| |
3900 Veterans Memorial Hwy
Suite 120
Bohemia, NY 11716
Tel:  631-588-4040
Fax: 631-588-7175
E-mail: mczwaik@zwaik.com
|
| |
2753 Coney Island Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11235
Tel: 718-891-0007
Fax: 718-891-1203
|
|
|
|
|
Contents
|
|
MITCHELL'S MESSAGE
|
|
|
Happy New Year!
These are certainly busy times in the immigration field. The new Democratic controlled Congress
has pledged to act quickly on Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the early signs are that both
houses of Congress will take up the issue in the next 2 to 3 months. While the news media continues
to concentrate on the possible impact for undocumented aliens, any new legislation will hopefully
bring relief for beleaguered employers who are continuously having to work around confusing and
contradictory immigration laws to meet their staffing needs. This month's newsletter focuses on
these issues and highlights other important immigration news as well.
If you have comments or suggestions about this newsletter, call me at
631-588-4040 or e-mail me at
mczwaik@zwaik.com.
Thanks.
Mitchell Zwaik
|
|
IMMIGRATION NEWS
|
|
|
2008 Diversity Visa Lottery Registrations
Over 6.4 million entries for the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery were received during the two-month electronic
registration period from October 4, 2006 through December 3, 2006 -- an increase from the more than
5.5 million applications received in the 2007 Diversity Visa Lottery. Taking into account dependents,
there are more than 10 million participants in the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery.
Most of the applications were from Africa and Asia -- with 41 percent of the total from Africa,
38 percent from Asia, 19 percent coming from Europe, and 2 percent coming from South America,
Central America, and the Caribbean. The largest number of applicants came from Bangladesh
(more than 1.7 million applicants) followed by Nigeria (684,735) and Ukraine (619,584).
The number of winning entries by country will be available after the random lottery process
is conducted next year.
Winners will be notified with a letter mailed from the Kentucky Consular Center confirming the name,
date of birth, and country of chargeability for the registrant -- as well as a time/date stamp when
entries were registered. Notification will be sent to the winning entrants by mail, only between April 2007
and July 2007 -- and will provide further instructions, including information on fees connected with
immigration to the United States.
There have been several attempts to defraud Diversity Visa Lottery entrants. Lottery entrants selected
as winners in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified only by the Department of State's Kentucky
Consular Center. No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to contact
winning entrants.
USCIS Admits its Systems are Already Overwhelmed
With the Congress prepared to act on an Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation that could provide
some legal status for up to 12 million undocumented aliens, USCIS issued a report indicating that it is
unable to effectively manage its existing work, much less a flood of new applications.
A report released Dec 20th by Homeland Security Inspector General Richard L. Skinner cited a long list of
setbacks and concurred with internal USCIS reviews that the bureau "lacks the processing capacity, systems
integration and project management resources needed to manage a potential increase in workloads." A project
to replace the nationwide computer network has been halted because the agency lacks $72 million to complete
it. A staff reorganization was frozen because of deficiencies "that hinder day-to-day IT operations,"
according to the report.
But in recent months, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials have determined that
the troubled $2-billion-a-year agency is in the midst of its third major modernization effort in
three years, leaving some employees confused over whether such efforts were completed or were ever begun,
the report said.
Many legal immigrants already face years-long waits when they apply for green cards, often a first step
toward obtaining permanent residency. Another 100,000 names submitted to the FBI for background checks
have been on hold for a year or more. Congressional auditors recently reported that 14 immigration
offices had lost track of 111,000 files as of July.
The inspector's report noted that the agency shelved pilot programs to streamline one type of
business-sponsored visa application in October and electronic processing of immigration benefits
in March because of cost, timing and contracting challenges. "USCIS may be losing momentum and
user confidence," the report said.
Congress withheld $47 million from USCIS this year pending approval of a final technology overhaul
plan by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Congress's audit arm, the Government
Accountability Office. A USCIS contractor reported the plan would cost $400 million to $1.4 billion,
depending on what the agency decides it needs.
USCIS Launches Online Change of Address Service
USCIS announced this month that it had launched a Web-based service to allow non-citizens to notify the
agency of any change of address. All non-citizens are required by law to notify USCIS of any change of
address within 10 days of the move by completing a simple one-page form known as an AR-11. The form can be
downloaded directly from the USCIS Web site. It must be mailed to the Service, which does not provide
a receipt other than a postal receipt, if sent certified mail, return receipt requested. The online
service requires the applicant to provide new and old address, names and biological information about
the family and the date and location of the last entry into the U.S. If the non-citizens has an A#,
he or she will need to provide that as well. USCIS currently processes one million change of address
requests each year.
|
|
EMPLOYER NEWS
|
|
|
ICE Continues Worksite Raids
On December 12, 2006, approximately one thousand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents
entered six Swift & Company meatpacking plants -- in Greeley, Colorado; Grand Island, Nebraska; Cactus,
Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minnesota -- with warrants permitting the
agents to search and apprehend undocumented immigrant workers. According to a news release issued
by ICE on December 13th, agents arrested 1,282 undocumented immigrant workers on administrative
immigration violations -- including 65 who were also charged with criminal violations, such as
identity theft, re-entry after deportation, and other violations. ICE did not bring charges
against Swift officials during the raids.
ICE stated that those workers arrested only for administrative immigration violations are being
detained pending removal proceedings or immediate return to Mexico. Those charged with criminal
violations will be remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service, pending criminal court
proceedings before a federal judge. Family members seeking information on the status or location
of undocumented Swift workers who may have been arrested may call 1-866-341-3858. Members report,
however, that information may be limited.
