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Comment
Bond Fund
The Houston Chronicle reports "When federal immigration agents raided a Houston rag factory and took 166 suspected illegal immigrants into custody, a Boston philanthropist and multimillionaire was ready to chip in bond money to help the workers.
Robert J. Hildreth, 57, is the public face of the National Immigrant Bond Fund, a fledgling organization that helps immigrants swept up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement workplace raids post bonds.
The controversial fund has the backing of major immigrant advocacy groups and religious leaders, but has drawn criticism from anti-illegal immigration organizations.
Since spring 2007, the fund has paid more than $180,000 to bond out immigrants snared in ICE raids in California, Massachusetts and Maryland.
"
We welcome readers to share their opinion and ideas with us by writing to editor@ilw.com.
Focus
PERM With Joel Stewart
ILW.COM is pleased to announce a new 3-part seminar series " PERM With Joel
Stewart". The curriculum is as follows:
FIRST Phone Session on August 14: Preparing the application
- New Regulations on Prevailing Wage Request
- Basics of PERM Process
- Review of PERM Definitions
- Analysis of Current SVP and SOC Problems
- How to O*Net Occupations and Job Zone Levels
- Job Descriptions and Requirements
- Preparing PERM for 2nd Preference
SECOND Phone Session on September 24: Audit Proofing the Application
- New 9089 Form: Step by Step
- Restrictive Requirements
- Audit Proofing a Perm Case
- Schedule A Health Workers, Exceptional Aliens & Artists
- Special Recruitment for College & University Procedures
- Prohibition on Payments to Attorneys
- Current Ethical Issues in Recruitment Process
THIRD Phone Session on October 22: Final Determinations
- Reconsideration and Appeal.
- Supervised Recruitment.
- Validity and Invalidation.
- Fraud and Misrepresentation
- Revocation of Approved Cases
- Summary of Recent BALCA Decisions
- Update on Federal Litigation
The deadline to sign up is Tuesday,
August 12th. For more info, including
speaker bios, detailed curriculum, and registration information, please see:
http://www.ilw.com/seminars/julyA2008.shtm
.
(Fax version: http://www.ilw.com/seminars/julyA2008.pdf
).
Article
Free and Open Access: Key To Building And Maintaining Client Relationships
Trey Ryder writes "As technology increases, our ability to make meaningful connections with people often decreases. Yet we still yearn to connect with other people."
Bloggings on Nurse Immigration
Christopher T. Musillo of the Hammond Law Group shares the latest entries as of August 8, 2008 on his nurse immigration blog.
To submit an Article for consideration, write to editor@ilw.com.
News
CRS On Immigration Legislation In 110th Congress
The Congressional Research Service issued a report examining immigration legislation and issues
in the 110th Congress.
Classifieds
Help Wanted: Immigration Paralegals
Reston, VA - Feeling undervalued? Goel & Anderson, LLC, seeks experienced
business immigration paralegals to provide professional services to its
clientele, composed of Fortune 1000 corporations and leading multinational
firms. Our compensation and benefits package is commensurate with top-tier
law firms, with no billable hour requirement. We offer family-friendly work
hours (with little/no OT required), attorneys who are easy to work with,
business-casual dress policy, fully paid health/dental/vision insurance
premiums, 401(K) plan with generous match, free parking, and occasional
additional perks (this year, our entire staff, along with
spouses/significant others, was treated to a paid vacation at the Atlantis
resort in the Bahamas). Ideal candidates will have 4-6 years of experience
as a business immigration paralegal with a top tier law firm or in-house
corporate immigration team, coupled with undergraduate degree, excellent
organizational and communication skills (both written and oral), and ability
to work independently. Please apply with resume, cover letter, + salary req.
to careers@goellaw.com or fax to (703) 796-9232. All submissions kept
confidential. No phone calls please.
Help Wanted: Immigration Paralegal
New York, NY - A downtown Manhattan immigration
law office seeks associate/senior paralegal. Prepare NIV & IV/consular applications. Experience with O-1
visas for artists preferred. Handle billing, calendar deadlines, client
queries. Good writing skills essential. Use ImmPro, Access, Excel. Must
be able to multi-task. Own office. P/T possible. Japanese language skills
a plus. Email resume to lawyersinternational@gmail.com.
Help Wanted: Immigration Paralegal
Los Angeles, CA - Stone & Grzegorek LLP, an immigration law firm in downtown LA, seeks an experienced Paralegal. Candidates should have 5+ years experience in immigration practice. The position requires attention to detail and a team work ethic. Stone & Grzegorek LLP offers work in a pleasant environment with a supportive team and excellent compensation and benefits plan. Please submit your resume to Candice@lskglaw.com.
