I enjoyed lunch last week with my friend Angelo Paparelli at the International Bar Association meeting in Vancouver where I was speaking on US immigration policymaking. Angelo's great when he's on a rant and he's got a doosy in his latest blog post with an extensive list of pretty difficult questions for the various agencies that manage the US immigration system.

Permanent resident Erick de Leon, a Mexican national, is hoping to have his citizenship application process expedited in order to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London. The New York Times reports that the process has been anything but easy despite his being one of this country's best hopes for reclaiming gold in boxing.?

Here are the highlights:

Family 1st- no improvement for most countries; one week advance for Mexico and one month for the Philippines

Family 2A - Solid improvements; world numbers jump from April 2010 to June 2010; Mexico moves up three months to March 2010. 

Family 2B - Solid improvements; world numbers jump from April 2005 to June 2005; Mexico and the Philippines are stalled.

Family 3rd - Modest improvements; Most countries advance one month to June 2002. Mexico and the Philippines are stalled.

Family 4th - Modest improvements; one month jump for most countries to January 2002. One week advance for Mexico. The Philippines is stalled.

Employment 1st - still current in all categories

Employment 2nd - weak movement for India and China; just a week improvement for China (22 May 2006) and stalled for India (8 May 2006).

Employment 3rd - weak movement; two week advance for most countries; one week advance for India and Mexico

Employment 3rd Other Workers - one week improvement for all countries

Employment 4th - still current in all categories

Employment 5th - still current in all categories

Opponents of Arizona's SB1070 immigration law scored another victory in the courts yesterday. In the case of Friendly House v. Whiting, the court overruled a motion to dismiss the case challenging the law. The judge noted that "Racial discrimination was a motivating factor for [S.B.] 1070’s enactment" which establishes a legitimate constitutional challenge to the law. While this is only the opening round in the case, it does suggest that the defenders of the law will have a tough time convincing the judge that the law is constitutional.