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Editor's Comments
ILW.COM's new seminar "Latest Developments relating to Consular/Visa Issues
& Border Security" features the following speakers from the Department of
State:
- Robyn Bishop - Minister for Consular Affairs, Mexico
- Leslie Gerson - Minister for Consular Affairs, Canada
- Steve Giegrich - NIV Visa Chief, Canada
- Mary Grandfield - IV Visa Chief, Canada
Peter Gordon, Assistant Regional Commissioner, Office of Inspections, at
the INS will also be a speaker for this seminar series. The discussion will
be led by Bernard Wolfsdorf and Avi Friedman. They will be joined by
veteran practitioner Allen Kaye. Steve Fischel of the Department of State
has also been tentatively scheduled to speak.
The registration deadline is Thursday, December 12th.
For more info, including detailed curriculum, speaker bios, and
registration information online, click here.
For more info, including detailed curriculum, speaker bios, and
registration information by fax, click here.
ILW.COM Focus
Deadline Is Thursday, December 12th!
Thursday, December 12th is the deadline to sign up for ILW.COM's new
seminar "Latest Developments relating to Consular/Visa Issues & Border
Security" Several government officials will participate with Bernard
Wolfsdorf and Avi Friedman leading the discussion. The curriculum is as
follows:
FIRST Phone Session on December 17: Consular/Visa Application Issues
- Recent Changes in Consular Processing at Border Posts
- Changes to TCN Appointment System
- Amendment to the Automatic Revalidation Provision of 22 CFR 42.112(d)
- Procedures Followed if Visa Denied
- How to get back to U.S. if denied visa at Border Post
- Exceptions to 222(g)
- Security Checks and the accompanying Delays - Security Advisory
Opinions (SAO)
- NCIC updated with over 7 million records (even simple offenses)
- Visa Condor Checks
- Technology Alert List
- IPASS
- Spot Checks of Visas
- Understanding the Revised and New Visa Application Forms
- DS-156
- DS-157
- DS-158
- Canadian Landed Immigrants from Commonwealth Countries
- Is Revalidation of Visas through DOS still an Option?
SECOND Phone Session on January 31: Inspection/Admission Border Security Issues
- Lookout Lists: CLASS, IBIS, CAPS, AIPS, NAILS, NCIC
- Special Registration - Designated Ports of Departure (POD)
- Data Sharing/Mining
- Entry/Exit Control
- Admissions under Advance Parole
- Automatic Visa Revalidation - 22 CFR 41.112(d)
- Student Commuters
- Proposed B Regulation including B-2 Prospective Student Notation
- Admission Mistakes
- AR-11 Issues
THIRD Phone Session on February 21: Summary of Visa/Inspection Issues with main focus on future
Additional issues including Homeland Security Act of 2002
- Summary of Main Issues from the first two sessions
- GAO Study - Border Security
- Homeland Security Act
- Directorate of Border & Transportation Security
- Section 402
- Section 428 - Visa Issuance
- Section 429 - Visa Denials
- Immigration Enforcement Functions:
For more info, including detailed curriculum, speaker bios, and
registration information online, click here.
For more info, including detailed curriculum, speaker bios, and
registration information by fax, click here.
Featured Article
INS Policy Costs Tens of Thousands of American Lives Each Year
Brian E. Grutman writes about how current INS policy denying that critical care registered nurses are professionals affects all Americans.
Keep on top of the latest in immigration law! Attend ILW.COM seminars! You can attend ILW.COM phone seminars from the convenience of your office! For more info on the seminars currently available, please click here: http://www.ilw.com/seminars/
Immigration Law News
INS Announces SEVIS Final Rule
The INS today announced the final rule that implements the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) along with a fact sheet.
Seattle Police Chief Says Police Are Not INS
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer quotes the Seattle police chief "We [don't]
want to be perceived as a branch of the [INS]. Our mission is to protect
people and not frighten people."
Attorney listings on ILW.COM are searched 200,000 times/year! Each attorney listed is searched an average of once each day! Just one new client will pay for the entire year's fee! Click here for more info: http://www.ilw.com/membership/
Classifieds
Labor Certification Advertising
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We carry advertisements for Help Wanted: Attorney, Help Wanted: Paralegal, Help Wanted: Other, Positions Sought, Products & Services Offered, etc.
For information on advertising in the classifieds please click here
For a listing of current immigration events please click here
For services/products of use in your law practice please click here
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
I am an attorney practicing in Philadelphia, and I wanted to bring your attention to a recent law signed by the PA Governor which highlights one of the most unpleasant aspects of the 'war on terror.'
In Pennsylvania, the Department of Motor Vehicles has begun to cooperate with INS by denying driver's licenses to individuals who cannot present a valid visa or green card. Admittedly, this is a measure drawn narrowly enough to serve an important goal i.e. assuring that those who apply for licenses are lawfully present in this country and, by extension, do not pose a security risk. I have no problem with the state mandate in this regard.
