About 12% of the time, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, used by the Department of Homeland Security to track deportable aliens, okays an immigrant on their list who should be deported. The SAVE system which is maintained by the U.S. Citizenship and USCIS is supposed to determine who among the ‘aliens’ are qualified to receive benefits from the country and who are supposed to be deported for immigration and humanitarian reasons.

There are incidents wherein even those individuals who are convicted of serious crimes and are ordered deported are still favored by SAVE and given benefits that are due aliens who have maintained a good status.  Likewise there are some illegals who have no criminal records that get prioritized incorrectly.

Even USCIS director Alejandro N. Mayorkas acknowledges the need to do a better job with their system if they want to provide benefits to individuals who deserve it. As they are very strict when it comes to immigration issues, they should first consider upgrading their system to one that promotes fairness and efficiency.

Source: The Washington Times

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A stash house for illegal immigrants in one of the houses in Harris County in Texas was discovered to have 48 people living inside including some children. Only after the immigration agents raided the said house did neighbors learn about what was happening inside.

Among the people who have been living inside the house, 14 of them are children. Aside from some women, the authorities disclosed that four of the men are suspected smugglers. These people will be given medical evaluations and be subjected to some interviews to determine their immigration status and removability. Possible deportation and criminal charges may come next.

Source: Kens5.Com

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Another added fee for the USCIS. Foreign nationals who seek permanent residence in the United States should now also pay $165 to have their request be processed.

The USCIS has worked closely with the DOS so they can start implementing the new immigrant fee by February of 2013. They were able to come up with the said amount by taking into consideration the costs of processing immigrant visas in the U.S. The fee would cover handling, filing and maintenance of the immigrant visa package, and production and delivery of the permanent resident card.

After the applicant receives their visa package from the DOS and before they depart from the U.S., they should make the payment online. This payment process is supposed to simplify and make everything centralized. However, applicants should take note that this fee is separate from what the DOS would charge you with their other immigrant visa fees.

So yes, unfortunately, another fee.

You can check out more details about it here.

Source: AILA.Org

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The analysis of Census data that was published earlier by the Associated Press highlights the significant drop in the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States, from the 12 million mark in 2007 to the estimated 11.1 million in 2011. Unlike previous years where 80% of undocumented immigrants are Hispanics while Asian immigrants lagged, the number of immigrants from Asia are currently increasing.

It was back in the nineties when the number of undocumented immigrants flocked the United States because of its strong economy. Those from other countries see the status of the economy in the country before as better than its current situation. This decline in the numbers can be attributed not only to the weakening U.S. economy but also the country’s strong enforcement policies.

Based on the current report, the numbers of undocumented immigrants are made up of about 55%  Mexicans, 25% Latin Americans, and an increasing 10% from Asia. It is observed that fewer Mexican workers are entering the country. The Latino communities are hoping that the opportunities will be better for them again as they showed their support for President Obama during the election. Whether things will be better or worse remains to be seen.

Source:  ABC News Univision

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Stuart Anderson wrote a piece in Forbes Magazine which I think resonates with a lot of foreigners in the medical field. As a Filipino myself, I know a lot of Filipino nurses and physical therapists who were disadvantaged by the backlog of Schedule A positions. Thing is that hospitals are still in need of these people.

Stuart wrote that physical therapists are considered one of the fastest occupations in the U.S. today. The need for such professionals is even going to grow more as years come. However, U.S. immigration restrictions involving these foreign-born physical therapists are not going to help address the need. The procedures in licensing and giving foreign-born physical therapists the chance to work in the U.S. is even made more difficult with the move to require a Ph.D. as a minimum requirement for foreign-born PT professionals.

He continued by mentioning that the existing procedure to get an H-1B visa for foreign-born physical therapists involves making sure they pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam (I’m fine with this) and an evaluation from the physical therapy board in the state that the person wishes to work. More often than not, the foreign-born physical therapist is required to take a few more classes or training to be granted the chance to work in the country where the need for such professionals are continuing to rise. Hopefully, the government would consider reducing the wait times for these skilled immigrants and make available the H-1B visa not only for the benefit of these physical therapists but also for the betterment of the citizens of the country.

Source: Forbes.Com

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In the wake of President Obama’s reelection, people involved in the immigration field still recall how the DREAM Act fell short of being heard at the House.

Today, Republicans Senators Jon Kyl of Arizona and Kay Hutchinson of Texas are introducing their own version of immigration reform under the Achieve Act. The Republican Senators disclosed that this push for this Act is not a plain reaction to their poor showing among Latinos in the recently concluded election last November. They revealed that this effort to get serious in tackling immigration issues has been in the works for almost a year now and that they have been consulting with Senators John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida.

The ACHIEVE Act proposal would require applicants to have entered the country before the age of 14, and have lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years. The undocumented immigrants are provided with a regular pathway towards permanent residency and a chance for potential citizenship. Compared to the DREAM Act, the ACHIEVE Act offers three different visas: one that is good for 6 years, one that is good for 4, and a permanent non-immigrant visa that is renewable every five years.

