Bush to address nation on immigration Monday
Via CNN.com
05/12/2006
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush plans to address the nation Monday night on the immigration debate, trying to build momentum for legislation that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become American citizens.
The White House said it was seeking time from television networks
for the president’s remarks at 8 p.m. EST. Bush is to speak from the
Oval Office and his address is expected to run less than 20 minutes.
“This
is crunch time,” Tony Snow, the new White House press secretary said
Friday at his first off-camera, or informal, briefing.
On Thursday, Senate leaders reached a deal to revive a broad immigration bill that had appeared doomed just several weeks ago.
Key
to the agreement is who will be negotiating a compromise with the
House, which last December passed an enforcement-only bill that would
subject the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in
the United States to felony charges as well as deportation.
Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, said the Senate will send 14
Republicans and 12 Democrats to negotiate with the House, with seven of
the Republicans and five Democrats coming from the Judiciary Committee.
The remaining seven Republicans will be chosen by Frist and remaining
seven Democrats chosen by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.
Click to continue reading
Pentagon eyes ways to use military for border security
Via CNN.com
05/12/2006
WASHINGTON (AP) — Faced with growing pressure from southern states, the Bush administration wants the military to come up with ideas to help solve security problems along the U.S. border with Mexico.
In back-to-back moves this week, the Pentagon began exploring ways
to lend support at the southern border, while the House on Thursday
voted to allow the Homeland Security Department in limited cases to use
soldiers in that region.
At the Pentagon, Paul McHale, the
assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, asked officials to
offer options for the use of military resources and troops —
particularly the National Guard — along the border with Mexico,
according to defense officials familiar with the discussions.
The
officials, who requested anonymity because the matter has not been made
public, said there were no details yet on a defense strategy.
Thursday’s
House vote allowed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to assign military
personnel under certain circumstances to help the Homeland Security
Department with border security. The vote was 252-171, and the
provision was added to a larger military measure.
The actions
underscored the importance of the border and immigration issues, yet
were tentative enough to reflect worries about drawing the nation’s
armed forces into a politically sensitive domestic role.
Immigration reform could hurt construction
Via SouthCostToday.com
05/12/2006
Controversial immigration
legislation currently under consideration in Congress could bring about
a critical shortage of workers in the home-building industry, industry
figures said.
“The
home-building industry could be in danger of losing a significant
portion of its labor force,” if immigration reform doesn’t include a
guest worker program and a program to address illegal immigrant issues,
according to spokesman Michael Strauss of the 225,000-member National
Association of Home Builders.
Strauss
was referring to legislation that Congress is currently considering.
There are three dueling bills in Congress, each offering different
versions of immigration reform.
H-1B Cap Count as of 04/28/2006
H-1B Cap Count as of 04/28/2006
|
Cap |
Beneficiaries Approved |
Beneficiaries Pending |
Beneficiary Target 1 |
Total |
Date of Last Count |
|
|
H-1B |
58,200 2 |
4,507 |
12,230 |
61,000 |
16,737 |
4/28/2006 |
|
H-1B Advance Degree Exemption |
20,000 |
1,007 |
1,877 |
21,000 |
2,884 |
4/28/2006 |
|
H-1B (FY 06) |
58,200 |
—— |
—— |
—— |
Cap Reached |
8/10/2005 |
|
H-1B Advance Degree Exemption (FY 06) |
20,000 |
—— |
—— |
—— |
Cap Reached |
1/17/2006 |
Senators Agree to Revive Immigration Bill
05/11/2006
Via Yahoo.com
WASHINGTON – Senate leaders reached a deal Thursday on reviving a broad
immigration bill that could provide millions of illegal immigrants a
chance to become American citizens and said they’ll try to pass it
before Memorial Day.
The agreement brokered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., breaks a political
stalemate that has lingered for weeks while immigrants and their
supporters held rallies, boycotts and protests to push for action.
“We congratulate the Senate on reaching agreement and we look
forward to passage of a bill prior to Memorial Day,” said Dana Perino,
deputy White House press secretary.
Key to the agreement is who will be negotiating a compromise with
the House, which last December passed an enforcement-only bill that
would subject the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants
in the United States to felony charges as well as deportation.
Frist said the Senate will send 14 Republicans and 12 Democrats to
negotiate with the House, with seven of the Republicans and five
Democrats coming from the Judiciary Committee. The remaining seven
Republicans will be chosen by Frist and remaining seven Democrats
chosen by Reid.