The raids were conducted as part of a worksite enforcement investigation -- Operation Wagon Trail --
begun in February 2006, that uncovered a large identity theft scheme providing fraudulent social
security numbers to large numbers of unauthorized workers at Swift facilities. This investigation
is viewed by many immigration advocates as a troubling shift in ICE's tactics, from a strategy
focused on worksite enforcement to a new emphasis on identity theft. Advocates fear that the agency's
new focus on identity theft may serve to further stigmatize and criminalize undocumented immigrants
while obscuring the underlying problems in our immigration system that fuel identity fraud and
unauthorized employment.
Long Island Employers are cautioned again to have their I-9s in order, in the event of such a raid.
An employer has an absolute defense to any charge of illegally employing an undocumented alien if
the employer has properly prepared and saved the I-9 form.
|
|
IMMIGRATION REFORM
|
|
|
As the 110th Congress -- with its new Democratic majority -- began work in January, comprehensive immigration
reform takes its place near the top of the agenda. New Democratic Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced
that the House would take up comprehensive immigration legislation during the first 100 days of the session.
Making good on this announcement during its first full week in session, members of Congress have already
introduced a flurry of immigration-related legislation. Perhaps most significantly, on January 4, 2007,
Senator Reid (D-NV) introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 9), the ninth of the
first ten bills to originate in the 110th U.S. Senate. Currently a "placeholder" bill, it contains only
a "Sense of the Congress" statement, that calls for a bill "to provide for more effective border and
employment enforcement, to prevent illegal immigration, and to reform and rationalize avenues for legal
immigration." It is expected the bill will be amended in the coming weeks to contain a full comprehensive
immigration reform proposal.
In a related measure, the House and Senate joined in introducing the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity,
Benefits, and Security Act of 2007 (AgJOBS). The bill seeks to improve the current H2-A visa program
that admits foreign agricultural workers on a temporary basis. This year, our nation's farmers are
facing severe labor shortages due to outdated immigration laws that do not match modern day economic
realities. A recent study by the American Farm Bureau Federation indicated that cutting off illegal
immigrant labor could cost U.S. agriculture up to $9 billion in production losses, a cost that would
inevitably be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher food prices.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, undocumented immigrants fill as many as 25 percent of all farming
jobs in America. However, many of this season's crops have been left rotting in states like California,
Idaho and Washington, because the growers are crippled by the inability to find the workers they rely on
to fill these jobs.
Their principal labor supply is drying up due to tightened border security, active enforcement of internal
regulations, and an increase in the activity of vigilante groups -- all of which threaten undocumented workers
with incarceration and eventual deportation.
|
|
ASK THE ATTORNEY
|
|
|
Question:
I understand that you expect a new immigration bill in the next few months.
I have friends that may benefit from this bill. Is there anything they can do to get ready for it?
Answer:
It is difficult to predict exactly what any new legislation -- if it becomes law -- will require.
We can, however, look at the Senate immigration reform bill that died in committee last year for
some guidance. That bill provided for a stepped up hierarchy of benefits. Undocumented aliens who
had been in the U.S. for five years or more would receive the greatest benefits. Those here more
than two years, but less than five, would receive lesser benefits. In the past, when the immigration
law has required applicants to prove their presence in the U.S for any period of time, USCIS has
required documented proof. This has included, payroll records, tax returns, banking records,
leases, motor vehicle records, utility bills, medical or dental records, insurance bills or
policies, children's birth or school records, marriage certificates, and related records.
Also, if your friend has previous immigration or criminal arrests, he or she should start
now to obtain copies of those records.
Question:
I have a previous deportation order. Will I be included in any new legislation?
Answer:
Again, it is difficult to predict the language of any new bill that has yet to be introduced into
the Congress, but most observers believe that people with prior immigration orders will likely qualify.
The law will probably require these people to go back to Court to clear up these prior orders through
a procedure known as a Motion to Reopen.
|
|
DID YOU KNOW?
|
|
|
America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs
A new study from Duke University indicates that immigrant entrepreneurs founded 25.3 percent of
the U.S. engineering and technology companies established in the past decade. Furthermore,
foreign nationals contributed to an estimated 24.2 percent of international patent applications in 2006.
The goal of this research was to document the economic and intellectual contributions of immigrant
technologists and engineers at the national level. To understand the economic impact, the study looked
at a large sample of all engineering and technology companies founded in the last ten years to
determine whether a key founder was an immigrant. To understand the intellectual contribution,
they analyzed the World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Cooperation Treaty database
for international patent applications filed in the United States.
Click here to
read the full report.
More Immigrants in the Military
Currently the 30,000 immigrants serving in the U.S. military make up about 2 percent of the active-duty
force. About 100 have been killed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As it struggles to meet its recruiting
goals, the Pentagon is considering expanding the number of immigrants in the ranks, by putting more immigrants
on a faster track to U.S. citizenship if they volunteer and by opening recruiting stations overseas.
Economic Impact of Undocumented Immigrants
The Texas comptroller has issued a report on the impact of undocumented immigrants on the state
budget and economy that concludes "The Comptroller's office estimates the absence of the estimated
1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our Gross
State Product of $17.7 billion. Also, the Comptroller's office estimates that state revenues
collected from undocumented immigrants exceed what the state spent on services, with the
difference being $424.7 million."
|
|
|
