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Immigration Law Answers Blog 

News, Information, Opinions, and Online Resources for People with Immigration Questions.
Post Frequency: 2.9/day Last Entry: March 07, 2011 at 17:08:57 Recent Entries: 464
By Robert Kraft
Go to Immigration Law Answers Blog, find other Immigration Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
July 2008 Visa Bulletin Released
Posted on June 10, 2008The U.S. Department of State has released the July 2008 Visa Bulletin. Just click the link to view the bulletin.
President Bush Orders Contractors To Verify Immigration Status Of Employees
Posted on June 09, 2008The Associated Press is reporting that President Bush has signed an executive order requiring contractors and others who do business with the federal government to verify that their employees are working in the United States legallyThe order says federal departments and agencies must require contractors to use an electronic system to verify that the workers are eligible to work in the U...
The Great Immigration Panic - New York Times Editorial
Posted on June 04, 2008The New York Times this week ran a wonderfully direct and provocative editorial about the shameful way our country treats immigrants, and about the cowardice of today's politicians. I encourage you to read the entire editorial. Here are some brief excerpts: Someday, the country will recognize the true cost of its war on illegal immigration...
Immigration Raid Spurs Calls For Action Against Employers
Posted on June 01, 2008The Houston Chronicle ran a thought-provoking article today titled Immigration raid spurs calls for action against employers. The point of the article is that if the government was serious about workplace enforcement, they would arrest officers and management, not just workers...
Federal Judge Strikes Down Farmer's Branch Rental Ban
Posted on May 28, 2008The Associated Press is reporting this afternoon that U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay has declared the Farmer's Branch rental ban (aimed at illegal immigrants) is unconstitutional. Here are excerpts: In his decision Wednesday, the judge concluded Farmers Branch didn't defer to the federal government in immigration matters...
Corruption Hits The Ranks Of The U.S. Border Patrol
Posted on May 27, 2008A disappointing and disturbing article has been published by the New York Times concerning corruption within the Border Patrol. Fortunately, the vast majority of those serving our country in the Border Patrol are honest, hard-working people. But as the Patrol expands rapidly, there seems to be an alarming increase in the number of "bad apples" in the agency...
Wall Street Journal Slams E-Verify Program
Posted on May 25, 2008The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial a few days ago that I'm just getting around to reading. The subject is employment-related illegal immigration, and specifically the government's E-Verify program. The Journal takes the very sensible position that the whole system is pretty much stupid...
Texas Group Sues To Stop Construction Of Border Fence
Posted on May 19, 2008As reported in the Dallas Morning News, a group of Texas cities and business groups has sued the Department of Homeland Security to stop the construction of a fence along the border with Mexico. Here are excerpts: The Texas Border Coalition, which includes the mayors of Eagle Pass, Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo and Hidalgo, filed the suit in federal court in Washington on Friday, asking a judge to block construction of 70 miles of border fences and walls in the Rio Grande Valley...
June Visa Bulletin
Posted on May 18, 2008The June Visa Bulletin has been released by the State Department. Here are the details: Visa BulletinNumber 119Volume VIIIWashington, D.C.VISA BULLETIN FOR JUNE 2008A. STATUTORY NUMBERS1. This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during June...
New Standards Govern International Adoptions In 75 Countries
Posted on May 15, 2008Attorney Eugenia Ponce has written an important article for Texas Lawyer newspaper regarding the new rules governing international adoptions under the Hague Convention.
Errors On I-94 Cards
Posted on May 15, 2008Have you been issued an I-94 card with 9 or 10 digits? Then a replacement card is needed. An I-94 card should have eleven digits. If you are a foreign national with an error on your I-94 card -- including a misspelled name, incorrect date of birth, incorrect visa classification, incorrect authorized period of stay -- please report in person to the nearest Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deferred inspection office or port of entry, regardless of where the original I-94 was issued...
