VIA AILF
Press Release

The American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) is pleased that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of State (DOS) have announced they will comply with their own regulations and policies and accept the “green card” applications of tens of thousands of intending immigrants. A class action lawsuit scheduled to be filed by AILF on July 17, 2007 on behalf of all affected intending immigrants argued that the government must do exactly that. See AILF’s complaint. AILF is gratified that the government accepted AILF’s arguments and belatedly is doing what it should have done in the first place.

“The government’s reversal is exactly what our thousands of plaintiffs and class members would have sought in their lawsuit,” said Nadine Wettstein, Director of AILF’s Legal Action Center and lead counsel in the lawsuit. “We were literally on the electronic courthouse steps, when we learned that a solution was imminent.”

AILF’s lawsuit alleged that the federal government’s refusal to accept tens of thousands of applications for green cards (and discouraging thousands of other workers from even applying) violated federal statutes, regulations and policies, as well as the U.S. Constitution.

The announcements by DHS and DOS allow intending immigrants to file applications for adjustment of status “green cards” until and including August 17, 2007. They also allow these applicants to pay the current fees, even though the fees otherwise will increase on July 30, 2007.

These changes resolve the majority of the issues in the class action lawsuit AILF has prepared. The one issue unresolved is for the “Other Workers.” This is a small group of people who should have been allowed to file adjustment applications all during June 2007. Mid-month, however, DHS shut their window of opportunity. The announcement from DHS and DOS does not allow them to apply. AILF will assess the situation for this group of people and will consider whether litigation will proceed for them.

AILF worked with intending immigrants from across the country to prepare the class action suit. Many of these applicants have waited in line for years and were following the government’s rules to obtain a green card.

“The American Immigration Law Foundation created its Legal Action Center to protect fundamental principles of due process and demand government accountability under immigration law,” said Benjamin Johnson, AILF’s Executive Director. “Sadly, there are very few checks and balances left in our immigration laws to guard against government misconduct or abuse of power. AILF and its outstanding legal team will continue to do all that it can to ensure that our dysfunctional immigration laws are not made worse by agency misconduct or mismanagement. Even in this emotionally charged environment where it often appears to be open season on immigrants,” said Johnson, “our government cannot disregard the law.”

“Compelling the government to correct this wrongdoing sends a message that all the recent talk about respecting those immigrants who are trying to follow the law isn’t just empty rhetoric,” said Paul Zulkie, President of AILF. “These are legal immigrants going through the process in the right way. To have the door slammed in their faces would have been a violation of basic principles of fairness and due process.”

AILF is very grateful to the hundreds of people – intending immigrants and their lawyers – who have contacted us to be plaintiffs and support the litigation. We received emails and calls from more than 500 people in the last two weeks. Your efforts enabled us to prepare a very strong challenge to the government’s actions.

Updates:

Court Documents:

Press Releases:

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Immigrant’s List petition to Secretary Chertoff

AILF Lawsuit on Visa Bulletin 
Last updated July 17, 2007

AILF’s Legal Action Center has a class action lawsuit completed and ready to file against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State for their unlawful actions in the I-485 / Visa Bulletin mess. The government improperly denied tens of thousands of intending immigrants the opportunity to apply for employment-based visas known as “green cards.”

Rumors continue today that the Administration will be announcing a decision regarding their proposal to resolve the crisis. The most recent rumors indicate that the announcement will be made today. However, there are widely varying reports on what the proposed solution will be.

AILF will review any proposals by the Administration to resolve this issue, and will determine the best course of action in light of those proposals. While we remain hopeful that the Administration will take the actions necessary to avoid the filing of the lawsuit, further delays or incomplete solutions will compel us to move forward with litigation.

We thank the hundreds of people – intending immigrants and their lawyers – who have contacted us to be plaintiffs and support the litigation. We received emails and calls from more than 500 people in the last two weeks. Your efforts have enabled us to prepare a very strong challenge to the government’s actions.

We will post more information as soon as it is available.

Via AILF.org

AILF’s Legal Action Center thanks AILA members for your unprecedented and enthusiastic response to our plaintiff identification effort.  The potential plaintiff questionnaires and material are rolling in from all over the country.  We are continuing to review the material your clients have sent.   

The response has been so strong that currently we do not need any more potential plaintiffs who submitted an adjustment application for receipt in July, unless the individuals have an unusual situation or especially compelling facts, such as an aging-out child.   At this time, we also would like to hear from the “non-filers” — people who did not and do not plan to submit an adjustment application for receipt in July but would have done so “but for” the DOS and USCIS actions.  These individuals will represent a separate class of plaintiffs.  And we’d like to hear from more “other worker” adjustment applicants who applied in June, even if they have not yet received a rejection notice.  These individuals will represent a separate class as well.   They should read the FAQ (at http://www.aila.org/content/fileviewer.aspx?docid=22798&linkid=162984&nbsp, and complete and return to AILF the short form (at http://www.aila.org/content/fileviewer.aspx?docid=22798&linkid=162978&nbsp and retainer agreement (at http://www.aila.org/content/fileviewer.aspx?docid=22798&linkid=163326&nbsp at visabulletin@ailf.org.

If the lawsuit is successful (and we fully expect it will be), the court will certify classes, and all people who meet the class descriptions will receive the relief the court orders.  The class members will not need to “sign up” with AILF to enjoy those rights. 

Regarding “non-filers” – As our July 7 InfoNet update explained, and as we explain in our FAQ, we will include a class of people who would have submitted their adjustment applications for receipt in July, “but for” the government’s actions. The government may try to, or the court may want to treat this class differently from the class of people who submitted applications for receipt in July. Our aim is to do the best possible for both groups. 

How soon will we file the law suit?  Very soon.  It is not easy or quick to prepare class action litigation involving numerous people and numerous claims, but we are working quickly because of the urgency of these events for so many people.

Injunction?  AILF knows many people want a quick resolution, as do we.  A temporary or ill-conceived order might create more chaos and confusion than we saw in late June / early July.  And the government presumably would immediately appeal, creating even more confusion about whether applications were being accepted.  By contrast, we intend to seek an injunction that will be forward-looking and will not create another crisis situation for AILA members or the government. 

June filers – If your client had a priority date that would not have been current until July but sent in their adjustment application to arrive in June:  We have heard that some people tried to get a jump on things by sending in their application to arrive in June for July filing.  Our understanding is that USCIS will reject these applications because they were filed too early.  We may not be able to protect such filers in this lawsuit.  You may want to urge such clients to resubmit applications, even if they not have yet received a rejection notice.