Month: January 2009

According to an article on washingtonpost.com:  “President Bush called for a “compassionate” Republican Party and warned against the GOP becoming “anti-immigrant” in one of his last interviews as president, defending his vision of the party that has become unpopular among some Republicans.”

This is a wise suggestion in light of what has become a hostile environment towards immigrants.  Those politicians who continue to fall for the extremist anti-immigrant propaganda spewed by some conservative radio hosts and cable personalities will fall into the Tancredo-trap.  Those politicians will have the support of a vocal, but small minority of Americans that will not help to bring the GOP to where they need to be to win in the future.  Although the President initially supported Comprehensive Immigration Reform, when it failed to pass Congress – the Administration took a decidedly enforcement-centric approach that lead to a backlash among Hispanic voters.

April 1, 2009 is the first day that employers will be permitted to file H-1B petitions on behalf of foreign nationals.  Given that Labor Condition Applications may take some time to be certified and the likely competition for one of the available 65,000 cap-subject H-1B slots, now is a good time to start planning the process of hiriing prospective candidates. 

It would also be wise for employers and foreign-nationals to consider alternatives to the H-1B visa that may be available should a particular petition be rejected.  All petitions received by a set deadline are usually placed in a lottery from which the 65,000 “winning petitions” are randomly selected for adjudication.  Our firm and probably many others, will begin accepting cap-subject H-1B cases in early February to allow us the necessary time to process the petitions.    

These are strange times – I certainly have never seen anything like it and even my father does not remember the economic situation being so dire.  Job losses, bankruptcies and foreclosures are up while 401Ks, financing and consumer spending are down.  One may ask, how can comprehensive immigration reform even be considered in times such as these?  The answer is simple, we need it.  Our immigration system has been broken for many years and recently things have become even worse.  Enforcement has become the cornerstone of the system by most agencies involved in the immigration process.  Customs and Border Protection, US ICE, USCIS and US DOL have all become enforcement-centric and aggressive in their treatment of US employers and  foreign-nationals whether they are in legal status or not.  We all agree that enforcement of immigration laws is important.  However, efficiency of the process, respect for foreign-nationals entering the country and adequate medical care for detainees in government custody should be of paramount importance for any civilized country. 

According to an article on realclearpolitics.com:  “Given last year’s election results, major immigration reform ought to pass in 2009 – but first, the incoming Obama administration has to decide what to do about some draconian policies put into place by the Bush administration.”  

Any reform will need to be carefully thought-through and should not be harmful to US workers.  The Obama administration believes in the need for CIR and understands that reform will not be easy, but is both practically necessary and politically wise given that anti-immigrant candidates have lost big time in the last two elections.                

Countless immigrants are victimized by unscrupulous notarios or immigration consultants who take money and either render no service or file docunents with the government that do more harm than good for these immigrants and their families.  Immigration laws can be unforgiving, especially in the current climate where foreign nationals are infrequently given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to adjudications. 

If you or someone you know has been victimized by a notario, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has published an informative document entitled: “How and Where to File Complaints Against Notarios and Immigration Consultants.”