Month: May 2008

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it is publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to increase the maximum amount of time a Trade-NAFTA (TN) professional worker from Canada or Mexico can remain in the United States before seeking readmission or obtaining an extension of stay. The proposal will extend the maximum period of admission for TN workers from one year to three years, the same term that USCIS currently may grant to H-1B specialty occupation workers.”

This is a good idea and would make the TN more analogous to an H-1B.  If they would also make TN a “dual intent” status like the H-1B, fewer H-1B’s would be requsted by Canadians and Mexicans.  Doing this would make the TN  a viable alternative to H status and would take some of the burden off of the cap-subject H-1Bs.

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today issued guidance that will modify its earlier interpretation of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) which permits applicants for certain immigration benefits to retain classification as a child even if he or she has reached the age of 21.”

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “’Less than one percent of all work-authorized employees receive a tentative nonconfirmation through E-Verify,’ said USCIS Acting Director Jonathan Scharfen. ‘While this is a very small percentage, we believe every employee who is authorized to work in the United States should be instantly authorized by the program. We’re confident that the enhancements we’re launching today will help us achieve that goal.'”

In an article I co-wrote with my partner Kristina Rost, that appears in today’s issue of ilw.com we wrote:  “In preparing an agreement for legal representation, the immigration attorney should first specify the objectives the agreement is designed to accomplish. Is the main purpose of the agreement to inform the client of the legal fee and payment schedule? Is it to advise prospective clients of the dual representation rules? Or is it to serve as a memorandum on the most important issues relating to the representation? And how can you accomplish all of these important goals in one document?”

Although geared toward practitioners, the artcle provides useful insights in how the attorney-client relationship is structured. 

BTW, for those interested in developments in the field of US immigration, I highly recommend subscribing to Immigration Daily (ilw.com).

According to an article on nytimes.com:  “The document that follows, “Detainee Deaths 2004-November 2007,” is the government’s fullest account to date of deaths in immigration detention. Compiled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act, it lists the names of 66 people who died, their dates of birth and death, where they were last held, where they died and the cause of death.”

Arizona is now looking to amend its tough employer sanctions immigration law that was enacted last year and is even considering a state guest-worker program for the undocumented…what a turnaround!  According to an article on the Arizona mess that appeared on washingtonpost.com:  “Now state lawmakers, having proved that they mean business — even if it means killing off businesses — are reconnecting with reality: They want to import Mexican workers.”

The irony is that Arizona would first have to seek permission from the Federal government to enact its guest-worker program.  The same Congress that failed miserably at its recent attempts to reform our nation’s broken immigration system would need to allow Arizona to enact such a law.     

On a similar note, Seasonal businesses are suffering because of the lack of temporary workers.  According to an Associated Press article:  “Breakfast will not be served this summer at Cape Cod’s Crown & Anchor. The Provincetown resort and entertainment complex usually hires 10 to 12 people from Jamaica and Eastern Europe each summer as cooks, housekeepers and maintenance workers. But new visa restrictions mean the guest workers it used last year aren’t expected back. With fewer workers, the resort’s management realized it wouldn’t have the manpower to serve three meals a day.”

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “In recent years, over 1 million people became Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States (LPRs).  Under the law there are a variety of different categories and means through which a person may become eligible for permanent residence.  A substantial number of these categories have numerical limitations.”

According to a Press Release:  “Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) recently introduced H.R. 5882, which would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the State Department (DOS) to use visas (“green cards”) that went unused in prior years due to bureaucratic processing delays. The bill would also allow DHS and DOS to use green cards that go unused in the future by allowing them to “roll over” to the next fiscal year until they are used. This bill would not authorize any new green cards, but would ensure that green cards authorized by Congress are actually allocated.”