Fischer Homes supervisors charged with harboring illegal aliens – ICE Press Release
05/09/2006
Via Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Press Release
— Four supervisors arrested on criminal charges and 76 illegal alien employees apprehended —
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Amul R. Thapar, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, today announced the arrest of four construction supervisors of Fischer Homes Inc. and 76 illegal alien workers at Fischer Homes construction sites in Kentucky. Headquartered in Kentucky, Fischer Homes is a leading builder of homes in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
A coordinated investigation by ICE, the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division and local law enforcement agencies resulted in the arrest this morning of the four Fischer Homes construction site supervisors pursuant to criminal complaints issued in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Those arrested are:
• Timothy Copsy, a Fischer Homes construction manager
• Doug Witt, a Fischer Homes superintendent
• William Allison, a Fischer Homes superintendent
• Bill Ring, a Fischer Homes assistant superintendent
Each of the defendants is charged in a criminal complaint with aiding and abetting, harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage or private financial gain. The maximum possible punishment for the crime charged is up to 10 years imprisonment, $250,000 or both. The defendants made their initial appearance this morning in federal court in Covington, Kentucky.
During the enforcement operation today, ICE agents also apprehended 76 illegal alien workers at three
Fischer Homes construction sites in Hebron, Union and Florence, Kentucky.
“Today’s case is another tough step in our targeted and aggressive enforcement of our immigration laws within the interior of the United States,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “We will continue to bring criminal actions against employers who are consistently harboring illegal aliens. We will stop this type of illegal facilitation.”
ICE Assistant Secretary Myers said, “ICE has no tolerance for corporate supervisors who harbor illegal aliens for their workforce and deny labor opportunities for legitimate American employees. This enforcement action demonstrates how we will use all our investigative tools to bring these individuals to justice, no matter how large or small the company.”
Assistant Secretary Myers and U.S. Attorney Thapar praised the collective efforts of the local and federal community who are giving their time, expertise, and full cooperation to this ongoing effort. A criminal complaint is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of four integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
RECENT ICE WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT CASES
Today’s enforcement action is the latest in ICE’s ongoing efforts to target illegal employment practices through criminal investigations, prosecutions, and asset seizures. Last fiscal year, ICE worksite investigations resulted in 127 criminal convictions and a total of 1,145 arrests, up from 46 criminal convictions and 845 arrests the previous year. Below is a sample of ICE worksite enforcement cases brought in the past month.
• On May 2, 2006, Robert Porcisanu, the owner of an Indiana business that performed stucco-related services at construction sites in at least seven Midwest states was charged with money laundering, harboring illegal aliens, transporting illegal aliens, and false statements in connection with an illegal employment scheme. Porcisanu faces as many as 40 years in prison. ICE is also seeking the forfeiture of $1.4 million. His firm was allegedly able to undercut the bids of contractors to perform work at construction sites by taking advantage of cheap labor costs from the use of illegal alien employees.
• On April 19, 2006, ICE agents arrested seven current and former managers of IFCO Systems North America Inc, pursuant to criminal complaints in Albany, New York, charging them with harboring illegal aliens for financial gain. ICE agents also apprehended 1,187 of the firm’s illegal alien employees during search warrants and consent searches executed at more than 40 IFCO locations nationwide. The arrests were the result of a year-long investigation of IFCO, which determined that more than half of IFCO’s employees during 2005 had invalid or mismatched Social Security numbers. IFCO is the largest pallet services company in the United States, based in Houston, Texas.
• On April 14, 2006, the operators of Baltimore’s best-known sushi restaurants agreed to forfeit more than $1 million and pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiracy to commit alien harboring and money laundering in connection with an illegal alien employment scheme. The investigation found that the operators of the three Kawasaki restaurants in Baltimore exploited cheap, illegal labor to maximize profits in order to purchase new homes and luxury vehicles for themselves.
• On April 11, 2006, a federal indictment was unsealed in Ohio charging two temporary employment agencies and nine individuals with hiring and harboring illegal aliens; mail and wire fraud; and laundering approximately $5.3 million. The indictment alleged that HV Connect, Inc., and TN Job Service, Inc. provided hundreds of illegal alien employees to unwitting companies in Ohio by falsely representing that they were legal. The indictment also alleged that the owners of these agencies used the profits from this scheme build a new home and purchase jewelry for themselves.
