I'm going to start posting these to hopefully shame USCIS in to better training examiners and getting rid of those who simply aren't up to the job. Here's one for an H-1B filed for a primary care physician. We submitted all of the expected documentation including the medical license, medical degree, board certifications, ECFMG equivalency certificate, etc. We didn't think we needed to prove that a physician actually requires a college degree, but apparently this was not obvious to the examiner.

Fellow lawyers and others who want to share are welcome to send me redacted RFEs and denials that have to be seen to be believed.

Last week ImmigrationImpact blogged that the well known American Heritage Dictionary added the term "Anchor Baby" to its dictionary without noting the terribly offensive nature of the term (I delete posts where people use the term as I consider it a slur). According to II, the definition reads

anchor baby n. A child born to a noncitizen mother in a country that grants automatic citizenship to children born on its soil, especially such a child born to parents seeking to secure eventual citizenship for themselves and often other members of their family.

The blog rightly noted that the term never had a neutral meaning and has always been used in a political context. And thanks to ImmigrationImpact's advocacy, the editors of American Heritage have backed off:

In response to ImmigrationImpact.com’s critique of the definition of “anchor baby” included in the latest edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the executive editor of the dictionary has agreed to revise the definition of to reflect the derogatory nature of the term. In conversations with Mary Giovagnoli, Director of the Immigration Policy Center, Executive Editor Steven Kleinedler promised a swift and careful revision of the term. Mr. Kleinedler noted that the editors are already undergoing further review on how the term is commonly used and said “we will be adding a label to the term, either derogatory or offensive, which I acknowledge should have been done in the first place, and we will determine how to revise the definition. Then on Monday we begin making the actual change—first on the website, and then we begin propagating the change out to the electronic products and in the next printing.”

Well done!

About The Author

Gregory Siskind is a partner in Siskind Susser's Memphis, Tennessee, office. After graduating magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University, he received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago. Mr. Siskind is a member of AILA, a board member of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and a member of the ABA, where he serves on the LPM Publishing Board as Marketing Vice Chairman. He is the author of several books, including the J Visa Guidebook and The Lawyer's Guide to Marketing on the Internet. Mr. Siskind practices all areas of immigration law, specializing in immigration matters of the health care and technology industries. He can be reached by email at gsiskind@visalaw.com.

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