Greg Siskind on Immigration Law and Policy

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: I.M. PEI - ARCHITECT

I.M. Pei, was born in Canton, China in 1917, immigrated to the US at age 17 and became a naturalized US citizen since in 1954. He is, quite simply, one of the most highly regarded architects on the planet. His projects are considered works of art in and of themselves.

I've been an architecture buff for many years ever since I worked as an architectural surveyor for the Metropolitan Historical Commission in Nashville between my college and law school years. So I've been a long admirer of Mr. Pei. Some of my favorite works include the Bank of China Tower, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and, of course, the Louvre Pyramid.

TPS EXTENSION BILL FOR LIBERIANS PASSES IN HOUSE

AILA is reporting passage of HR 3123 which extends Temporary Protected Status for Liberians until September 30, 2008, but I have not seen the vote posted yet. The bill will now move on to the Senate.

LOFGREN GOES AFTER USCIS FOR FEE INCREASES

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the Chair of the House Immigration Subcommittee who has quickly gained a reputation for holding USCIS' feet to the fire to deliver good service to its customers, has taken on the USCIS over the fee increase that went in to effect yesterday by introducing legislation to force USCIS to reverse course. Lofgren issued the following press release in connection with the bill:

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) today introduced a bill to void the recent increases in immigration fees by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The bill would void the new fee structure set to take effect today and reinstate the previous fee structure. The bill also states that USCIS has consistently failed to reduce application backlogs and has suffered from a lack of transparency and effective management.

“Our immigration services need to move into the 21^st century,” stated Rep. Zoe Lofgren. “But, USCIS has consistently failed to explain or justify the amounts and distributions of this new fee increase. While I agree that USCIS needs to modernize its existing infrastructure and procedures, they must do so in a transparent and open manner. After repeated requests over several months, USCIS has yet to provide Congress with a detailed plan for its infrastructure modernization efforts. Our immigration system should be both effective and fair; sacrificing one to achieve the other should not be an option.”

Here's the text of the resolution. Download fees.pdf

USCIS FINALLY UPDATES WEB SITE TO VERIFY OLD FORM VERSION OF I-765 ACCEPTABLE

USCIS finally has updated their site to allow older versions of the I-765 to be accepted. But note that the I-129F and I-290B remain unchanged.

USCIS STILL HAS NOT CHANGED FORMS WEB PAGE

Yesterday I advised you that AILA was reporting that USCIS was mistaken in saying that the only acceptable versions of the I-765, I-129F and I-290B were the July 30th versions now on the USCIS web site. But the forms on the site are still marked as the only acceptable versions and no correction statement has been issued by USCIS. Until we see that, I would advise folks to only use the new version.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN - US SAVIOR: FOREIGN DOCTORS

It's now online. I hope it brings the point home. Yes, we need to be focused on security. But foreign physicians in the US are vital to the American health care system and should be warmly welcomed.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: GRETEL BERGMANN - ATHLETE

I had never heard of Ms. Bergmann until I recently saw a fascinating documentary on her on HBO. Ms. Bergmann, who is now in her 90s, was a leading athlete in Germany set to take a medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. While the Germans were facing world criticism for their treatment of Jewish athletes, they chose Bergmann as the only Jewish member of the team (Helene Mayer, another team members whose deceased father was Jewish, was raised in her mother's Christian faith). And then she was kicked off the team at the last moment along with her fellow Jewish teammate.

The film interview Ms. Bergmann at length and one can tell those years of training have benefited her - she looked at 20 years younger than her years and her memory of that remarkable time in her life was impeccable.

Bergmann managed to emigrate to the US in 1937 and avoided the horrors that were to befall her people in the years to follow. Because the Olympics were canceled in 1940 and 1944 because of the war, Ms. Bergmann never had the opportunity to win her gold medal, though she has the satisfaction of at least knowing that the height of the high jump that was enough to win the gold medal in Berlin was the same as she achieved in competition just a month before the Games.