Critics say U.S. naturalization process too slow
By Tim Vandenack
The Hutchinson News
DODGE CITY – It was the 1980s, and with few work options at home in
Chichihualco, Mexico, Oscar Marino looked north of the border.
“I saw my family, the poverty,” Marino said.
In
the 1970s, his father had worked with a permit that let him travel
between the United States and Mexico. But with no such option available
when his turn to enter the workforce came up, Marino, now a meatpacker
here, took matters into his own hands.
“That pushed
me to come here illegally,” he said, remembering the mad scramble over
a chain-link fence separating Tijuana from southern California.
Many
others have similar stories – there are perhaps 12 million illegal
immigrants in the country, some say – and immigration experts and
others say it shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Though there might be
jobs, scant means exist for low-income, low-skilled foreigners to enter
the United States legally to take them, prompting many to sneak across
the border.
“I would have gone that way if I could,”
said Marino, now a legal U.S. resident, referring to the program that
let his father enter the country. “It didn’t exist anymore. I couldn’t.”
Indeed,
it strikes Angela Ferguson, a Kansas City, Mo., immigration attorney,
whenever she hears people say they have no problem with immigrants, as
long as they enter legally.
“They just don’t have a clue of how difficult the process is,” said Ferguson, who also practices in Garden City.
‘A long wait’
In
light of the apparent disparity between labor demand and supply, a
controversial U.S. Senate proposal emerged last month that would allow
more foreigners in to do low-skilled work. Some decry such plans as
misguided, saying lack of workers isn’t the issue, but depressed wages
that don’t appeal to natives.
A guest-worker element
would let up to 325,000 people in per year on a temporary basis, said
Laura Reiff of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, which favors
moves to grant some illegal immigrants pathways to legal residency.
Another prong would increase the quota of low-skilled workers
potentially eligible for U.S. residency from about 5,000 per year to
250,000.
As is, the most common means for Mexicans
to attain legal residency here and the ability to work legally are
through U.S. citizen or U.S. resident family members. Latinos,
particularly Mexicans, account for the largest share of southwest
Kansas’ immigrant population, and Mexicans account for the biggest
chunk of the nation’s overall undocumented population.
But
the process can take years, trying the patience of someone hoping for a
job now. First there’s the paperwork, background checks and medical
exams. Then there’s the delay while U.S. authorities process the
information.
“It’s a long wait,” said Consuelo
Sandoval of United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries in Garden
City, which assists immigrants.
People without a family member to petition on their behalf essentially are out of luck.
The
Mexican spouse or minor children of a U.S. citizen, meanwhile, face the
shortest wait, as little as a year. From there, the wait gets longer
and longer, particularly for legal residents petitioning for their
Mexican family members. Residency is one step short of citizenship. For
instance:
* The unmarried Mexican children over 21 years of age of a U.S. citizen must wait more than 15 years.
* The brothers and sisters of a U.S. citizen must wait more than 12 years.
*
The spouse and minor children of a U.S. resident must wait more than
six years. That is the largest category of people Sandoval helps
process.
* The unmarried children over 21 of a legal resident must wait more than 14 years.
The
wait stems from the backlog of cases U.S. officials must process and
annual quotas set for each country. For processing of residency
requests, U.S. immigration officials divvy the world into five zones:
Mexico, the Philippines, India and China – which all together account
for the bulk of petitions – and the rest of the world.
Making sure teams look good on paper
Via Star-Telegram
05/07/2006
By RAY+ BUCK
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Assistant general manager Keith Grant of the Mavericks has obtained working visas for non-U.S. citizens plenty of times.
It’s the NBA way — importing players from abroad — and it’s viewed
by league officials as an “international” phenomenon with no end in
sight.
When the “Dream Team” captured Olympic gold at Barcelona in 1992,
NBA rosters were dotted with 21 international players from 18 countries.
This past season, NBA teams could boast 82 international players from 38 countries and territories.
Playoff teams, too.
Going into Round 1, there were 44 international players from 25
countries and territories among the 16 teams — including the Mavericks
with three, and led by the defending champion Spurs with seven.
So, you get the idea. Grant has been filing forms with the U.S.
State Department and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for
quite some time now.
But nothing prepared him for what happened last October.
The Mavs had just beaten the New York Knicks 104-102 in an
exhibition game at Madison Square Garden. While the rest of the team
flew to Detroit, Grant used a day off between games to chauffeur
DeSagana Diop to Toronto.
