COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM FOR 2007 DEAD IN THE SENATE. EARLIEST PROJECTED REVIVAL: 2009
The proposed immigration reform bill died Thursday, June 28, 20007 in the Senate. By a vote of 46 to 53, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on S. 1639. Consequently, it would appear the immigration reform is dead for now. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) issued the following statement:
The U.S. Senate, in failing to pass a key procedural obstacle to the passage of its immigration reform legislation, today failed not only immigrants and their families and employers, but failed the country.
Our current immigration system is badly broken. Twelve million undocumented immigrants live and work in America without any opportunity whatsoever to earn full legal status and eventual citizenship. Our borders are not secure even with an historic level of enforcement. Family and employment-based immigration backlogs grow by the hour, requiring decades-long waits in many cases. U.S. employers cannot legally hire essential immigrant workers or needed highly skilled professionals, because no system is provided to afford necessary immigrant workers legal entry. The agricultural industry is unable to find sufficient workers and those undocumented working in the shadows labor under a badly broken system. High school students who excel are barred from continuing their education because they cannot obtain legal status. Immigrants seeking to feed their families and the chance to be part of the American dream continue to die in the desert seeking entry, and detention centers that are actual tent cities continue to grow.
The Senate bill was admittedly deeply flawed. Backroom negotiations and a convoluted amendment process ensured that the bill in its current form would not have led to workable reform. But the Senate has denied the House a chance to weigh in on this pivotal national issue to try to get things right, and to pass an immigration reform bill that would serve the interests of this country and its families, its businesses, and its immigrants.
Any immigration reform bill must include the following necessary architecture for meaningful, effective reform:
(1) A clear path to lawful residence for those who come forward, pay fines, and demonstrate their commitment to become Americans by earning their status through working and learning English.
(2) A new worker program that includes labor protections, job portability, and a realistic path to permanent residence.
(3) The elimination of the existing unconscionable backlogs in family immigration, preservation of meaningful family immigration with reasonable quotas, and recalibration of our employment-based immigrant visa quotas to accommodate the needs of our dynamic and growing economy.
(4) Smart border and worksite enforcement mechanisms that protect our national security interests, while respecting civil rights.
(5) Due process and civil liberties protections that guarantee immigrants their day in court, judicial review, and a meaningful opportunity to seek waivers and discretionary relief.
The Senate bill that foundered on the Senate floor today gave the appearance of adhering to this skeletal architecture, but its content, flawed from the beginning of the process, was further compromised by harsh amendments that were supported by a majority of Senators in order to secure passage of the bill and to try to keep the legislative process moving forward.
Top objections to the Senate bill included:
(1) Decimation of the employment-based immigration system through creation of a mis-named "merit-based" point system that disconnects employment-based immigration from employer sponsorship and eliminates existing avenues of migration for aliens of extraordinary ability, multinational executives, and outstanding researchers.
(2) Evisceration of family-based immigration by eliminating 4 out of 5 long-recognized family relationships that qualify an individual for green card sponsorship in exchange for a partial reduction of the backlogs in those categories.
(3) Lack of meaningful opportunities for new temporary workers to transition to permanent residence.
(4) Lack of sufficient future numbers for employment-based immigrants at all ends of the skill spectrum.
(5) Unwarranted restrictions on the H-1B and L-1 nonimmigrant visa programs.
(6) Lack of sufficient confidentiality protections for Z-visa applicants.
(7) Harsh due process restrictions that violate fundamental protections guaranteed to all persons under our constitution.
S. 1639 would have provided a path to legalization for millions. Now, it is unlikely that there will be action on this issue until after the 2008 elections.
JULY 2007 VISA BULLETIN: EMPLOYMENT BASED VISAS CURRENT IN NEARLY EVERY CATEGORY. OR ARE THEY? WHAT STARTED AS A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION IS TURNING INTO A CAUSE FOR GREAT CONCERN.
The July VISA Bulletin, published by the U.S. Department of State in mid June, brought good news for many who expected a longer wait in line: priority dates for employment based (EB) categories are now current. All employment-based visa categories are current for July 2007 with the important exception of the category “Other Workers”.
What does this mean? A skilled worker, such as an industrial engineer, falls under the 3rd Preference Category (EB-3). The visa bulletin for the previous month of June 2007 indicated that the cut-off date for the 3rd preference category for skilled workers from both Mexico and India was June 1, 2003. This meant that if an employer had begun the process of sponsoring an engineer (from Mexico or India) for immigration benefits on June 1, 2003, then the employee would have had to wait until last month to apply for residency. In the same way, if the employer had started the process last month, in June 2007, the employee would have been scheduled to wait about two years (until 2009) to immigrate. (The beneficiary would have to wait until the government began processing the visas with a priority date of June 2007.)