However, we were informed yesterday that, pursuant to a new law, licenses will now carry a notation that the bearer is either a 'citizen' or a 'non-citizen.' Accordingly, permanent resident 'green card holders' will be subject to identification on their licenses as 'non-citizens.' Many will ask where the harm lies.
I object to this measure on the grounds that it has no rational relation to the avowed public interest i.e. the protection and promotion of national security. Permanent residents are neither more nor less likely to be terrorists than their citizen counterparts, and this new law amounts, in my opinion, to a "scarlet letter". While one could argue that we need to keep tabs on visitors, students and all others who are in transit in this country, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to stigmatize permanent residents who differ only from citizens in their inability to vote. When asked the purpose of the law, state administrators were unable to come up with any cogent reasons.
Many will disagree with me; some have already praised the move as a step in the right direction. I beg to differ, vehemently.
I would venture to say that there are a number of permanent residents who are more attached to this country and loyal to its principles than many native-born. Ask John Walker Linde.
Christine M. Flowers
Philadelphia, PA
Dear Editor:
Dr. Baer's letter ignores two facts:
Driver's licenses and social security numbers (SSNs) are de facto national IDs.
Unfortunately, although they are accepted as such, the standards behind
them
are not the same, and there is no assurance of the security they offer.
Each state decides its own rules for driver's licenses, and 13 states allow
holders of Mexican consular cards (largely illegal immigrants) to use these
cards as documentation to get a driver's license. Driver's license are not
only used to drive, but are accepted as proof of identity and address for
such things as cashing checks and boarding planes, neither of which has
anything to do with driving. The social security number is regularly used
as ID for purposes other than its original intent. In other words,
although they are used as national IDs, their security is securely
compromised by the lack of national standards for obtaining the driver's
license, and the indiscriminate use of both licenses and SSNs for purposes
they were not intended for. We need a true national ID.
As for the Mexican consular ID--what is that if not a national identity
card, albeit a Mexican one? Why on earth should we accept another nation's
identity card, whose security we cannot verify and for which there is no
way
for US officials to readily check the identity and history of the holder,
beyond the fact that they are most likely here illegally? Yet, maintain
that to have a national ID card of our own is somehow an invasion of
privacy? Furthermore, what happens when consular cards proliferate as
other
countries decide to offer them to their own citizens who live here
illegally. Are banks, police departments, and such really going to spend
the time and money training staff to identify all such consular cards
correctly? And what database are the police going to check against for
warrants and criminal records elsewhere? Mexico's? El Salvador's? Even
without the logistical issues, there is the fundamental problem that
acceptance of the consular cards makes it easier for illegal aliens to
continue to violate federal law. It is interference by a foreign power,
Mexico, in the internal affairs of the US. It formalizes what has been the
informal policy of winking at illegal immigration and law breaking. And,
it
compromises our security as a nation.
Name Not Supplied
Dear Editor:
With regard to the issues people have been having using non-recent versions
of Netscape and Internet Explorer, I think it is important for a web site
to
recognize the diversity of its users. Not everyone who accesses ILW.COM is
an attorney who can afford the latest computers with the fastest processors
and fattest hard drive, which is what the recent versions of Netscape and
Internet Explorer require. Your site may be accessed in a public library
with donated computers, viewed by those whom you especially want to reach
out to with the latest immigration information. ILW.COM has obviously spent a
lot of time and thought in designing and creating your site. In my
opinion,
there is simply no reason for limiting your potential audience by
recommending/requiring the use of those browsers.
I use the Opera web browser which is not a resource
hog like Netscape and Internet Explorer, is web standards-compliant, and is
blazingly fast. I have no problems whatsoever using this browser to view
ILW.COM.
I suggest that you have a look at the 'Best Viewed with Any Browser'
campaign and try to make future
versions of ILW.COM compliant with the 'Accessible Site Design'
guidelines.
You may also want to consider the guidelines and helpful tips at the World
Wide Web Consortium.
Both sites discuss how to make your site accessible to everyone. This way
ILW.COM can ensure that as many users as possible can take advantage of the
information published and enjoyed on ILW.COM.
Richard Victorio
Dear Editor:
It was good to be able to agree with (part of) a post from Richard E. Baer, DVM. I agree that we should have a national i.d. card. As Baer ably points out, we're already required to present identification documents for a variety of reasons. Beside, with recent disclosures, it's pretty clear that the federal government will soon have files on all of us and all our activities.
I disagree that the matricula consular is such a great thing. It does nothing for security and, as Mr. Baer notes, is issued to illegal aliens. Reports indicate that it's issued almost exclusively to aliens without any legal documents which would permit them to be in the U.S. The "upside" of this is that, every time an immigration officer (or anyone else, for that matter) sees one, they're going to know that they're most likely dealing with an illegal alien.
John H. Frecker
Baileyville, ME
An Important disclaimer! The information provided on this page is not legal advice.
Transmission of this information is not intended to create, and receipt by you does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Readers must not act upon any information without first seeking advice from a
qualified attorney. Send Correspondence and articles to editor@ilw.com. Letters and articles may be edited and may be published and otherwise used in any medium. Opinions expressed in letters and articles do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ILW.COM.
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