Diop, who had changed teams (Cavs to Mavs), was in need of a new P-1 visa.
The “P-1” is available to “priority professionals” with
“extraordinary skills” — such as doctors, researchers, entertainers
and athletes.
It’s the same visa used by Major League Baseball (actually, for any
international players on 40-man rosters) and the NHL, where 31 percent
of its players hail from beyond North American borders.
Anyway, back to Grant and Diop.
“DeSagana and I flew to Toronto, got a morning appointment and had
his visa by that afternoon,” Grant said. “But then, our flight to
Detroit was cancelled. Our only option was taking two commuter planes
— Toronto-to-Cleveland and Cleveland-to-Detroit.
“So, I told DeSagana, ‘Let’s just drive.'”
Grant was used to driving players from the northeast corridor to
either Toronto or Ottawa over the years, all in the quest for visas.
“So, we’re crossing the Canadian border in a Jeep rental — me and
DeSagana — and [the 7-foot] DeSagana is sitting halfway in the
backseat because he’s so long,” said Grant, who stands 5-11.
“I mean, we’re sitting there … The Odd Couple at its finest. Needless to say, we’re made to pull over, step inside and answer a few questions.”
NBA, MLB systems work
The adventures of a long-legged Senegalese power forward, with visa
in hand, doesn’t pack the same political punch as illegal immigration
and border control.
Maybe that’s the beauty of sports.
Pro teams have become more and more proactive in getting the proper immigration papers into the hands of their players.
“The process hasn’t gotten any easier, but we’re getting much more
organized,” said Kim Bohuny, vice president/NBA basketball operations.
Procuring players’ visas varies from sport to sport, from league to
league, even from level to level. But the goal is the same — make it
happen.
NBA players receive P-1 visas for the length of their contracts, which are usually three to four years and always guaranteed.
Conversely, major and minor league baseball players are required to
return to their native countries at the end of each season and reapply
for new visas.
Players not on the 40-man roster — even those with major league
jobs — must vie for “H-2B” visas. These visas are capped (66,000
available per year) and quotas are set.
All types of laborers crossing U.S. borders are eligible for H-2B visas: landscapers, loggers and minor-league infielders alike.
“An ‘H-2B’ is a specialized work visa but not the ultimate
specialized work visa,” said John Lombardo, director of minor league
operations for the Rangers. “Obviously, a P-1 — with no cap — is
incredibly simpler” to obtain and renew.
The Rangers, as with all MLB teams, obtain visas for every player in the organization, from Class A rookie league to the majors.
Each visa costs the Rangers $340 — minimum.
“It normally takes 45-60 days to get a P-1 or H-2B visa,” Lombardo
said. “Or else, you can send a $1,000 premium-processing fee and get a
visa in 10 days.”
It’s the responsibility of MLB — serving as an industry — to make
sure that all 30 teams are “certified” to make individual visa requests.
In turn, MLB gets an assist from the government.
Said Lombardo: “We do receive — I don’t want to call it ‘special
treatment’ because it’s not — but we do have a dedicated person
working in Homeland Security who helps expedite the process as much as
possible for our players.”
On the Rangers’ current 40-man roster, there are 12 international
players — nine from the Dominican Republic; one each from Japan,
Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Each visa order requires the team to package up 15-20 pages of
documents, including the player’s contract. The player then goes to his
consulate, shows proper ID and secures his visa.
That hasn’t changed.
What has changed, however, is heightened U.S. scrutiny after the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
“Going into 9/11, there was a lot of corruption — not from the U.S.
side but from the international side — in the visa process,” Lombardo
said. “Things got lax…like family members getting piggy-backed onto a
player’s visa.”
Historically, Dominican players have had a reputation for “visa problems,” causing them to miss the start of spring training.
“I just think the Dominican Republic is still paying the price for
some of that corruption, even though it’s not there now,” Lombardo said.
There are more Dominican players than any other international group
in the majors today. And they all arrive at once, Lombardo noted.
Right-handed reliever Omar Beltre — a once highly regarded
Dominican prospect of the Rangers — was implicated a couple of years
ago in an alleged multiple-player visa scam, preventing him from U.S.
entry.
“If a player has made a mistake — somewhere, somehow — or his
paperwork is not in order…he’s not getting in,” said Lombardo,
referring to no one in particular.
“Since 9/11, the visa process has become much more difficult,” Lombardo added. “They’re cracking down. Thank goodness for that.”
