Time to Cross the Line

Once again states are spearheading the path to comprehensive immigration reform.  However, instead of expanding federal law, this time states are offering up bipartisan solutions.  On December 9, 2012, a bipartisan group of Colorado leaders signed The Colorado Compact which presents a “common sense” approach to immigration reform.  Supporters of the Compact included not only democrats, such as Senator Michael Bennet and Governor John Hickenlooper, but republicans, including former Governor Richard Lamm and Senator Bennet’s campaign opponent, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck. 

Colorado was not the first state to sign such a compact.  Three other states, including Utah, Indiana, and Maine, have also published compacts on immigration reform.  A fifth state, Iowa, has drafted an immigration compact, but has yet to sign it.  The Utah Compact was signed in November 2010, under the direction of Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.  Upon the signing of The Colorado Compact, Attorney General Shurtleff remarked, “As more states and regions adhere to the principles . . . ultimately that will support brave members in Congress on each side by doing the right thing.”

This is also not the first time that Colorado leaders have come together to develop and publish suggestions on immigration reform.  In 2009, the University of Denver formed the Strategic Issues Panel on Immigration which collected information and opinions from leaders in government, business, labor, law enforcement, and education among many industries to develop a list of 25 recommendations for reform “grounded in creating economic and social benefits to the nation as a whole while maintaining national security.”  The six principles presented in The Colorado Compact is a “bipartisan and rational solution” to fix our “broken” immigration system.

The message is clear that citizens, regardless of political standings, want Congress to act now and pass comprehensive immigration reform.  Action will require that both sides cross the proverbial line in the sand.  Utah’s Attorney General Mark Shurtleff observed that the Republicans who “had to stick their neck out” and “stood up and fought for comprehensive reform were all reelected” despite the backlash they received at the time.  The “Gang of Eight” in the senate is a manifestation of the lessons learned in the last election regarding immigration reform.  Consisting of both democrats and republicans, including Senator Bennet and Republic Senator Mike Lee of Utah, the Gang of Eight began meeting to discuss immigration reform in 2013 in December 2012.

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Back to School

By Kim Tremblay, Associate Attorney

 

As summer comes to a close, millions of students across the United States are returning to school. In the current popular and political discourse, foreign students lawfully present in the United States to pursue their studies are rarely mentioned. Last year, the Department of State issued about half a million F-1 student visas to students coming to the United States from abroad. This number does not include scholars and students coming to the United States on J-1 exchange visitor visas. Students migrate from every corner of the globe to study in our schools; the majority, over 150,000 students, are Chinese nationals.

 

These students gain many benefits from studying in the United States, such as a good education or a different cultural or educational perspective. However, Americans are the true beneficiaries of these foreign students’ presence in our schools. Foreign students bring a global perspective to the classroom and expose local students to new ideas. They pay out-of-state tuition, helping maintain programs at Universities, many of which face increasing financial struggles.

 

Surely surprising to many people, these students inject billions of dollars annually into the U.S. economy. According to NAFSA, an association of international educators, they spend over 20 billion dollars every year. They pay tuition and fees to Universities, but they and their families also contribute to local economies through their living expenses. For example, during the 2010-2011 school year, there were 7,688 foreign students living in Colorado. They spent over $235,000,000 in Colorado that year alone in contributions to both their schools and adopted communities.

 

The above-mentioned facts, along with the issue of retaining foreign talent after graduation, represent yet another topic that should be considered in our national dialogue regarding immigration reform.

 

See http://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/eis2011/Colorado.pdf

See http://travel.state.gov/visa/statistics/graphs/graphs_4399.html

See http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY11AnnualReport-Table%20XVII.pdf

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Call for "Humane" Immigration Policy in GOP Presidential Debate

Last night, the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination gathered for their eleventh debate (still thirteen to go). This debate focused on national security issues. Late in the debate, the topic turned to immigration policy and specifically on what to do with the 11 million people in the United States without immigration status.

While most of the candidates only spoke about the need to secure the border, Newt Gingrich, who is currently at the top or near the top of national GOP polling, set himself apart from the crowd by actually addressing the 11 million people who are already here and calling for a "humane" solution. Gingrich indicated that deporting someone who has been living, working, paying taxes, and attending church in the United States for 25 years is not practical and not humane.

"I do believe if you've come here recently and you have no ties to the U.S., we should deport you," Gingrich said, but he stated, "I don't see any reason to punish someone who came here at 3 years of age and wants to serve the United States of America," in apparent support of DREAM Act-type legislation.

