US Immigration Reform

Mexican President to Address Immigration Issue on His US Visit This Week

US-Immigration-Reform — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:10:53 +0000

Mexican President Felipe Calderon is set for a two-day visit to Washington D.C. starting this May 19. He will be meeting President Obama at the White House on the first day.

The Mexican president along with his wife, Margarita Zavala, will be honored in a press conference on Wednesday at the Rose Garden. And on Thursday, Calderon is set to address the joint session of the US Congress. An expected highlight of his speech would be when he tries to persuade lawmakers to overhaul the existing US immigration policy.

This was after Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona has signed a state law that allows policemen to demand proof of legal residence to suspected “illegal immigrants” in Arizona.

The two presidents first met in Mexico City where they agreed on a bilateral agreement to help in purging the drug cartels in Mexico. Obama promised a more improved cooperation from the United States and even pledged $1.4 billion dollars for the crackdown of drug cartels.

Tension is undeniably growing lately due to immigration issues concerning the two countries. However, there are high hopes that Mexico-US relations will not be risked, because both presidents agree key issues, including border security and in putting a stop to the deeply-rooted Mexican drug cartels.

Plenty of issues hound the already tight bonds between the two countries, but many hope that the two presidents would arrive at long-term solutions to these concerns.

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Immigration Reform 2010 – American Jobs Should be For Americans

US-Immigration-Reform — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:00:31 +0000

Illegal immigration is a controversial issue in our country. During his term, President Bush has been urging the Congress to pass an immigration bill to address this concern but has received no action. Today, President Obama is pushing the same—the drafting of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

President Obama has a Kenyan father and an American mother, a circumstance that creates room for doubt for his critics.

President Obama often raised the issue on immigration even from the start of his campaign and he pledged to make a move to deal with the issue but immigration seems to have been set aside to prioritize the Health Care Reform Bill.

In June 2009, Obama asked Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, to work with Congress to speed up the passing of an immigration reform. It is estimated that there are now 12 million illegal US immigrants and an immigration reform can be the key to preventing future illegal immigration.

Loopholes have been existent on some laws because of the absence of a definite immigration law. For instance, the health care reform bill or H.R. 3590 has several problems regarding illegal immigration. The current law requires legal aliens to wait five years before they can access certain taxpayer-funded health benefits. However, the loopholes in the verification process of who is a legal or illegal immigrant allow illegal aliens access to these benefits. Third, the language of the bill does not prevent illegal aliens accessing these benefits.

In addition to draining what should only be taxpayer’s benefits, illegal immigrants take away the jobs which are supposedly for Americans. With the unemployment rate at 10% for November 2009, we are now facing the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Yet, our country’s leaders are considering passing an amnesty legislation to enable the illegal immigrants to stay here.

Because these illegal immigrants can work for a low salary, they create a depression of wages, too. This is especially true to the entry level jobs.

I understand thee plight of illegal aliens, that they want a better standard of living. But, is this how you understand physics’ “Law of Displacement”? Wake up from your skewed ideas and improve your home countries instead!

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The American Green Card Lottery

US-Immigration-Reform — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:00:33 +0000

The Diversity Lottery or Green Card Lottery is held annually by the Department of State under the purview of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). It is open to people who would like to become legal residents of the US provided you are not a citizen of the countries already declared as ineligible to participate.

Eligibility

Each applicant is screened for eligibility and must meet requirements that are set by the State in order to be granted residency in the Green Card Visa Lottery. Citizens of countries who have sent over 50,000 immigrants to the US during the past five years no longer qualify for the lottery. They can opt for other immigration options instead like having a spousal visa, family sponsorship, etc.

The 50,000 immigrants are just a partial representation of the total immigrants from each country since this number only comes from family-sponsored, employment, or immediate relatives of U.S. citizen categories. Other mode of entry classifications such as being among refugees, asylum seekers, NACARA beneficiaries, or previous diversity immigrants are not on the list.

Here is a list of countries who are presently eniligible to send participants for the Diversity Lottery:

Brazil
Canada
China (mainland-born)
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Haiti
India
Jamaica
Mexico
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Poland
South Korea
United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories
Vietnam

Every applicant must meet requirements set by the Department of State. Presently, the administrators require having a higher level of education with a minimum of a High School diploma or have a minimum of two years of working experience on a job that needs a minimum of two years training. Aside from that, the winning participant must also pass a series of interview.

