead scientist for IBM on The Genographic Project, working closely with Dr...

USCIS SETTLES LAWSUIT: WILL EXPEDITE CITIZENSHIP APPLICATIONS FOR IMPOVERISHED REFUGEES

Posted on May 04, 2008
In 1996, a number of provisions were included in Welfare reform legislation that had an impact on immigrants and refugees. One of those provisions barred elderly refugees from receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits if the refugee does not become a US citizen within seven years...

IMMIGRATION HUMOR (OF THE UNINTENDED VARIETY)

Posted on May 04, 2008
Making the antis proud... (click the photo if you're having trouble reading the sign).

MARCHERS RALLY FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM

Posted on May 02, 2008
The numbers were smaller than in years past, but anti-immigration groups also seem to have lost some of their steam. The public's ranking of immigration as their most important issue has dropped rapidly as other issues like the war and the economy occupy the public's attention...

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