Month: September 2007

According to an AP article, during a Florida debate between Democratic Presidential candidates:  “All seven candidates said they would work on changing immigration laws during their first year in the White House.”

Hopefully, Congress will pass a version of CIR that will have been worth the wait.  Meanwhile, a number of pro-immigration amendments may be on their way soon.  I will keep you up to date.

From a New York Times article:  “The Social Security Administration says a federal judge’s ruling last week suspending a crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants could cause a major disruption in its processing of millions of routine retirement and disability claims.”

According to an article on www.nytines.com:  “The national debate on immigration has seen Hispanic immigrants more than any other type pilloried as criminals and parasites. In response, churches that avoided politics altogether, or mobilized only on “family values” issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, have joined the immigration fray on the liberal side.”

The latest weekly Update from the USCIS on case receipting times was due yesterday but my guess is that it won’t be out until Monday. Most of the filing fee checks for cases filed by our office through July 2, 2007 have been processed, we are still awaiting receipt notices.  These are cases that I believe will be processed by the Texas Service Center.

So it looks like there will be modest progress from the Texas Service Center when the Update comes out. Of course, once July 2, 2007 cases are receipted, things should move faster because many applicants filed on July 2 (before the DOS initially decided to stop accepting cases per the July Visa Bulletin). There were probably far fewer application between July 2 and July 18 (when the USCIS and DOS announced that applications would officially be accepted) and will slow down for cases filed between mid-July through mid-August – just my guess.  Nebraska is ahead of Texas in Receipting these cases.

According to an article on Foxnews.com:  “Illegal immigration shouldn’t be a crime, either, Giuliani said: ‘No, it shouldn’t be because the government wouldn’t be able to prosecute it. We couldn’t prosecute 12 million people. We have only 2 million people in jail right now for all the crimes that are committed in the country, 2.5 million.'”

Today the USCIS is scheduled to release its latest weekly Update on Receipting for I-485 cases. Our office has had some (but not all) filing fee checks processed for cases filed on July 2, 2007. Most of our cases were filed in Nebraska but we believe were subsequently transferred to Texas.  I  therefore expect modest progress on the upcoming Update from the Texas Service Center.  From what other lawyers are saying, Employment Authorization Documents are being issued very soon after Receipt Notices, good news if true. I will post the USCIS Receipting Update when it becomes available.

On another note, the GAO issued a “Report Card” on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under which the USCIS and ICE agencies fall. The report noted “Moderate Progress” in immigration enforcement and “Modest Progress” in border security and immigration services.

Still awaiting instructions on the DV Visa Lottery and the October 2007 Visa Bulletin. These will be posted as they become available.

If anyone needs additional confirmation that racism plays a role in some facets of the immigration debate, according to an article that appears on www.washingtonpost.com:  “Dozens of Ku Klux Klan leaflets calling for a ban on “all non-white immigration” were distributed last weekend in Manassas, where a dispute over illegal immigration has raised tensions in recent weeks.”

The immigration debates that occur in cities and municipalities throughout the country as they attempt to resolve the issue mirror the national debate and are therefore worth watching.

According to an article on Boston.com:  “In living rooms, laundromats, and community centers across Massachusetts, immigrant-rights groups are running an underground campaign to teach illegal immigrants to protect themselves from federal agents. Their instructions to the immigrants: Keep their lips sealed and doors shut unless authorities have a warrant.”

In a great editorial piece by Mark Brown that appears in the Chicago Sun Times, the reporter sheds light on the different forces at work in the legalization debate.  To accuse everyone who opposes legalizing the undocumented of being racist is foolish.  However, to deny that racism comes into play in this heated debate is equally foolish.

The USCIS has issued a Fact Sheet on Certifying U Nonimmigrant Status for alien victims of criminal activity.