Entering the Immigration Lottery

All applications are done electronically. An applicant must fill out the electronic forms available on the U.S. Department of State website on the period of registration—and for FREE. If someone is asking you to fill out the application forms on a different website, it is already an obvious scam even if they have not asked you money. Sooner or later, they will.

The Selection Process

The selection process is computerized. Equal opportunity is one of their concerns. Hence, regions with fewer immigrants in the last five years receive more diversity visas. No country shall also be awarded 7% of the total lottery visas.

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Bishops to Take Immigration Reform as Next Campaign for Congress

US-Immigration-Reform — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 03:00:12 +0000

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has made their presence felt with many controversial issues tackled in the Congress including abortion and cloning related concerns. These efforts of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops are a strong indication of their commitment to preserve their influence in topics on human life and the likes. Now they are eyeing on the immigration reform legislation which is assumed to be taken up in Congress next year.

As early as now, the US bishops are reported to begin a postcard campaign on immigration reform in line with its goal to reunite families, regularize the status of illegal immigrants and restore due process protections for immigrants, according to the Catholic News Service.

“We want to increase Catholic grass-roots for immigration reform, but we also want to show members of Congress a strong Catholic voice and strong Catholic numbers in support of immigration reform,” Antonio Cube, national manager of the US bishops’ Justice for Immigrants project, in a conference call with reporters.

The said campaign is to take place on January 3 – 9, 2010, the bishops’ National Migration week.

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Arizona Governor Signs Tough Immigration Law

US-Immigration-Reform — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:01:49 +0000

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had just signed a controversial immigration bill, calling for the arrest of those who cannot document their legal status in the United States. This is in advance to the escalating immigration reform issue which is presently contested if it has to be addressed as a priority in Congress.

The law which will take effect after 90 days will make it a state crime for a person who to be in the country illegally. This authorizes the police to require a person to produce alien registration documents upon suspicion that he or she is an illegal immigrant. This can be a green card. The law also makes it illegal to transport illegal immigrants as well as hiring them. It also allows lawsuits pressed against government agencies that hamper the implementation of immigration laws.

It has been recalled that President Obama singled this out as “misguided”, and instead called for a national immigration reform.

Thousands of protesters rallied in front of the State Capitol calling that the law could be exploited for human rights abuses and is also a form of racial discrimination. In her response however, Governor Brewer called the critics “overreacting”. She reiterated that she will not tolerate racial profiling. The Governor further said that “this is in response to an emergency which the government has refused to act upon”.

It is estimated that 460,000 illegal immigrants live in Arizona, which also is the main point of entry for illegal immigrants crossing into the United States from Mexico.

The law has spurred various reactions for the public. “This law … affects the relationship between Arizona and Mexico and obligates the Mexican government to reevaluate the viability and usefulness of our cooperation,” Foreign Minister Espinosa in Mexico for instance was quoted while Representative John Kavanagh, a Republican who supported the measure, told Reuters that “It is a great day or the people of Arizona who will be safer once implemented.”

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Immigration Amnesty

US-Immigration-Reform — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:33:26 +0000

Immigration Amnesty is one of the most controversial issues on the political agenda of the United States since the nation’s early history. By 2008, studies showed that illegal immigrants outnumbered legal immigrants with the estimated number of 11.9 million undocumented persons living in the country. The country had experienced a great wave of illegal immigrants since 1920’s until the 21st century. However then, George W. Bush on his second term made a comprehensive immigration reform for the benefit of illegal immigrants. In 2007, the bipartisan bill was defeated due to lack of required votes in Congress.

On his first year, President Obama stressed that the Immigration reform would be on top of his list. However, due to last year’s economic downturn and the strained legislative fight over healthcare, the immigration issue has been set aside.

Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York who is a Democrat and Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina unveiled the initial outline of the proposed law last March 2010. The reform would require all illegal immigrants to admit they have broke the law before they could gain legal status and they should have a biometric identity card that shows they have legibility to work. President Obama expressed support for the bill saying “it should be the basis for moving forward.”

In no less than a month, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a law which is completely the opposite of the proposed law of Schumer and Graham. This state law aims to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants. The Arizona immigration bill gives the police the authority to demand immigration papers from anyone who is suspected of being an illegal resident— a move which the opposition said would obviously be an open invitation for discrimination and harassment against Hispanics in spite of their a possible legal citizenship. This move by Governor Brewer was also supported by Republican Senator John McCain.

The immigration reform has no doubt national consequences. Many politicians stay on the safe side. They choose to take no action as they know this will spur ethnic groups in the country. The issue even turned more complicated when Senator Graham backed away from supporting the Amnesty legislation.

