Yawn. But at least the Washington Post's Spencer Hsu reminds people that these groups are linked with extremists.
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Bloggings On Immigration Law And Policyby Greg SiskindEditor's note: Here are the latest entries from Greg Siskind's blog. September 14, 2009
ANTIS DESCEND ON CAPITOL HILL
Yawn. But at least the Washington Post's Spencer Hsu reminds people that these groups are linked with extremists.
MORE PEOPLE ARE ASKING WHETHER JOE WILSON REALLY PRACTICED IMMIGRATION LAWYER
Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo each link to my post from Friday. Zackary Roth at TCM also checked with additional immigration lawyers in South Carolina who had similar reports to the ones with whom I spoke. And not to stray too far from the more important question, my friend Marshall Fitz at the Center for American Progress has a new piece refuting the lie that illegally present immigrants are covered by health care reform proposals. September 11, 2009
DID JOE WILSON MAKE UP STORY ABOUT PRACTICING IMMIGRATION LAW?
Yesterday Congressman Joe Wilson talked to reporters about his claim that the President was lying about immigrants having access to health care subsidies under the President's health care plan. According to the NY Times:
It struck me immediately that this would be bizarre if true. Going from representing immigrants to being a member of the virulently anti-immigrant Immigration Reform Caucus and getting an A- rating from anti-immigrant group Numbers USA as well as support from the anti-immigrant fundraising group ALIPAC would show a dramatic tranformation in one's views. I've been practicing immigration law in the South for nearly 20 years and know a lot of my fellow immigration lawyers in this region. I didn't recognize the name Joe Wilson from West Columbia, South Carolina. So I decided to call some of my friends in the Carolina immigration bar - including some from Columbia - and no one is aware of Congressman Wilson ever handling immigration matters. South Carolina's immigration bar is not large. And immigration in the state has only been substantial in recent years. Wilson left private practice in 2001 so the odds of him having an immigration practice that escaped the notice of the state's handful of other immigration lawyers is extremely remote. Did Congressman Wilson - who is making national headlines for calling the President a liar - lie to the national media about his being an immigration lawyer? If so, why? Was it somehow to make it seem like his incorrect reading of the health care bill's immigration provision was accurate? Congressman Wilson can clear this up by producing evidence of having filed immigration cases and actually having knowledge of immigration law. Former immigration clients of Joe Wilson - speak up and show the world your former lawyer is not the liar he accuses the President of being! September 10, 2009
WILSON CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN AN IMMIGRATION LAWYER IN THE PAST. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, that revelation just made my head explode. The "You Lie!" Congressman claims to have been an immigration lawyer before going to Congress. I'm working on whether that is true or has the same truthiness as the illegal aliens in the health care bill myth.
FACT CHECK: ILLEGALLY PRESENT IMMIGRANTS AND HEALTH CARE REFORM
Since Congressman Wilson is having conniptions about illegally present immigrants being granted free health care, I thought I would provide a link to an article debunking this myth. Hope this makes you sleep better tonight, Congressman. I'm really worried about you.
OCTOBER VISA BULLETIN NUMBERS SHOW MODEST IMPROVEMENTS
October is usually a month where we see improvements as new visa numbers become available for a new fiscal year. Most categories showed forward movement though few jumps of more than a few months. The exception is the Mexico Family 1st category which jumps a year and a half. EB-3 is available again, but not set at a date particularly close. Most people will not be happy with the dates. Family 1st - Advancement of worldwide, China and India numbers by nine weeks to 22 JUL 2003. Mexico jumps 18 months to 8 JUN 1992. The Philippines jumps two weeks to 8 OCT 1993. Family 2A - Worldwide, India, China and the Philippines numbers advance six weeks to 1 JUN 2005. Mexico jumps 13 weeks to 01 MAR 2003. Family 2B - Worldwide, India and China numbers advance seven weeks to 22 AUG 2001. Mexico moves one week to 22 MAY 1992. The Philippines is still stalled at 01 MAY 1998. Family 3rd - Worldwide, India and China advances one month to 15 JAN 2001. Mexico moves one week to 08 JUL 1991. The Philippines moves forward three weeks to 22 SEP 1991. Family 4th - Worldwide numbers, China and India advance seven weeks to 15 APR 1999. Mexico moves three weeks forward to 08 OCT 1995. The Philippines moves five weeks to 01 DEC 1986. Employment 1st - All categories remain current. Employment 2nd - Worldwide, Mexico and the Philippines remain current. China moves forward ten weeks to 22 MAR 2005 and India moves forward two weeks to 22 JAN 2005. Employment 3rd skilled/professional workers –This category is available again and is set at 1 JUN 2002 for the worldwide quota as well as the Philippines. China is set at 22 FEB 2002. India is set at 15 APR 2001 and Mexico is set at 1 MAY 2002. The EB-3 unskilled workers category is also now available with numbers set at 1 JUN 2001 for all countries except India which is at 15 APR 2001. Employment 4th – This category is unavailable since the category expires on September 30th. The program has been extended in the DHS spending bill, but the final bill has not yet been approved. Employment 5th – All categories remain current except pilot program cases are unavailable. This category is unavailable since the category expires on September 30th. The program has been extended in the DHS spending bill, but the final bill has not yet been approved. September 09, 2009
PRESIDENT HECKLED BY GOP CONGRESSMAN OVER BOGUS CLAIM THAT ILLEGALLY PRESENT IMMIGRANTS WILL BE COVERED IN IN HEALTH CARE BILL
There has been an interesting alliance of antis in both the health care and immigration arenas to scare people in to believing that illegally present immigrants will be eligible for subsidies to secure health insurance under the health care reform proposal being pushed by President Obama. That claim is patently false. But that did not stop one extremist in the Congress, Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) from screaming "You lie!" when President Obama addressed that myth. This appalling lack of respect has already led the GOP to go in to damage control mode and Wilson issued an apology within minutes of the President's speech ending. The apology was really one of those non-apology apologies where he didn't apologize for making a false claim, just for the outburst.
MARTINEZ BIDS FAREWELL AND URGES SENATE TO PASS IMMIGRATION REFORM A voice of reason in the GOP on immigration departs. He will be missed in this process. In the mean time, Florida's new Senator, George LeMieux, is certainly not sounding like a fighter for immigration reform. According to the Orlando Sentinel:
OBAMA IMMIGRATION DETENTION HEAD LEAVING JOB
Just a month after her appointment as the DHS official charged with overhauling the immigration detention system, Dora Schriro announced she is leaving the position to become the director of corrections for the City of New York. The New York Times reports that Schriro is leaving to care for a sick family member in New York. The Times' Nina Bernstein discussed the impact of the departure on reform efforts:
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