Don’t forget hockey
Basketball players average 20 to 22 years old after well-documented
careers with their national teams. Baseball often sends teen-agers to
the States.
The NBA also secures a temporary “visitor’s visa” for any player who
wishes to come to the United States before the June draft for a
non-payment, individual workout for a team.
But the NBA and MLB aren’t alone in helping non-U.S. citizens’ entry
into the country to play pro sports. American-based NHL teams are part
of a league that is about 52 percent Canadian-born.
The Stars finished the season with 11 Canadians, six Finns and a total of 21 players born outside the United States.
“The P-1 visa allows players to travel outside the U.S. and play
hockey in Canada…[and] is valid through the term of the player’s
contract,” said Lesa Moake, Stars director of hockey and team services.
“There are some European countries [Czech Republic, Latvia and
Russia] that require a Canadian visa as well. I file those
multiple-entry visas with the Canadian consulate, and they are valid
for one year.”
A player with a P-1 visa can apply for a green card, which allows
non-U.S. citizens to reside permanently and work in the United States.
That process usually takes “a minimum of two years,” said Moake,
adding, “If a player has a green card and leaves the U.S. to play for a
team in Canada, he is required to surrender his green card.”
Minor-league hockey players receive 10-month visas.
“It’s tougher for minor-league teams,” said Eric Schultz, an immigration lawyer for Sacks, Kolken & Schultz of Buffalo.
One of Schultz’s accounts is the Central Hockey League, which includes the suddenly-now-in-limbo Fort Worth Brahmas.
Unlike P-1 visa holders, H-2B players must get the blessing of the U.S. Labor Department before a contract can be signed.
“Only if it can be certified that sufficient recruitment has been
done to look for U.S.-citizen players or green-card holders will the
Department of Labor authorize permission for employment to be offered
to a non-U.S. citizen,” Schultz said.
Not so, for the big boys.
Said Terry Lyons, vice president/NBA international communications:
“I see NBA coaches, players and fans saying, ‘May the best man play.'”
This idea of open competition may be where immigration in sports shines brightest.
If nothing else, filling out all that paperwork must seem worthwhile.
For more online information on immigration in sports:
Staff writer David Sessions contributed to this report.
U.S. Immigration Law Inhumane to Same-Sex Couples
Via Human Rights Watch (reposted) Sunday, May. 07, 2006 at 9:10 AM
(Washington, D.C., May 2, 2006) – Thousands
of U.S. citizens and their foreign same-sex partners face enormous
hardships, separation and even exile because discriminatory U.S.
immigration policies deprive these couples of the basic right to be
together, Human Rights Watch and Immigration Equality said in a report
released today.
As Congress debates immigration reforms, it must
end the discrimination that lesbian and gay Americans and their foreign
partners endure under U.S. immigration law. The 2000 U.S. Census
estimated that in the United States there were almost 40,000 lesbian
and gay couples in which one partner is a U.S. citizen (or permanent
resident), and the other a foreign national. This figure does not
include the many thousands of binational couples who have to hide the
fact they are partners, are forced to live apart, or who have been
forced to leave the United States. Under discriminatory U.S. statutes,
these couples have no recognition under the law.
“Discriminatory U.S. immigration laws turn the American dream into a
heartless nightmare for countless U.S. citizens and their foreign
partners,” said Scott Long, co-author of the report and director of the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program of Human Rights
Watch. “As Congress debates immigration reforms, it should end
discrimination against lesbian and gay immigrants as well as their U.S.
partners.”
The first-ever comprehensive report on the
issue, “Family, Unvalued: Discrimination, Denial and the Fate of
Binational Same-Sex Couples under U.S. Law,” documents how U.S
immigration law and federal policy discriminate against binational
same-sex couples. The 191-page report documents the consequences of
this discrimination and shows how it can separate not only loving
partners from one another, but also parents from children. It also
shows how this policy has destroyed careers, livelihoods and lives.
“Our immigration laws are undermining the traditional American values
of fairness and family,” said Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of
Immigration Equality. “U.S. immigration policy is designed to keep
families together. But the current law targets an entire class of
American families and tears them apart.”
For more than 50
years, family reunification has been a stated and central goal of U.S.
immigration policy. Immigration law places a priority on allowing
citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their spouses and close
relatives for entry into the U.S. Although the system remains
imperfect, riddled with delays that rising anti-immigrant sentiment
only intensifies, U.S. citizens and their foreign heterosexual partners
can easily claim spousal status and the immigration rights that it
brings.