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Asylum in US for Gays and Lesbians May Increase

US-Immigration-Reform — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:02:10 +0000

There is a possibility that an increased number of gays and lesbians will seek asylum in the US for fear of persecution in their own countries. This is based on a recent report released by Newsweek.

Reports have it that since the beginning of accepting sexual orientation in 1994, year by year, the number of asylum applications by gays and lesbians has increased. It goes to show that there has been an equal rise in violence or persecution towards not only the gays and lesbians but to bisexual and transgender community in other countries as well. Most of the asylum seekers came from the countries which are not openly accepting gays and lesbians in the society.

There have been a number of groups backing up gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals that are aware of the climbing number of asylum applicants. Difficult as it may seem, it’s not a hindrance for these people to go through the process of asylum just to secure an approval on their stay in the US. In order to be granted asylum status, they must provide proof of their sexuality. For those who have experienced some form of attack or abuse, they may present evidence showing that like medical records, published reports, police reports and others.

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visa bulletin febrero 2012 f2a

CAUSA Advocates Rally for Immigration Reform

US-Immigration-Reform — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:00:54 +0000

Members of CAUSA, an immigration rights group, rallied at the district offices Congressman Wu and Senator Merkley in Portland, Oregon to encourage them to support the new immigration bill. This is one of the many series of marches the group has planned for the whole month of January and February of this year. They can be expected to gather in front of their state’s Congressional delegates’ offices to lobby for support to the CIR ASAP or the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez D1III late last year.

The rally hopes to encourage Congressman Wu to backup CIR ASAP and for Senator Merkley to initiate a similar bill in the senate. CAUSA is targeting Oregon congressmen and senators to act and support immigration bill that will speed up processing of immigrant petitions, thus, reuniting families; protection of immigrant workers and development of a cleared path to citizenship of almost 11 million illegal immigrants in the US among many other causes. The only hope the group has for now is the signing of Congressman Earl Blumenauer on the HR4321.

CAUSA is an advocate group founded to promote immigrant rights and has strong ties with other immigrant groups in the country including Reform Immigration FOR America.

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US Visa Bulletin July 2011

US-Immigration-Reform — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:25:37 +0000

Here are the Priority Dates for July 2011 (Visa Bulletin July 2011) for Family Sponsored Categories:

Family Sponsored Categories:

1st
All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>01MAY04

CHINA-mainland born
>>01MAY04

INDIA
>>01MAY04

MEXICO
>>08MAR93

PHILIPPINES
>>15APR96

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>22MAR08

CHINA-mainland born
>>22MAR08

INDIA
>>22MAR08

MEXICO
>>15FEB08

PHILIPPINES
>>22MAR08

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>01JUL03

CHINA-mainland born
>>01JUL03

INDIA
>>01JUL03

MEXICO
>>22SEP92

PHILIPPINES
>>22SEP00

3rd

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>15JUL01

CHINA-mainland born
>>15JUL01

INDIA
>>15JUL01

MEXICO
>>15NOV92

PHILIPPINES
>>22MAR92

4^th

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>08MAR00

CHINA-mainland born
>>08MAR00

INDIA
>>08MAR00

MEXICO
>>01MAR96

PHILIPPINES
>>15MAR88

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US Visa Bulletin April 2011

US-Immigration-Reform — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:33:48 +0000

Here are the Priority Dates for April 2011 (Visa Bulletin April 2011) for Family Sponsored Categories:

Family Sponsored Categories:

1st
All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>01MAY04

CHINA-mainland born
>>01MAY04

INDIA
>>01MAY04

MEXICO
>>15FEB93

PHILIPPINES
>>01APR95

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>01APR07

CHINA-mainland born
>>01APR07

INDIA
>>01APR07

MEXICO
>>01JUL06

PHILIPPINES
>>01APR07

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>15APR03

CHINA-mainland born
>>15APR03

INDIA
>>15APR03

MEXICO
>>15JUL92

PHILIPPINES
>>01DEC99

3rd

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>15MAR01

CHINA-mainland born
>>15MAR01

INDIA
>>15MAR01

MEXICO
>>08NOV92

PHILIPPINES
>>01JAN92

4^th

All Chargeability Areas except those listed
>>01FEB00

CHINA-mainland born
>>01FEB00

INDIA
>>01FEB00

MEXICO
>>01FEB96

PHILIPPINES
>>08MAR88