Gingrich indicated that for those who have been here for a long period of time with deep roots in our community and have not committed crimes, there should be some way to legalize their status without separating families. He added that if Republicans want to be the party of families, they cannot support ripping these types of families apart. Gingrich recognized the potential political problems his stance could make for him in the GOP, saying, "I'm prepared to take the heat for saying, 'Let's be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but by finding a way to create legality so they are not separated from their families.'"

Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House with unquestioned conservative credentials, deserves credit for standing apart from the crowd and trying to shift the conversation toward realistic solutions in the midst of a GOP primary.

Mitt Romney's response to Gingrich during the debate was with unflinching opposition to anything that smelled of amnesty. Romney, though, has in the past taken a very similar position to Gingrich regarding those already in the country. As recently as 2007, Romney was quoted in the Lowell Sun newspaper saying, "I don't believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country. With these 11 million people, let's have them registered, know who they are. Those who've been arrested or convicted of crimes shouldn't be here; those that are paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship, as they would from their home country."

While it would be an overstatement to suggest that there is broad support for any type of immigration reform in the Republican party, the fact that two top candidates for the nomination are (or recently have been before becoming staunchly anti-amnesty) supportive of a humane and realistic approach to dealing with those already in the country without status is the first hint in a long time that there may be some daylight for future immigration reform.

Read the RealClearPolitics article on the immigration exchange in last night's debate here.

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DREAM Act Would Reduce Deficit Over Ten Year Period

The DREAM Act, a bill under consideration by Congress which would create a pathway to citizenship for the children of undocumented workers who meet certain requirements, would reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion over the next 10 years according to a Congressional Budget Office ("CBO"), and independent and nonpartisan agency. The deficit reduction would come as a result of the increase in revenues by having a larger pool of authorized workers.

The CBO report indicates that the longterm effects of the DREAM Act on the deficit are less clear and could potentially increase the deficit after 2020 when beneficiaries of the DREAM Act are eligible to become lawful permanent residents. But according to an article in the Huffington Post by Elise Foley, DREAM Act proponents argue that such longterm projections fail to take into account that beneficiaries of the DREAM Act will enter higher paying jobs over time and will thus increase revenue through paying more taxes.

The DREAM Act is expected to come up for a vote during the current lame-duck session.

To see the CBO report, click here.

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Dream Act

 Recent poll indicates that 70% of Americans are in favor of DREAM Act.  The DREAM (Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act would allow certain qualifying undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States when they were young children to become lawful permanent residents. Under the DREAM Act, students who have lived in the United States for at least five years could become lawful permanent residents, so long as they stay out of trouble, earn a high school diploma or G.E.D., and complete at least two years of college or military service. First Focus, a family-advocacy organization, recently conducted a poll that indicates that 70% of Americans are in favor of the DREAM Act, despite strong anti-immigrant rhetoric and a strong push for comprehensive immigration reform. First Focus’ president, Bruce Lesley, believes that the poll shows that most Americans are concerned that not allowing undocumented immigrant students to continue their educations beyond high school could spell harmful economic consequences for American society.  For more information on the DREAM Act, please visit: http://dreamact.info/
For more information on the First Focus poll, please visit: http://firstfocus.net/library/polling-and-opinion-research/public-support-for-the-dream-act

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Immigration Reform: Federal or State Issue

With the recent passage of the Arizona Immigration law, many states have jumped on the bandwagon of finding immigration reform. In a recent article, it is found that Nebraska is following suit. The new ordinance which will be voted on today, Monday June 21, 2010, if approved, would prohibit businesses from hiring illegal immigrants and halt landlords from renting to them. However, as our precedent shows, if this ordinance passes it will most likely be struck down and bring about many legal issues. The article highlights similar laws that have been voter approved in Pennsylvania and Texas, only to be later struck down by the courts. In 2007 it is stated by a federal judge that immigration laws should be left solely to the federal government. In Texas, 2008, it was found that a law that bars landlords from renting to illegal immigrants was unconstitutional. Nebraska’s ACLU executive director said that “it’s the federal government’s responsibility to set immigration policy and we are not well-served when communities or states try to set policy on their own.” It’s the lack of federal immigration reform that is causing states to take matters into their own hands. This is, again, a call to federal action of comprehensive immigration reform. With federal reform comes secure borders and logical and enforceable immigration policies.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/21/fremont.immigration.ballot/index.html

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE: LIMITED AVAILABILITY FOR VISAS TO THOSE BORN IN INDIA OR CHINA

Mr. Charles Oppenheim of the Department of State Visa Office has advised AILA of the following predictions for the movement of priority dates for the remainder of FY2009 and future years. He estimates that all 140,000 employment-based immigrant visa numbers will be used this fiscal year (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009). EB1 and EB2 Visas for China and India remain in high demand, while EB3 visas for China and India will be unavailable for the rest of the year.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL DOES AWAY WITH COMPEAN ORDER

The Attorney General Eric Holder vacated the order issued in Matter of Compean by Attorney General Mukasey, and announced his intention to initiate a new rulemaking proceeding for regulations to govern claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings. The order in Matter of Compean limited non-citizen's ability to make claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in immigration proceedings.