Help Wanted: Immigration Attorney
San Bernardino, CA - USCIS Office of the Chief Counsel (OCC) seeks an experienced attorney for the position of Associate Regional Counsel, USCIS OCC, Western Region.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, serving as an attorney providing on-site legal advice to the local District Office USCIS personnel on issues involving immigration related adjudications, inadmissibility and deportability grounds, and national security, providing litigation support to U.S. Attorneys' Offices on cases arising from local District adjudications, consulting with USCIS; responding to inquiries from the private sector; providing legal opinions on cases involving criminal aliens; and preparing USCIS' brief to the BIA on visa petition appeals. J.D. degree, active bar membership, and 2+ years of post J.D. experience required. Immigration law experience, background in federal litigation, excellent academic record, and strong writing skills preferred.
For full details enter COU-CIS-2008-0008 here. Applicants must submit (1) resume , (2) writing sample (10 pps. max), (3) references, (4) cover letter to Kelli.Duehning@dhs.gov. All submissions must be received by close of business on August 8, 2008. GS-13/14/15, position open until filled. No relocation allowance offered.
Help Wanted: Immigration Attorney
Dallas, TX - USCIS Office of the Chief Counsel (OCC) seeks an experienced attorney for the position of Service Center Counsel at the Texas Service Center.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, providing legal advice to the TSC personnel on issues involving immigration related adjudications, inadmissibility and deportability grounds, and national security, writing visa appeal briefs and providing litigation support to the U.S. Attorney's office on cases arising
from Service Center adjudications. Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction) and have at least one year of post J.D. experience and be a US citizen. Need to complete a background security investigation
before being appointed.
For full details enter COU-CIS-2008-0007 here. Applicants must submit (1) resume , (2) writing sample (10 pps. max), (3) references, (4) cover letter to William.Craig@dhs.gov. All submissions must be received by close of business on August 8, 2008. GS-13-15, position open until filled. No relocation allowance offered.
EB-5 Business For Sale
US EB-5 opportunity - Lumber manufacturing, Barnes Manufacturing Co., Kenbridge, VA, Lunenburg County. $2.7 million USD. No debt or inventory included. To view pictures and an appraisal report, see here. To discuss further, contact Thomas Barnes at: barnestb@earthlink.net or call 434-955-0595 (after 10 am EST). All inquiries will be kept confidential.
Credential Evaluation And Translation
As the nation's leader in foreign credential evaluations and translations, American Evaluation and Translation Service, Inc. (AETS) provides the most competitive rates in the industry – $50 educational evaluations, as well as $200 'expert opinion' work experience and position evaluations completed by PhD university professors who have the "authority to grant college level credit for work experience and/or training." AETS offers a variety of turn-around times, including same-day service for educational, work experience, and position evaluations. For list of rates and times, see: http://aetsinternational.com/applicationforevaluationservices.pdf. AETS also provides certified translations in 100+ languages, with translators that are specialists in 80+ fields. For a copy of the Application for Credential Evaluation and Translation Services, please contact AETS at (786) 276-8190, visit http://www.aetsinternational.com, or email: info@aetsinternational.com.
Headlines
Immigration's Self-Deportation Program Is A Real Government Gem
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that the self-deportation scheme contributes nothing to a real solution to the country's immigration crisis.
McCain Dodges Immigration Issue As Feds Advertise Voluntary Deportation Program
While reform groups like The Sanctuary grow increasingly frustrated with campaign "tip-toeing" and "lip service" on immigration, federal authorities are enlisting ethnic media in their efforts to encourage the nation’s undocumented immigrants to deport themselves as part of a pilot program called 'Operation Scheduled Departure', first reported on last week by the blog Feet in 2 Worlds.
Immigrant Survivors Of Abuse Struggle Within A Changing System
Legal protections for immigrant survivors of domestic violence are growing more complex and in some ways, more precarious.
The Long Road To Citizenship
Amparo Tinoco said he wanted to share details of his own long, strange trip to becoming American with a reporter because he can’t grip a pen or type.
comingsNgoings
Readers can share their professional announcements (100-words or fewer at no charge), email: editor@ilw.com. Readers interested in learning about featuring your event or conference in Immigration Daily, see here. To feature your newsletter in Immigration Daily, see here.
Immigration Book
"Migrating to America: Transnational Social Networks and Regional Identity among Turkish Migrants (International Library of Migration Studies)" by Lisa DiCarlo, I. B. Tauris, 288 pp., ISBN: 1845116461, $85.00 http://www.amazon.com/Migrating-America-Transnational-International-Migration/dp/1845116461/
Letters
Readers are welcome to share their comments, email: editor@ilw.com (300-words or fewer preferred). Many letters to the Editor refer to past correspondence, available in our archives.
Dear Editor:
Are you going to run anything about the
multi million dollar contract signed by
whoever is in charge of the visa processing
centers and USCIS, the folk who do
background investigations?
Just what are the directives and
limitations for the now civilian "investigators"
as they conduct bona fides inquiries
of visa applications?