With this advance in the bulletin, an engineer from any country in the world could conceivably be sponsored now for a labor certification (which is often the first step in the process), and if the application were promptly approved, he or she would immediately be able to apply for status as a lawful permanent resident. (This would only hold true if the priority date remained current after approval of the labor certification.)
This was very good news until last week when inside sources at the AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (AILA) learned that the good news may not last.
According to AILA, it is very possible that on July 2 or July 3, the State Department will issue a revised Visa Bulletin for July 2007. If a revised bulletin is issued, it is anticipated that the numbers will "retrogress." In other words, the employment categories now listed as "CURRENT" will no longer be current. The revised Bulletin would retrogress some or all of the employment-based categories, very likely to the point of "UNAVAILABLE."
There were signs of trouble in June when USCIS began rejecting EB-3 "Other Worker" adjustment applications even though the Visa Bulletin showed an October 2001 cut-off date. USCIS reported that the "Other Worker" numbers for the year had been exhausted.
We at the law offices of Curtis Pierce are advising everyone who is currently eligible to file for Adjustment of Status in an employment based category to do so as soon as possible.
IMMIGRATION ITEMS OF INTEREST
NATURALIZATION THOUGH MILITARY SERVICE
Since the proposed immigration reform bill died in the Senate, options for naturalization are more limited. Certain veterans and members of the U.S. armed forced may wish to consider naturalization through military service.
Members and certain veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible to apply for United States citizenship under special provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). In addition, U.S. citizenship and Immigration Services has streamlined the application and naturalization process for military personnel serving on active-duty or recently discharged. Generally, qualifying service is in one of the following branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, certain reserve components of the National Guard and the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve.
Does service in wartime increase chances for naturalization? All qualified immigrants who have served honorably on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces or as a member of the Selected Ready Reserve on or after September 11, 2001 are eligible to file for immediate citizenship under the special wartime provisions in Section 329 of the INA. This section also covers veterans of designated past wars and conflicts.
For more information about qualifications, posthumous benefits, and the application process, please click the following link:
In this section, we try to inform our readers about certain aspects of immigration law that are often misunderstood and cause confusion. Because of the complex nature of immigration law, misconceptions abound, even among attorneys.
For example, many individuals are confused over the meaning of the word "visa." Many people who have a tourist visa (B-2) for 10 years mistakenly believe that they can enter the United States and remain for 10 years. This is not correct.
A visa is an official endorsement obtained from an American consulate certifying that the bearer has been examined by a consular officer and is permitted to seek admission to the United States at a designated port of entry. A visa does not grant one the right to enter the United States. It merely allows the holder to attempt to seek admission at a port of entry.
The Department of State is responsible for visa adjudication at U.S. embassies and consulates outside of the United States, under the guidance and ultimate authority of the Department of Homeland Security. At the port of entry, immigration inspectors, agents of Customs and Border Protection, determine admission into the country, as well as length and conditions of stay.
To reiterate, a visa does not permit you to enter the United States. It simply allows you to travel to the United States as far as the port of entry (airport or land border crossing) and to ask the immigration officer to allow you to enter the country. Only the immigration officer has the authority to permit entry to the United States. He or she decides how long a visitor can remain for any particular visit. Immigration matters are the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
There are two categories of U.S. visas: immigrant and nonimmigrant.
Immigrant visas are for people who intend to live permanently in the U.S. Nonimmigrant visas are for people with permanent residence outside the U.S. but who wish to be in the U.S. on a temporary basis – for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study.
For more detailed information, see our website: www.cpvisa.com.
PROCESSING TIMES & CASE STATUS Processing Times
To view processing times and your case status, click one of the links below to connect to the correct U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services information page.
The CPVISA.COM NEWSLETTER is free. It is published by the Law Offices of Curtis Pierce, 213-327-0044, www.cpvisa.com.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is analysis and commentary of a general nature. Nothing in this newsletter applies to a specific case nor does it constitute legal advice.
Schedule appointment: For legal advice on your case, please schedule an appointment with Curtis Pierce, Certified Specialist, Immigration & Nationality Law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
“The only title in our democracy superior to that of President (is) the title of citizen”.
Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. (In the case Ng Fung Ho v. White, 259 U.S. 276, 284 (1922), Justice Brandeis wrote that deportation can deprive an individual of "life, or of all that makes life worth living.")
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