Greg Siskind on Immigration Law and Policy

BILL INTRODUCED TO PERMIT E-2 INVESTORS TO GET GREEN CARDS

Congressman Adam Putnam (R-FL) has introduced a bill that would implement #8 of The Ten Ideas I had for using immigration to stimulate the US economy. I don't claim credit for the concept (the bill has actually been introduced in the past) and I happily endorse the plan as something that could provide a real boost to attract foreign capital to the country and help create an enormous number of jobs for American citizens.

The bill's relatively simple. It would create a new EB-5 category for E-2 investors who have been in the country for at least five years in E-2 status, have invested at least $200,000 and creates full time jobs.

Here's the text of the proposal. Contact your member of Congress and let him or her know you support this proposal that will help create jobs for American workers.  

E-2 Nonimmigrant Investor Adjustment Act of 2009 (Introduced in House)

HR 1162 IH

111th CONGRESS 1st Session

H. R. 1162

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain E-2 nonimmigrant investors to adjust status to lawful permanent resident status.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 24, 2009

Mr. PUTNAM (for himself and Mrs. MYRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain E-2 nonimmigrant investors to adjust status to lawful permanent resident status.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `E-2 Nonimmigrant Investor Adjustment Act of 2009'.

SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT TO LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS OF CERTAIN E-2 NONIMMIGRANT INVESTORS.

(a) In General- Section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)) is amended--

(1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting `except as provided in subparagraph (E)(i)(II),' after `(ii)';

(2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by inserting `and subparagraph (E)(i)(I)' after `Except as provided in this subparagraph'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(E) SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTAIN E-2 NONIMMIGRANT INVESTORS-

`(i) IN GENERAL- In the case of an alien who has been present in the United States in the status of an alien described in section 101(a)(15)(E)(ii) for at least five years--

`(I) the amount of capital required under subparagraph (A) shall be $200,000; and

`(II) the alien is deemed as satisfying the requirement of subparagraph (A)(ii) if the enterprise has created full-time employment for not fewer than two individuals (or five individuals for each year after the third year in such status) described in such subparagraph (A)(ii).

`(ii) LIMITATION- Not more than 3,000 visas may be made available under this paragraph to principal aliens described in clause (i) in any fiscal year.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. Periods of presence in the United States in the status of an alien described in section 101(a)(15)(E)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E)(ii)) before such date shall be counted towards satisfying the time requirement specified in subparagraph (E) of section 203(b)(5) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)) (as added by paragraph (3) of subsection (a)).

(c) Immediate Eligibility of Adjustment of Status of Certain Long-Term E-2 Nonimmigrant Investors- An alien who has been present in the United States as an E-2 nonimmigrant investor for at least five years may be immediately eligible to adjust status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to the amendment made by subsection (a).

CONSULAR OFFICER CONVICTED OF EXCHANGING VISAS FOR STRIPPERS AND JEWELRY

Well, I guess this is a new form of "premium processing." Mike O'Keefe, the deputy noninmmigrant visa chief at the US consulate in Toronto has pleaded guilty to accepting jewelry and trips with exotic dancers in exchange for expediting work visas for STS Jewels, a New York company headed by Sunil Agrawal. Agrawal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegal supplementation of salary which Agrawal's lawyer is hoping won't jeopardize his immigration status to the US (good luck). He faces a potential one year jail term and a fine of up to $100,000. O'Keefe faces up to two years a and a $250,000 fine.

RAID = ROGUE?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a raid Tuesday on Yamato Engine Specialists, a manufacturing company in Bellingham, Washington. This is the first work site raid since President Obama was sworn in and appears to have been conducted without the knowledge or approval of either the President or his new Secretary of Homeland Security who have both expressed their concerns with the use of raids as opposed to other kinds of enforcement measures. The NY Times reports:

A high-level official in the Department of Homeland Security said that Ms. Napolitano had not been informed about the raid on Tuesday before it happened, and that she was seeking details about its planning and scope.

“She was not happy about it because it’s inconsistent with her position, and the president’s position on these matters,” said the official, who agreed to discuss the matter on condition of anonymity because the secretary had not authorized the conversation.

President Obama has promised immigration enforcement that would focus less on illegal workers and more on the employers who rely on them.

So who authorized the raid? Did they do it in ignorance of the White House's position or in spite of it?

HOUSE PASSES E-VERIFY AND EB-5 PROGRAM EXTENSIONS

They're included on the Fiscal 2009 Omnibus spending bill and will keep those programs going until September 30, 2009. The Conrad 30 and religious worker expirations are still coming next week unless a separate bill is passed or the Senate decides to get them in their version of the Omnibus.

IMMIGRATION JUDGES CALL FOR APPOINTING ONE OF THEIR OWN TO RUN EOIR

From the National Law Journal (subscription required):

A group of immigration judges called for the U.S. attorney general to appoint one of their own as the next chief immigration judge, to reform what has been a problem-plagued and overburdened agency for years.