ICE Raid At Iowa Meat Packing Plant Today
Posted on May 12, 2008The Des Moines Register is reporting today that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made the largest raid in Iowa history at a meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa. Here are excerpts: Postville, Ia. – At least 300 people were arrested today at the Agriprocessors, Inc...
Proposed Changes For TN Visa Professional Workers
Posted on May 08, 2008Foreign nationals of Canada and Mexico seeking a temporary entry into theU.S. as professionals may enter as TN non-immigrants under the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Under the TN visa, Canadian orMexican citizens must enter as professionals who have a minimum of abachelor's degree or appropriate professional credentials...
Hispanic Population Continues To Increase
Posted on May 01, 2008As reported in today's Dallas Morning News, the growth of the Latino population in the United States and in Texas is continuing at a rapid pace. Here are excerpts: The percentage of Hispanics in Texas and the nation grew again last year, continuing a trend that has endured throughout the decade, new statistics show...
Tancredo Is Just Joking, Right?
Posted on April 29, 2008I don't know if his plan is to keep other citizens of Texas out of Brownsville or to keep Brownsville residents out of the rest of Texas, but Congressman Tom Tancredo made a very strange statement in Brownsville yesterday. Here's the story from the Channel 5 TV station in Weslaco: BROWNSVILLE - A Colorado Congressman is under fire this morning for making a controversial statement to some Brownsville landowners...
Positive Changes For F-1 Students With "STEM" Degrees
Posted on April 28, 2008An optional practical training (OPT) authorizes F-1 students to receive up to 12 months of practical training either before or after completion of their studies. On April 8, 2008, an interim final rule was issued stating that certain F-1 students will be eligible to receive a 17-month extension following the completion of their OPT...
Visa Bulletin Contains Some Good News
Posted on April 21, 2008The government has released the May 2008 Visa Bulletin, and there are some bits of good news in it. EB2 categories for Mexico and for the Philippines are still current (we always worry about backsliding). India's cutoff date advanced a month, as did the date for China, to January 1, 2004...
Immigration Agents Arrest Nearly 300 At Pilgrim's Pride Plants
Posted on April 17, 2008The Dallas Morning News reports today that immigration agents raided several companies across the country, and arrested quite a few people for identity theft. Especially hard-hit was a Pilgrim's Pride plant in East Texas. Here are excerpts from the story: Federal immigration officials on Wednesday arrested more than 280 workers employed at Pilgrim's Pride poultry plants in five states, including Texas, on suspicion of committing identity theft...
International Adoptions And Hague Convention Countries
Posted on April 15, 2008International adoptions are back in the headlines again, and it is not because a celebrity has adopted another international child. On April 1, 2008, the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention) became effective with respect to the United States...
Article Lists The 28 Laws Waived To Build Hidalgo County Border Fence
Posted on April 15, 2008The Dallas Morning News today reports that 28 separate federal laws or regulations were waived in order for Homeland Security to build the Texas-Mexico border fence. It looks like the waivers will be appealed to the Supreme Court. Here are exerpts: The U...
H-1B Applicants Face Less Than 50% Chance Of Approval
Posted on April 10, 2008According to figures released today by USCIS, there were 163,000 applications filed for the 65,000 available H-1B visas. So if most of the applicants are actually qualified, each applicant has less than a 50-50 chance of being chosen in the lottery drawing...
Violence Against Border Agents Up 47% In Past Six Months
Posted on April 09, 2008Here's a troubling bit of news from today's Dallas Morning News: Violence against U.S. Border Patrol agents is up 47 percent for the first six months of the fiscal year, as surveillance toughens along the 2,000-mile stretch of U.S.-Mexico border, David Aguilar, the nation's top Border Patrol official, said Tuesday...
Border Fence May Cause Demise Of Two Texas Nature Preserves
Posted on April 07, 2008I posted recently about the Bush administration getting a waiver to bypass environmental regulations so work could proceed on the Texas-Mexico border fence. The Dallas Morning News published an article yesterday about two wildlife preserves that may disappear if the border fence is built...