I'd like to see the documents
Tim Houghtaling
Lexington, SC
Dear Editor:
Contra Roger Algase's letter's assertion (08/07/08 ID), unless it is racist of Barak Obama to have denounced open trade and investment policies, for Alabama progressives to have refused reciprocity to attorneys from any other state then racism is not the only explanation for restrictive immigration practices in the 1880s or 1950s. Calls to restrict all immigration are not primarily motivated by racism, but by rent seeking constituencies. Calls to protect domestic markets at the expense of foreigners and other newcomers can have lots of motivations, bigotry included, but bigotry is rarely the dominant factor. I want more immigration, a lot more, but I too am deeply disturbed by the de facto preference our system gives to generally unskilled illegal Mexican immigrants over skilled Vietnamese, Russians, Philippinos and Nicaraguans, all of whom generally outperform Mexican immigrants in the first and second generations here. I'd even prefer a system that motivates Mexicans who are educated to come in lieu of the disaffected landless peasantry. Even if Mr. Algase's letter's assertions that racism is almost uniquely at the core of American society were true, one has little luck persuading people to take in more immigrants by ignoring arguments about national interest and focusing instead on demonizing one's opponents as bigots. It has been my experience that attributing relatively un-loathsome motives to one's opponents generally makes one more likely to get a hearing both from them and from wavering on-lookers than by declaring them moral lepers... A superior solution to clamping down on immigration generally is to import more English competent Indians and to allow direct votes on bi-lingual education programs. Anti-assimilationist policies are remarkably unpopular outside academic circles and are perhaps most unpopular among recent immigrants. My wife and I chose to live in the US because it is a great country inhabited by great people.
Honza Prchal
Birmingham, AL
Dear Editor:
I got a kick out of the "glaring error" response letters (08/07/08 ID). The Immigration attorneys seem to be
all over the map. Some say the system is messed up pointing to one error per case which
is a 100% error rate simply terrifying if you are filing paperwork. Some blame the professor and
the CIS secret "social IQ test" , thats funny and scary at the same time. I live close to several
Universities and I have always maintained there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have met very few extremely
gifted professors who had any "social skills" at all. Just ask a rocket scientist out for cocktails
and try to have eye contact. That being said I am not letting CIS off the hook so easily. When a public
servant is placed in a position that had the potential to have such a profound
impact on human beings it demands a level of compassion and wisdom. Any idiot can rubber stamp
paperwork but this is not an accounting office and these are not numbers or concepts CIS is dealing with
issues that can destroy a persons life. I see this as the primary problem with Immigration law, where
judicial review or an appellate mechanism that is easily accessible can right an obvious wrong that has
far reaching consequences. CIS has a long way to go in making the system land mine free. They could
start by each question having only one answer on the forms.
Janet Fitzgerald
Dear Editor:
The latest story about a Polish researcher (08/06/08 ID Comment) who has contributed so much in her field and to our country getting deported for immigration mess and absurd laws is the proof that immigration laws are sometime not only inhumane but also absurd and illogical. Our immigration laws should be completely overhauled to emphasize on ones' merits and contribution to our country and likeliness whether they will ask for welfare assistance in the future. Because of her work and contribution, this unfortunate lady should have got her US citizenship by now instead of getting deported to Poland. Is it the way we treat a foreigner who love this country and has contributed so greatly in her field? What a shame!.
Our immigration laws must be streamlined for better, we need to establish merits based and points system just like Canada and Australia in selecting immigrants instead of just family ties. We must discourage all new immigrants taking public welfare. We need to establish special circumstances, compassionate and humanitarian ground exception for immigrants who might "break the laws" in the past but so far have contributed so much for our country and find a fairer and humane way for them to repay their mistakes by substantial fines and community services instead of jailing and cruel deportation.
Robert Yang
Dear Editor:
Regarding ID Comment (08/06/08 ID): Welcome to the USCIS world and this is not today world we live in. If this Department of Justice has any more power we would be in more trouble than we are.
Gladys C. Farris
Dear Editor:
The faulty basis of the F. Walters letter (8/7/08 ID) and resulting
spurious conclusions is that my letters on Ramos and Compean used
arguments: "drawing a bit outside the law" and that I was calling for
their "amnesty". To the contrary, I have contended that their
convictions were a travesty of the law.
The FW letter seems unawares that the obstruction of justice charges
were thrown out which was only proper as filing a report is an
administrative policy not subject to criminal sanctions. The letter also
seems unawares that the agents testified that they feared for their
lives and in the dark, saw a shiny object in the drug dealers left hand
about which a doctor testified that the shot placement was consistent
with a trajectory in which the body was turned in a shooting position
rearward, that is the bullet passed through the left buttocks, through
the groin area and into the upper right thigh. The agents had been in
hot pursuit, as the dealer was fleeing to Mexico at high speeds
violating traffic laws and it is known that drug dealers are usually
armed. The agents were convicted under a mandatory ten year sentence law
never intended to be used against law enforcement in pursual of their
duties and never previously used for that purpose. Post trial, some
jurors said they would not have convicted had they known all the facts.
While the letter and others who seek to discredit and hobble the BP may
overlook these facts, the objective viewer cannot lest the new BP motto
become: "To Protect and To Serve Time".
Jim Roberts
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. Copyright 1995- American Immigration LLC, ILW.COM. Send correspondence and articles to editor@ilw.com. Letters and articles may be edited and may be published and otherwise used in any medium. The views expressed in letters and articles do not necessarily represent the views of ILW.COM.
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