"We have been totally resource-starved and things have been very slow in coming," said Judge Dana Leigh Marks of San Francisco, who is president of the National Association of Immigration Judges.

She pointed out that last year 214 immigration judges completed 350,000 cases, in "traffic court" conditions, despite issuing decisions with consequences that may be tantamount to life or death rulings.

"This is not the time to appoint a chief immigration judge based on political or bureaucratic connections," Marks said on Tuesday.

Of course, this raises a chicken and egg problem. Are the immigration judges themselves the problem or are the conditions they're in the problem. If the former, appointing one of their own may not be as appealing as having an outside reformer.

IMMIGRATION REFORM WITHOUT ALL THAT MESSY REFORM

My friends Gary Endelman and Cyrus Mehta have written a very thoughtful piece here on ILW.com that discusses how we can accomplish many of the goals of comprehensive immigration reform within the existing immigration system framework. Sure there would be some legislative changes needed, but the ideas they are proposing don't require the monumental lift that is necessary for CIR. Gary and Cyrus use Dinesh Shenoy's idea of allowing applicants for employment-based green cards to file adjustment of status petitions before a green card number is available. This allows applicants to remain in the US and work and travel freely rather than waiting years for a visa number to become available. Gary and Cyrus suggest taking the idea farther and allowing family-based immigration applicants to have this right and to allow people to enter the US with approved immigrant visas that will allow them to have a legal status in the US while they await a green card number to become available. They also explain how the Administration could use some creative defining of the term "immediately available" to execute such a policy without Congress' blessing (though they explain that this would still be a wise move).

Another interesting idea put forth by the authors is for USCIS to aggressively use its parole authority under INA Section 212(d)(5) to allow applicants to get travel and work benefits without having to have an adjustment application pending. This would be especially helpful to applicants unable to take advantage of AC21. And this power has been used from time to time since World War II to help large populations needing a quick legal statu sin the US (such as the Hungarians after the 1956 uprising).

IMMIGRATION MEASURES INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS

Several immigration-related developments on Capitol Hill today. First, a provision extending E-Verify and the EB-5 regional centers until September was included in the big omnibus spending bill coming tomorrow. Also, Congresswoman Lofgren introduced HR 1127, a separate bill extending the Conrad 30 and religious worker bills past the March deadline until next September as well. Finally, Congressman Stupak (D-MI) introduced HR 1136, a bill that would bring back the H-2B returning worker provision.

USCIS ANNOUNCES MODEST EXPANSION OF I-140 PREMIUM PROCESSING

Under the prior rules, you had to be in H-1B status and your six years of H-1B time had to be ending within 60 days. As of March 2, 2009, you are also eligible if you're no longer in H-1B status and your six years are finished. So, for example, if you used up your H-1B time and switched to another non-immigrant status or you left the country, you should be eligible. The press release and fact sheet can be found here.

TWO MORE IMMIGRATION APPOINTEES ANNOUNCED

Two biggies today. John Morton, a career prosecutor with experience in immigration enforcement at the Department of Justice was named by President Obama to head up Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

More interesting to me is the appointment by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano of Esther Olavarria as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy. The pro-immigration community should be cheering loudly over Esther's appointment. She worked closely with Senator Ted Kennedy for a decade fighting for immigrants and she was one of the major architects of the comprehensive immigration reform efforts of recent years. I have no doubt Ms. Olavarria was appointed because the President and Secretary Napolitano are quite serious about designing and pushing a major immigration reform package and also making sure it is effectively implemented by DHS. Here's a little more about Esther's background:

Esther Olavarria brings nearly 20 years of experience on immigration policy to her new job at the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, she was a Senior Fellow and Director of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress, where she was responsible for planning, developing and administering the organization’s work on immigration issues, with a principal focus on policy and advocacy strategies on comprehensive immigration reform; planning and convening roundtables and other venues for discussion, and conducting research and write on immigration issues.

Prior to that, for nearly ten years, she was Counsel to Sen. Edward Kennedy and the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees. In that capacity, she served as Senator Kennedy’s chief counsel on immigration, border security, refugee and nationality matters, working on myriad immigration proposals, including comprehensive immigration reform.

She has also served as the Managing Attorney of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Directing Attorney of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Pro Bono Project, and staff attorney at the Haitian Refugee Center, all based in Miami, Florida.

IMMIGRANT OF THE DAY: HARRI KULOVAARA - NAVAL ARCHITECT

Finnish-born Harri Kulovaara is designing what will be the largest cruise ship in the world when it is completed later this year. Royal Carribean's Oasis of the Seas will carry 6,300 passengers, 2,000 more than any other ship. The ship is unusual in that it is divided in to two halves, each with a six story tower of cabins with enough space between the two towers to fit a football-field sized park. And there are many other features that make this ship more of a city than a boat.