U.S. citizens with foreign lesbian or gay
partners, however, find that their relationship is considered
non-existent under federal law. The so-called “Defense of Marriage
Act,” passed in 1996, declared that for all purposes of the federal
government, marriage would mean “only a legal union between one man and
one woman as husband and wife.” Since lesbian and gay couples are
excluded from the definition of “spouse,” U.S. citizens receive no
legal recognition of their same-sex partners for purposes of
immigration.
Based on interviews and surveys with dozens
of binational same-sex couples across the United States and around the
world, the report documents the pressures and ordeals that lack of
legal recognition imposes on lesbian and gay families. Couples
described abuse and harassment by immigration officials. Some partners
told stories of being deported from the United States and separated
from their partners. Many couples, forced to live in different
countries or continents, endure financial as well as emotional strain
in keeping their relationships together.
“No family should
be forced apart, no matter what the sex is. This is how immigration
laws have affected us,” a woman in North Carolina said, describing how
her Hungarian partner and their children were forced to leave the
United States. “We are separated and without each other…. We just
want to be together, that’s all.”
Many U.S. citizens are
forced into exile in countries where their relationships are
recognized. At least 19 nations worldwide provide some form of
immigration benefits to the same-sex partners of citizens and permanent
residents, while the U.S. still refuses. These include Canada as well
as 13 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
and the United Kingdom). On other continents, this list includes
Brazil, Israel, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Notably, the report details how current U.S. exclusionary policies are
rooted in a long history of anti-immigrant sentiment, in which fears of
sexuality have played a steady part. From the McCarthy era until 1990,
U.S. law barred foreign-born lesbians and gays from entering the
country. The United States is also one of the few industrialized
countries that imposes a blanket ban on entry by HIV-positive
individuals, a bar that reinforces irrational fears and stigma but does
nothing to protect public health.
Congress should
immediately pass the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), Human Rights
Watch and Immigration Equality said. The bill, sponsored by
Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
would offer binational same-sex couples’ relationships the same
recognition and treatment afforded to binational married couples.
The proposed law would add the term “permanent partner” to sections of
the Immigration and Nationality Act where “spouse” now appears. Thus, a
U.S. citizen or permanent resident could sponsor their permanent
partner for immigration to the country, just as they can now sponsor
such family members as siblings, children or husbands and wives. The
bill was introduced in the current Congress on June 21, 2005; it has a
total of 104 cosponsors from both houses.
In addition to
repealing the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, Congress should enact
reforms to U.S. immigration law to guarantee respect for the human
rights and labor rights of non-citizens. These reforms should include
measures that end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and HIV-positive individuals.
The Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch,
which is the largest U.S.-based human rights organization, advocates
against abuses based on sexual orientation or gender identity
worldwide. Immigration Equality is a national organization that fights
for equality under U.S. immigration law for lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and HIV-positive individuals.
Read More
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/05/02/usdom13290.htm
U.S. Immigration Debate Is a Road Well Traveled
Early-20th-Century Concerns Resurface
By Michael Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 8, 2006; Page A01
NEW YORK — They were portrayed as a disreputable lot, the immigrant hordes of this great city.
The Germans refused for decades to give up their native tongue and raucous beer gardens. The Irish of Hell’s Kitchen brawled and clung to political sinecures. The Jews crowded into the Lower East Side, speaking Yiddish, fomenting socialism and resisting forced assimilation. And by their sheer numbers, the immigrants depressed wages in the city.
As for the multitudes of Italians, who settled Mulberry Street, East Harlem and Canarsie? In 1970, seven decades after their arrival, Italians lagged behind every immigrant group in educational achievement.
The bitter arguments of the past echo loudly these days as Congress debates toughening the nation’s immigration laws and immigrants from Latin America and Asia swell the streets of U.S. cities in protest. Most of the concerns voiced today — that too many immigrants seek economic advantage and fail to understand democracy, that they refuse to learn English, overcrowd homes and overwhelm public services — were heard a century ago. And there was a nub of truth to some complaints, not least that the vast influx of immigrants drove down working-class wages.
