A Note from the Editors:

Toolbars Wrap-up

Wrapping up our previous discussion on the Alexa and Google toolbars, toolbars are useful when you enter your search term directly without going to a search engine and to block pop-ups. Various toolbars offer other features which some users may find helpful. Toolbars vary in the ease of installation, depending on your particular operating system and version. There may also be privacy issues associated with toolbars. For an explanation of toolbar basics, options, advantages and disadvantages, see here. For an overview on browsers, toolbars, and the desktop, see here. For a comprehensive set of links (with comments) of many toolbars and other browser/search utilities, see here.

We hope that you have found this digression into technology tools helpful. We will return to our usual immigration focus with our next issue.

ILW.COM Highlights

Missed ILW.COM Seminars? Get Tapes! (Listen To Sample Audio Clips)

You can listen to cutting edge issues in immigration at a schedule convenient to you. Tapes for all our seminars are only $199 per series. Featured experts include Ron Klasko, Cynthia Lange, Angelo Paparelli, Joel Stewart, Bernard Wolfsdorf and many others. For more info on detailed curricula, speaker bios and sample audio clips of our seminars, please see here.

Articles

DOJ Announces Indictment For 140 Fraudulently Filed I-360s
The Eastern District of Virginia of the US Attorney's Office of the Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury returned 7 counts of immigration fraud for the fraudulent filing of approximately 140 I-360 petitions received for special immigrant religious workers.

USCIS Announces New EAD Card With Added Security Features
The USCIS announced that new Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cards will be issued with additional features including, a magnetic strip, a two-dimensional barcode. The new EAD cards are expected to become available in June 2004.

Asylum Resource Series: Mauritania
USCIS Asylum Resource Information Center offers asylum information on Mauritania.

GAO On Visa Operations At US Posts In Canada
The Government Accounting Office issued a report addressed to Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chairman Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives on visa operations at US posts in Canada.

EOIR Says 48% Of IJ Cases, 72% Of BIA Cases In FY 2003 Were Represented
The Office of Planning and Analysis of the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the Department of Justice released its FY 2003 Statistical Yearbook which included many interesting statistics: 48% of aliens whose cases were completed in immigration courts during FY 2003 were represented and 72% of completed BIA cases were for represented aliens. Another interesting statistic, possibly of great concern to Circuit Courts, was that cases received by the BIA increased 20% in FY 2003.

Revising The Standard Occupational Classification System
Chester Levine, Laurie Salmon, and Daniel H. Weinberg write "A new system for classifying occupations was introduced in 1998, reflecting the many changes to the world of work in recent decades, especially the shift towards more services-oriented and high-technology jobs."

The H-2B Program: Separating Myth From Reality
Donald Mooers, Esq. writes "The H-2B cap crisis has shown a bright light on the need by America’s communities and businesses for temporary seasonal labor."

This week's chat schedule

ILW.COM announces that as of Feb 3rd, all chats will be held at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.

When	Attorney
Logon for chat Next Chat: Thu, May 27, 5:00 PM ET (New York Time) Questions will be accepted starting 15 minutes before the event.	Lisa Brenman, Esq.
Tue, Jun 1, 5:00 pm Eastern	Mary Carmen R Madrid-Crost , Esq.
Tue, Jun 8, 5:00 pm Eastern	Stuart J. Reich, Esq.
Tue, June 15, 5:00 pm Eastern	Rami Fakhoury, Esq.
Tue, June 22, 5:00 pm Eastern	Fariba Faiz, Esq.
Tue, June 29, 5:00 pm Eastern	Dustin W. Dyer, Esq.

Letters to Editors

To write to Editors, send emails to weeklyeditor@ilw.com.

Dear Editor:
I am a US citizen that married my husband which is from Mexico. We have been married for 4 years and have a daughter together. I properly filed his I-130 form in November of 2001 and still have not received any info on his case. I have done everything in my power to get info needed to move forward with this petition. I call the National Service Center at least eight times a week but only get to speak with someone about three times a week regarding my husbands petition. I always get the run around and my questions are never really answered. My husband needs to be here with his family and I don't see why three years later we still have no paperwork for him to legally enter the US. He is awaiting an answer back home and I in the meantime have had to get a second job because when I went to apply for assistance through the Texas Dept. Of Human Resources, I was turned down because they said I make $5.00 above poverty limit. I desperatly need him here to contribute to our marriage and household, but nobody understands that but me. I was told by one of the operators at the National Service Center that my case was no exception and that there were more than 8,000 people waiting in line just like me, but she never offered any help.

Andrea

Dear Editor:
There were no links on your Alexa Toolbar story. How about reposting it with links.

BFilley

Editor's Note: Yes, the email version of Immigrant's Weekly omitted the toolbar links. To download the Alexa toolbar, see here. To download the Google toolbar, see here.