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DOL ANNOUNCES NEW iCERT PORTAL SYSTEM FOR TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT LABOR CERTIFICATIONS

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is announcing a new electronic system for submitting the Labor Condition Application (LCA) and the Application for Permanent Employment Certification.

The Department plans to initially activate the iCERT system for purposes of establishing user accounts and filing the new LCA form (9035E). The system will be located at http://icert.doleta.gov. On and after April 15, 2009, the iCERT portal will be available for the sumission of ETA 9035E (electronic LCA H-1B application). The current electronic LCA system will continue to be available through May 14, 2009. However, effective May 15, 2009, the LCA for the H-1B program will be available for submission only through the iCERT portal system.

The PERM application, FORM ETA 9089, will become available for application submission on September 1, 2009. To allow for an appropriate transition, both systems will be active during the month of September. However, beginning October 1, 2009, PERM applications will be submitted electronically only through iCERT system accounts.

For more information, visit the ETA website for the iCERT Factsheet.

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Voting: Do it because you can

This is a day where I am so proud to be an immigration attorney. Today I received a message from Tony Suda. Tony has been a client of Joseph Law Firm, P.C. for several years. Today, he cast his first ballot as a Citizen of the United States of America. He e-mailed me to express his gratitude for our services and to describe the emotion that he felt as he cast his ballot in this historic election. This is a picture of Tony, casting his vote.

On this day, we will elect our first African-American President or our first female Vice President. This is truly an amazing and inspirational step-forward for our democracy. However, on this historic day, as Barack Obama and Sarah Palin enter the ballot booths, it is important to remember that African-Americans did not even enjoy the right to vote until 140 years ago when Congress passed the 15th Amendment. It is even more shocking that women did not have the right to vote until 1920 when the 19th Amendment was passed. Voting is the ultimate symbol of political power and denial of the right to vote the ultimate tool of political disenfranchisement.

I am struck by the fundamental importance of the vote and the power of the vote as a tool for political, societal and moral change. People have marched, struggled and died to exercise the right. The ability to vote is the single most important of our Constitutional rights. It is our vote that enables us to elect our leaders, to determine which ballot initiatives reflect our values, who will speak for us in government, and who will express our will in the laws that are passed for our communities and our country.

At the same time it is important to know that many of the people I represent have never enjoyed this most fundamental of rights. In fact, many of them have come to this country fleeing oppressive governmental regimes that would imprison, torture or kill them for even considering expressing political opinions that are contrary to those of the political party in power. To these individuals, their ultimate dream in seeking refuge in the United States is that one day, they too would be able to freely cast their vote, voice an opinion--even a contrary one--and live to tell about it.

Immigrants do not have the right to vote. This is a right reserved exclusively to citizens. For many immigrants, it is a decades-long and torturous road to citizenship and the right to vote, but it is one that they are more than willing to take. To the extent that they have no right to vote, immigrants (both documented and undocumented) are the most politically disenfranchised group of people living in our country.

It is a travesty that those most effected by our nonsensical and broken immigration system are completely powerless to change it. It is up to us as Citizens today to cast our votes for leaders who will be courageous enough to fix our broken system, and it is up to our elected leaders, whoever they may be, to put politics aside and fix it.

Fixing our broken system means allowing the millions of undocumented people who are living here, paying taxes and contributing to our economy to come out of the shadows. It means sorting between those who are here to do us harm and those who are merely trying to provide a decent living for their families. It means allowing those who are willing to learn English, pay taxes and avoid committing crimes to regularize their status and to put them on a pathway to citizenship. It means ending the decades-long backlogs in family and employment based immigration and eliminating the systemic incentives to cross the border illegally because it is impossible to do it legally. It means creating a sensible guestworker program that matches willing workers with needing employers so as to improve our economy and create jobs.

Cast your vote today. Cast it because you can. Cast it for the sake of the millions around the world and in our own country who do not have the freedom or power to voice an opinion.

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