Source: Fox News Latino

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The recent presidential election has not only provided another term for President Obama, but also allowed him to have another chance to improve our immigration legislation. One of the goals of the Obama administration is to have a better legislation that will provide better border security and at the same time a pathway to citizenship for those illegal immigrants who are already in the country.

President Obama and his aides are more open than ever to work in partnership with Mexico in order to ‘increase economic competitiveness in both countries, promote regional development, advance bilateral efforts to develop a secure and efficient 21^st century border, and also address other common security challenges’.  Both countries will soon have these concerns addressed especially after that visit by President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto to President Obama at the White House days ago.

Source: USA Today

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Despite much opposition, undocumented immigrants who qualify for deferred action will now be given tuition breaks at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts. Immigration activists in the area have long been fighting for this policy. These activists believe that immigrant children who were brought by their parents in the United States illegally should not pay the price of what their parents did. They believe that these undocumented immigrant children should be given fair path to education  and to eventually enjoy the same residency benefits as that of citizens.

The next few days should see Gov. Deval Patrick send a letter to High Education Commissioner Richard Freeland on Monday. Gov. Patrick believes that providing in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants is just a “matter of fairness”. As expected, not everyone, including Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, is not in favor of allowing beneficiaries to be given in-state tuition breaks.

Source: Huffingtonpost.Com

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CASE: I-485 approval based on approved I-140 petition (EB-1C Category: Executives and Managers of Multinational Organizations)
EMPLOYER: Multinational Tire Corporation
BENEFICIARY: Korean
LOCATION: Akron, Ohio

Our client is a vice president of a multinational tire corporation in Ohio. He is from Korea, and has worked for its parent company for 24 years in positions of increasing responsibility including that of team manager. He came to the United States in July 2011 with an E-2 visa to work for the current petitioner company (wholly-owned subsidiary of his previous employer). He contacted our firm in December 2011, and discussed with us his chances of getting a green card. Based on our client’s educational and professional background and his current position at the worksite, our office determined that he was clearly eligible for the EB-1C classification for his I-140 petition. Our client eventually retained us for his I-140 and subsequent I-485 adjustment of status application on December 15, 2011.

As our previous success story states, our office prepared and filed the I-140 petition for this client under EB-1C (Executives and Managers of Multinational Organizations) category.

On the application package, we included a detailed job offer letter, employment verification letter from our client’s previous employer (parent company), an organization chart, and a dispatch order. Also, we included evidence regarding the relationship between the Petitioner-Company and its Parent company in South Korea. The evidence included a copy of the certificate of ownership, a copy of the articles of incorporation, a copy of the business registration certificate, a copy of the approval for overseas investment, a copy of the annual report and consolidated financial statements. The I-140 Petition was filed on March 15, 2012. On June 1, 2012, the I-140 was approved with no Requests for Evidence.

Once the I-140 was approved, On August 9, 2012, our office filed an I-485 adjustment of status application for our client and his derivative family members. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices and fingerprint appointment came on time.  On October 19, 2012, the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved our client’s adjustment of status application.  On November 16, 2012, the CIS approved our client’s derivative family members’ adjustment of status applications as well.

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It is already considered a bad experience for people to be detained in immigration detention centers. But providing substandard medical care, a lack of due process and geographical remoteness of facilities has made it even worse.

With the series of reports and allegations the Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE have been receiving primarily from the non-profit Detention Watch Network, ICE did an overhaul of the immigration detention system over a period of three years since 2009. The overhaul was supposed to show some improvement on aspects such as medical care, custodial conditions, fiscal prudence, and ICE oversight. Part of the reforms should also include placing detainees in buildings suited for those people facing immigration charges instead of being detained in penal facilities.

ICE made some of these reforms albeit calling these groups of non-profit organizations like the Detention Watch Network unfair for throwing anonymous allegations that they can’t investigate on. In spite of the amount of progress ICE were able to achieve, the Detention Watch Network still feels that they are not doing enough to protect the rights of the detained immigrants. What is stopping these reforms from being successful, according to the non-profit group, is the culture and treatment of the agency towards those who are facing immigration charges compared to the ones who are imprisoned because of some criminal charges.  Take note that some of those detained have absolutely no criminal arrests or convictions at all, but are detained due to a “pending” immigration case that they could still win. Some of the charges are simply for an overstay, but relief from deportation may be imminent.

Listed as part of the 10 worst immigration detention centers according to the article are as follows:

1. BakerCountyJailinFlorida
2. PolkCountyDetention Facility inTexas
3. EtowahCountyJailinAlabama
4. HoustonProcessing Center inTexas
5. HudsonCountyJailinNew Jersey
6. IrwinCountyDetention Facility inGeorgia
7. PinalCountyJailinArizona
8. Tri-CountyDetentionCenterinIllinois
9. Theo LacyDetentionCenterinCalifornia
10. StewartDetentionCenterinGeorgia

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/report-10-immigration-detention-centers-called-worst-us/story?id=17730732#.UKj6ZIZchrx

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