Greg Siskind on Immigration Law and Policy

Poll: Americans Back Agricultural Worker Immigration Reforms

Most Americans get it that even after three years of high unemployment in the US, farms still can't find nearly enough American workers and we remain as dependent on foreign workers as when unemployment was at its lowest. 70% of us back immigration reform for agricultural workers.

Immigration Law Raises Ethical Quandaries for Attorneys

Just actually saw this article in the American Bar Association Journal quoting me on a story on professional responsibilty concerns for immigration lawyers.

DHS Released Proposed Rule for Stateside Waiver Processing

No, it's not an amnesty. DHS is now allowing people who are eligible for immigrant visas but subject to an overstay bar requiring a waiver to wait in the US while their waiver is processed rather than having to wait the six to twelve months abroad. The American Immigration Lawyers Association had this to say -

AILA Commends DHS Decision to Amend Immigration Waiver Process

New Rule Change will Help Reduce the Time Spouses and Children Are Separated From U.S. Citizen Relatives While They Complete the Process for Legal Status in the United States

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) commends the Department of Homeland Security's proposed rule that would change its processes to enable spouses and children of U.S. citizens physically present in the United States to apply within the U.S. for the waiver they need to become U.S. permanent residents. The current procedure requires the spouse or child to leave the United States, file the waiver application in the home country, and wait for processing while separated from their U.S. citizen loved ones.

If adopted, the rule would permit immediate family of U.S. citizens to apply for a provisional waiver of unlawful presence while remaining in the U.S., thereby minimizing the time they would be separated from their families during the process. To obtain the waiver, applicants must still meet the strict letter of the law which requires them to prove that family separation will cause their American citizen spouse or parent extreme hardship. 

If the waiver is granted, the foreign national must leave the U.S. and apply for and receive an immigrant visa abroad before returning to the U.S. The change will give countless American families a chance to stay together safely and legally. 

“Today’s proposed rule change, permitting the waiver request to be decided stateside, is a positive step for keeping families together. It would result in a significant change in process for many individuals and, if implemented, will literally save lives. People have been kidnapped and murdered waiting for waivers in Juarez, Mexico, and other countries,” said Eleanor Pelta, President of AILA. “It's a move that will be less destructive to families and bring about a fairer and more streamlined waiver process.  

“Unfortunately USCIS’s plan would exclude many people who are stuck in the same situation. That doesn’t make any sense,” Pelta continued. “The proposed rule only applies to a limited group of applicants, namely the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who can show extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse or parent. This leaves out broad categories of close family members who also have to wait abroad for their waiver, including the spouses and children of people who have green cards and the adult children of U.S. citizens.” In February, AILA, joined by over 40 other organizations, offered several recommendations to improve the provisional waiver plan. AILA will also submit formal comments during the 60-day comment period.   

 

House Hearing Doubles Down on GOP Anti-Immigration Message

Just the title of the hearing - "Holiday on ICE" - tells you a lot. ICE has recently undertaken a number of initiatives to improve health care, detention standards, access to counsel, etc. at its detention facilities after years of scathing reports. Now apparently the House Immigration Subcommittee thinks they're operating resorts and wants to know why detainees are being treated so well. The Karl Roves and Marco Rubios in the GOP must be cringing when they see this sort of thing. But perhaps losing the White House and a number of Senate and House seats as Hispanics vote in huge numbers for Democrats in the fall will have a sobering effect on the party. Of course, every pundit is saying the same thing and it doesn't seem to be getting through.

Rubio's DREAM Act Proposal Already Being Panned

I've received press releases from several pro-immigration groups tearing in to Rubio as well as a scathing statement from the anti-immigrant Federation for American Immigration Reform. And Harry Reid has already said he won't consider a "watered down" bill. To be fair, no one yet knows the details. But the general assumption is that it will not offer much. I'm guessing it will focus on military service. Readers of this column know that I support piecemeal immigration reform measures since the political environment for comprehensive reform is dismal. So if the Rubio bill is a positive one, just not as broad as many would like, I will support it. Not so many years ago, members of both parties would come together and compromise rather than filibuster or otherwise kill every bill offered by the other party. If Rubio's bill is offered in the spirit of compromise, I will consider that a positive development.

April 2012 State Department Visa Bulletin Run Down

Sorry for the delay in posting this and thanks to Michael Portillo at our office for putting this together.

April Visa Bulletin Summary:

Family 1^st - World numbers, China and India jumped 14 months to 01 April 05; 1 week advance for Mexico to 08 May 93; Philippines stalled at 22 June 97.

Family 2A – World numbers, China, India, and the Philippines jumped eleven weeks to 08 October 09; Mexico advanced 2 months to 01 September 09.

Family 2B - World numbers, China, and India jumped two months to 15 January 04; Mexico remains stalled at 01 December 92; Philippines stalled at 08 December 01.

Family 3^rd – World numbers, China, and India moved forward six weeks to 15 February 02; one week advance for Mexico to 15 January 93; Philippines remain stalled at 22 July 92.

Family 4^th – World numbers, China, and India jumped one month to 08 November 00; Mexico advanced a week and a half to 01 June 96; Philippines advanced two and a half weeks to 08 January 89.

Employment 1^st – still current in all categories.