Bush Administration To Bypass Laws To Build Border Fence
Posted on April 02, 2008Well, this is one way to do it. I've written a lot on this blog about the resistance Texas landowners are showing toward the building of a new fence along the Texas-Mexico border. Now comes word today that the Bush administration will plow ahead with the fence regardless of any opposition by landowners, by laws, or by regulations...
Some Immigrants Picked Up In ICE Raid Sent Back To Mexico
Posted on April 01, 2008This is a follow-up on the last post about the immigration raid on security guards in Dallas. According to the Dallas Morning News: Twenty-nine of 49 people picked up in a weekend Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep targeting illegal immigrants who were working as state-licensed security guards have been sent back to Mexico, officials said Monday...
Immigration Agents Arrest 49 During Raids Of Dallas Night Clubs
Posted on March 31, 2008The Dallas Morning News reports today that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided more than two dozen mostly Latino night clubs, restaurants, pool halls and other businesses Saturday night, arresting 49 undocumented immigrants employed as security guards...
California Car Washes Use Illegal Immigrant Labor Without Paying Their Workers
Posted on March 29, 2008The Los Angeles Times recently ran an interesting story about the abuse of unauthorized immigrants working in car washes in Southern California. Essentially, the immigrants work for tips only, allowing the employers to avoid paying wages or taxes of any type...
Washington Post Proposes Temporary Solution To H-1B Crisis
Posted on March 26, 2008The Washington Post published a good editorial yesterday lamenting the nation's H-1B visa crisis, and proposed an interesting solution. Here are excerpts: April's just around the corner, and that means it's H-1B preparation time once again. H-1Bs, which are visas for skilled foreign workers, are capped at 65,000, with another 20,000 given to foreign alumni of U...
Did Farmers Branch Violate Court Order By Asking About Tenants' Legal Residency?
Posted on March 25, 2008The Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, entangled in litigation about the city's attempts to regulate illegal immigration at the municipal level, may have made an inadvertent error by asking for the legal status of tenants while enjoined from doing so by a federal court order...
Wall Street Journal Says Eliminate H-1B Visa Cap
Posted on March 23, 2008The Wall Street Journal published an interesting editorial a few days ago about the need for increasing the number of H-1B visas allowable each year. Here are excerpts: Bill Gates appeared before Congress again last week to make a simple point to simpler pols: The ridiculously low annual cap on H-1B visas for foreign professionals is undermining the ability of U...
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Will my Criminal Record prevent me from naturalizing or getting a Green Card?
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Can someone detained in a search w/ warrant, be charged with a crime related to the search if they were not arrested at the time of the search?
The police have fairly wide discretion on when they can make an arrest so long a...
I live in Sarasota, FL and am appalled at the apartment living conditions in this area. How in the world do they get away with building these apartments with no insulation to keep the noise down between floors (and walls
Talk to your local political representatives to see if you can find somebody sym...
Is there a standard Affidavit form for submission of proof to INS that two people have known married couple since their conditional residence was granted based on marriage?
It is best to write original letters or statements from two of your family frien...
Can I apply for adjustment of immigration status if I am a student studying in the US?
An INS Form I-130 is a "Petition for Alien Relative". This is used to apply for ...

Will my Criminal Record prevent me from naturalizing or getting a Green Card?
A Lawful Permanent Resident can apply for United States citizenship after 5 year...
Can someone detained in a search w/ warrant, be charged with a crime related to the search if they were not arrested at the time of the search?
The police have fairly wide discretion on when they can make an arrest so long a...
I live in Sarasota, FL and am appalled at the apartment living conditions in this area. How in the world do they get away with building these apartments with no insulation to keep the noise down between floors (and walls
Talk to your local political representatives to see if you can find somebody sym...
Is there a standard Affidavit form for submission of proof to INS that two people have known married couple since their conditional residence was granted based on marriage?
It is best to write original letters or statements from two of your family frien...
Can I apply for adjustment of immigration status if I am a student studying in the US?
An INS Form I-130 is a "Petition for Alien Relative". This is used to apply for ...