AshwinSharma.com selected as one of the Top Ten Blogs on Immigrants’ Rights
Via About.com
05/06/2006
About.com is a major website with a monthly traffic of more than 29 million people. The website has selected AshwinSharma.com as one of the top ten blogs on Immigrants’ Rights, ranking among blogs written by three Immigration Law Professors at the University of California – Davis, an author and several large non-profit organizations.
They had this to say about the website:
lawyer Ashwin Sharma aggregates the latest news on immigration issues,
throws in some thoughtful and contagiously calm and well-reasoned
analysis, and puts it all on a web site for the world to access.”
Very flattering and much appreciated.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Legal immigrants face citizenship hurdles
Via SunHerald.com
05/12/2006
By DEEPTI HAJELA
Associated Press
NEW YORK – Kshitij
Bedi recently marked his fourth wedding anniversary, but it wasn’t much
of a celebration, just a long-distance phone conversation.
The Long Island resident has barely seen his wife, Shweta, in the
past four years. She is in India, waiting and waiting – and waiting –
for the visa that would allow her to join her husband, a legal
permanent resident, in the United States.
Bedi applied for the visa in April 2002, less than three weeks after
the couple’s wedding. He tries to visit India as much as possible, but
essentially, “I’ve been a bachelor since then.”
“There’s nothing we can do,” he said. “We’re so helpless.”
In all the recent talk about immigration reform, most of the focus
has been on the millions of people in the United States illegally. But
part of the problem, legal experts and immigrant advocates say, is a
complicated legal immigration system in which the demand for visas far
outstrips the supply.
“People aren’t choosing to walk through the desert; they’re doing
that because the front door is closed,” said Benjamin Johnson, director
of the Immigration Policy Center at the American Immigration Law
Foundation. “The only way to get in is the back door.”
Some foreigners are left waiting for a visa for more than a decade.
And those are just the ones who fit into one of the complex categories
of people eligible to apply for a visa. The ones who don’t? Forget it,
experts say.
“For the vast majority of people who would like to move to the
United States, there is no line to get on,” said Julie Dinerstein,
deputy director of immigration advocacy for the New York Immigration
Coalition.
In general, there are four ways foreigners can get permission to
move to the United States: They can be sponsored by an American citizen
relative, or in some cases, a legal resident relative; they can be
sponsored by an employer; they can claim refugee or asylum status; or
they can win a visa lottery.
But each one of the categories has limitations. For American
citizens, their spouses, parents, and unmarried children under 18 can
get immediate visas, with no wait. But any married children or adult
siblings have to get in line, and other relations, such as cousins,
cannot be sponsored. Legal permanent residents, like Bedi, can sponsor
only spouses or unmarried children, not other relatives.
There are about 226,000 family-preference visas available in a year
for the entire world, divided equally among countries. (Immediate
family members of American citizens are not counted in this category.)
For companies looking to sponsor an employee, there are about 140,000
visas.
To win refugee status, foreigners must prove they face persecution
in their homeland. As for the visa lottery, it is only for residents of
countries that aren’t already sending large numbers of people here.
About 50,000 diversity visas are given out each year.
But those totals don’t even come near to accommodating the millions of people who want to come here.
According to the latest government bulletin:
_ The waiting list for unmarried adult children of legal permanent
residents is nearly 10 years long. For those coming from Mexico, it is
almost 15 years.
_ For adult siblings of American citizens, the wait is more than 10
years; for those coming from the Philippines, almost 23 years.
The numbers of visas given out is set by Congress; the last
adjustment was more than a decade ago. The basic framework, that all
countries get the same number of visas, was put into place in 1965.
Some say it is time to change the law.
“Many people feel if we would liberalize our legal immigration
rules, that that in itself would reduce the scale of illegal
immigration,” said Stephen Legomsky, professor of international law at
Washington University in St. Louis.
Dinerstein said it is clear that the American economy can absorb
more people than are coming legally, as evidenced by the number of
illegal immigrants seeking jobs.
And no one feels the pain more than those who are separated from their families.
People like Dorota Szewczyk, who left her toddler daughter behind in
Poland to join her husband here. That marriage fell apart, and now she
is waiting for her legal residency status – a process that could take
years. She cannot leave the country, meaning the daughter could be well
into her teens before seeing her mother again.
Or Sam Assatov, a software engineer from Uzbekistan who works in New
York City. He is waiting to be reunited with his wife and 7-month-old
son, who are still back in their homeland.
“You basically end up spending your life in the United States
looking forward to going back,” he said. “You count the days until you
live together and the days you can’t live together, you hope they end.”