Employment 2^nd – World numbers, Mexico, and Philippines still current, China and India stalled at 01 May 10.

Employment 3^rd – World numbers, Mexico, and Philippines advanced three weeks to 08 April 06; China jumped two months to 01 March 05; India moved a week and a half to 01 September 02.

Employment 3^rd Other Workers – World numbers, Mexico, and Philippines advanced three weeks to 08 April 06; China remains stalled at 22 April 03; one and a half week advance for India to 01 September 02.

Employment 4^th – still current in all categories.

Employment 5^th – still current in all categories.

State Department Denying Citizenship to Babies Conceived Through Egg Donations

This is a pretty interesting story I wasn't aware of before reading this story in USA Today, but apparently it's becoming more of a problem. The piece focuses on a Chicago-born mother living in Israel who was denied passports for her twins. Strangely, if her children were adopted, there would be no problem.

The incident points out what critics say is a glaring inequity in U.S. citizenship regulations. A child adopted overseas by a U.S. citizen is eligible to become an American, and a baby born in the USA is American even if the parents are not.

But a child born to a U.S. citizen overseas through the increasingly common practice of in vitro fertilization with embryos from donor eggs and sperm is not American, unless an American is one of the donors. And that can be hard to prove since clinics may not reveal such things about their donors due to confidentiality agreements, immigration law experts say.

"The problem is that the law hasn't kept up with the advances in reproductive technology," said Melissa Brisman, a lawyer in New Jersey who specializes in fertility issues.

The U.S. State Department says a child born outside the USA to an American cannot receive citizenship until a biological link with at least one parent is established. That link does not exist if an infertile woman uses donor eggs at a clinic to conceive.

This is a problem that should be resolved without having to pass new legislation if the State Department exercises some common sense. Even the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the anti-immigration organization, is quoted in the story saying DOS needs to take another look at this.

BREAKING NEWS: Syrians to Be Granted Temporary Protected Status

From DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano:

"In light of the deteriorating conditions in Syria, I am announcing that DHS will be designating Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrians currently present in the United States. Conditions in Syria have worsened to the point where Syrian nationals already in the United States would face serious threats to their personal safety if they were to return to their home country. Early next week, the Department will publish a notice in the Federal Register that will provide further guidance about TPS eligibility requirements and registration procedures. All applicants must undergo full background checks and while Syrians in the United States are encouraged to apply, they should not submit their applications before the notice is published."

This should allow Syrians - whether in legal status here or not - to have a legal status and employment authorization in the US until returning to Syria is safe. I'll sum up the details when the notice in the Federal Register is announced.

Immigrant Doctors a Lifeline for Rural Communities

I write a book on physician immigration and a large part of my clientele is in this area so this BBC report on the positive impact foreign physicians are making in small towns across America was hardly a surprise to me. But it's nice to see this positive story highlighted. The physician immigration program described in the article expires this year and deserves a permanent reauthorization.

March Madness Shows Ugly Side

My friend David Leopold writes on the AILA Leadership blog about an ugly incident in the NCAA basketball tournament game between Southern Mississippi and the University of Kansas.

"Where's your Green Card! Where's your Green Card! Where's your Green Card!..."

That was the despicable taunt that met Kansas State point guard Angel Rodriguez during the first-round NCAA tournament game between Kansas State University and the University of Southern Mississippi. Never mind that Rodriguez, a native of Puerto Rico, is a U.S. citizen. His surname and brown skin were enough to lead Southern Mississippi band members to put on an ugly display of prejudice, humiliating themselves and their university.

It goes without saying that the incident should be investigated and the perpetrators disciplined. Southern Mississippi has since publicly apologized to Rodriguez. Such bigotry has no place anywhere in America, least of all on a university campus.

David blames a restrictionist mentality that has been effectively cultivated by anti-immigrant groups around the country. Perhaps this is so, but I don't think it's any surprise that we heard these chants coming from fans of Southern Mississippi. I live ten minutes from the Mississippi border and have lived in different parts of the South my whole life (with the exception of going to law school in Chicago) and know a lot about the mindset of the deep southerner. And I can tell you that the ugly nativism David describes is not so unusual in this part of the world. In fact, it is a lot more of a problem here than elsewhere in America.

Unless you completely slept through history class, you probably know plenty about the long, sorry history of race relations in the Deep South. Slavery begat segregation and the South only started making changes in response to courageous civil rights activists, court decisions and federal legislation. Saner voices understood that economic development in the Deep South would never happen as long as the region's racist legacy was erased.

But while there have been improvements, much of that is on the surface only. Overt racism and outright discrimination have declined significantly over the years. But I would contend legal barriers and the broad national taboo on racism against African Americans has kept much of what was once normal in the South largely buried beneath the surface.

But that doesn't mean that the underlying hate in the hearts of many in the South is gone. It is now being channeled in to an anti-immigrant ferver which legislators and much of the population they represent consider socially acceptable. I noted this a few years back when when 23 of 28 Senators from Southern states voted against the DREAM Act. Only 19 Senators of the remaining 72 voted no. And lest you think Arizona disproves this analysis, read your civil rights history. Segregation was as bad in that state as the typical Southern state and they were the last state to adopt the Martin Luther King national holiday.

Sadly, the hate that has marked much of southern history is not yet just history. It's taken on a new ugly face.