Bergmann did have a chance to compete in her adopted country. She was the 1937 American high jump and shot put champion and repeated the high jump championship in 1938. She became an American citizen in 1942.

In a nice epilogue to her story, she was honored by the the German people in 1999 with the naming of a stadium after her. The stadium was one that she was not allowed to keep in (or even enter) when she was living in Germany. She returned to the Germany for the first time since fleeing in the 30s to attend the dedication ceremony.

IMMIGRATION VOICE TO HOLD DC RALLY ON SEPTEMBER 18TH

Immigration Voice, the grassroots immigrants rights organization, plans on holding a major rally in Washington on September 18th. The rally will focus on the antiquated employment green card system in the US and the need for legislation to address the situation.

Immigration Voice wants to do something as consequential as the flower campaign and the San Jose rally but only this time, it will be much bigger and much more consequential aimed at congressional action on visa backlogs and broken system of high-skills immigration. We aim to resolve this issue but we cannot do it alone and therefore it is imperative for every one, and by that we mean EVERY ONE to show up. If you wanted to be a part of San Jose rally but couldn't, then now is your chance to protest peacefully and fight for a fair system and just process.

Always remember, we are in United States at the invitation of our employers and our employers have filed our green card petitions in order to retain us. It is only fair and only just to ask for a system that achieves that objective without delays and without putting the immigrants in probationary limbo for 6-12 years. And it is your obligation to yourself and your family to stand up for your rights and ask congress to legislate and fix the system so that it works the way it was originally intended to work. Just ask a participant of San Jose rally of how proud and how satisfied everyone was after the rally – not just due to impact – but just because they have stood up and spoken up for their issue.

Immigration Voice will shortly announce the route, times and other details. You can find out more at  :

http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=90

The Flower Campaign and San Jose Rally were a great start. But IV has the ambitious goal of attracting 10,000 participants, a number that would make it probably the largest rally ever staged on behalf of employment-based immigration. Make it happen!

[UPDATE - Since this was posted, the rally date changed to the 18th and I've edited this post accordingly].

"ANCHOR BABIES" - A NEW TERM FOR BIGOTS

In the last few months, the term "anchor baby" has taken on a certain cache with anti-immigrant folks like Ms. Michele Malkin and Mr. Lou Dobbs.  The term refers to the children of immigrants who are conferred citizenship by virtue of their birth in this country. Some would limit the use to the children of illegal aliens, while many extend it to children of those on work and tourist visas. Others argue that anyone born in the US to parents on work, student, tourist visas, etc. would be an "anchor baby".

I think it's fair to call it like it is - calling someone an "anchor baby" is a form of hate speech. The term is used in an effort to dehumanize a whole class of American citizens. By stigmatizing the American children of immigrants, these bigots seek to turn millions of Americans in to second class citizens. There have been many other societies in the past which tried to de-legitimized the children of immigrants. I know because I've filed asylum cases for people with horrific stories involving their membership in a persecuted group of this sort.

America has always had better instincts. Immigrants have succeeded in this country more than any other because we focus as a country on welcoming immigrants and making them in to new Americans, not just barely tolerated foreigners. Their children are not second class citizens and just as American as the children of those who trace their roots to Plymouth Rock.

Because I believe the term is offensive and demeaning, I intend to delete posts that use it in a derogatory way). If people want to discuss the term itself and how it is being used in hate speech, I'd consider that to be appropriate. Some of the anti-immigrant folks out there are no doubt going to accuse me of being a censor. And so be it. They can use the term on your own blogs (and don't seem to have any hesitancy to do so, of course).

MY USA TODAY OP-ED PIECE SHOULD RUN TOMORROW

I've written an opinion piece on the contributions of foreign doctors to the US health care system that I'm told will be in tomorrow's USA Today. It's not easy to pare 1800 words down to 1000, but I think I still managed to get my point across. As soon as it's online, I'll link to it.