(also see recent H1B Deportation news)

When a foreign national chooses to visit or stay in the United States on visa status or as a permanent resident, he or she must abide by certain laws and regulations in order to remain in the country legally. If an individual who is not a U.S. citizen fails to abide by these terms, he or she may be ordered to leave the country.

The process of requiring an individual to physically leave the country is known as deportation. If you are visiting the U.S. temporarily or living in the country as a permanent resident, it is important to know the laws that regulate deportation.

Visa Requirements

A person who is visiting the U.S. on visa status must adhere to certain rules and restrictions to avoid nullifying the visa. Some of the key requirements to consider include:

• There are specific visas for different groups of applicants, and a person must keep the same status during their stay in the U.S. in order for the visa to remain valid. For example, a foreign national visiting on a student visa must remain in school to remain in the country legally under his or her visa.
• If the expiration date is approaching for a visa, the applicant must re-apply to remain in the United States.
• An individual may not legally remain in the U.S. if his or her visa has expired.
• A foreign national may be required to return to his or her home country in order to re-new a visa and legally re-enter the U.S.

A violation of any of these terms can be grounds for deportation by the U.S. government.

Criminal Grounds for Deportation

Any non-citizen staying the country may be deported if he or she commits a qualifying crime. This applies to visa holders and permanent residents alike. The criminal offenses that may lead to deportation include the following:

• Crimes against a person (murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping)
• Domestic violence crimes
• Sexual offenses
• Crimes against the government (counterfeiting, mail fraud, bribery, tax evasion, perjury)
• Fraud crimes
• Drug crimes
• Firearms offenses

If you have committed any of the above crimes, your legal permit to remain in the U.S. may be nullified and you may be forced to leave the country. The laws and regulations for visas and permanent residency can sometimes be confusing, and it can be easy for a person to accidentally disqualify himself or herself and risk deportation. If you have questions regarding the rules of your visa, permanent residency, or renewing or changing your legal status in the U.S., consider consulting with an experienced immigration lawyer as soon as possible.

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

U.S. citizenship requirements states that, you can obtain U.S. citizenship either by birth or by law. You acquire U.S. citizenship by birth, if you were born in the U.S. or if your parents are U.S. citizens. Obtaining U.S. citizenship by law is through naturalization.

Per USCIS, you must meet the U.S. citizenship requirements to apply for citizenship. The U.S. citizenship requirements include the continuous physical presence requirements and certain general requirements.

U.S. citizenship requirements

To be eligible for U.S. citizenship, the following U.S. citizenship requirements should be satisfied:

• You should be at least 18 years old.
• You should be a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
• You should have resided in the U.S. for at least three to five years and half of the time should be spent in the U.S.
• The U.S. citizenship requirements states that, if you are married to a U.S. citizen, you can apply for U.S. citizenship after three years of residence in the United States. All others can apply for citizenship only after five years.
• You have resided in the U.S. from the time you filed your application for U.S. citizenship.
• You should take an oath, that you are attached to the U.S. constitution.
• You should have proficient knowledge and fluency in English.
• You should have knowledge concerning the history, role and functioning of the U.S. government.
• You should not be involved in any crime.
• You should meet the continuous physical presence requirements

Continuous physical presence requirements

If you are married to a U.S. citizen, the following continuous physical presence requirements should be met:

• You should live physically with your spouse.
• You should have lived together with your spouse for at least three years before you apply for U.S. citizenship and take the naturalization examination.
• You should have been physically present in the U.S. for at least 18 months.
• You should have been residing continuously for the past three months in the state from where you will apply for U.S. citizenship.
• Your spouse should be a U.S. citizen during the period you have applied for citizenship till the date of examination.

The following are the continuous physical presence requirements for those who are not married to a U.S. citizen:

• You should have been physically present in the U.S. for at least 30 months.
• You should have been residing continuously for the past three months in the state from where you will apply for U.S. citizenship.

Physical presence is different from Continuous residence. Physical presence is the number of days you were physically present in the U.S. Continuous residence is the time you resided lawfully in the U.S. without any long absence. If you are physically absent from the United States for one year, you will lose your continuous residence requirement, unless the absence is excused. The U.S. citizenship process is not easy, you have to meet the above requirements to be eligible to apply for citizenship.

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

The US Immigration Policy on Asylum Seekers is a comprehensive report on the fundamentals of the US asylum policy. Individuals may seek asylum to the US if they are in fear of being persecuted because of their inclusion in a social group, nationality, political viewpoint, race, or religion. Other highlights of the US asylum policy guidelines can be found in this report.

Asylum Proceedings

The two methods for seeking asylum are an affirmative asylum proceeding and a defensive asylum proceeding. Aliens already in the US apply for asylum with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services through an affirmative asylum proceeding. This method entails a USCIS officer to review the application, the testimony of the alien, and the condition of the country the alien is seeking asylum from.

A defensive asylum proceeding is sought through the Executive Office for Immigration Review during a deportation proceeding. If an individual seeks asylum at a US port and expresses a fear of persecution, their application will be considered through the defensive asylum proceeding if he or she is deemed credible.

Aliens seeking asylum must begin apply within one year of their entry into the US unless there is a change of circumstances which can cause the time period to change. Approximately 1,000 asylum cases are allowed in the US per year.

Current policy dictates the distinction between credible fear of persecution and a well-rounded fear of persecution the alien may claim. Credible fear is a significant amount of fear demonstrated by the alien which can be substantiated.

Reasons to be barred from Asylum

Aliens can be barred from asylum because of the following reasons:

• The alien has resided in another country before arriving in the US;
• The alien had participated in any way in the persecution of another person;
• The alien had been convicted of a serious crime,
• The alien would pose a security threat; and
• The alien belongs to a terrorist organization or has engaged in terrorist activity.
Guest Post Author

If you or a family member are seeking asylum, work with an immigration lawyer to have the best chance for your application to be accepted.

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

In short the law gives;

- Police the power if the “suspect” you may be an illegal immigrant to ask that you prove that you are not.
- Citizens the power to sue government organizations if they believe they have failed to act on a know illegal immigrant issue
- Requires all residents and visitors to Arizona to prove that they are in the country legally

Now supporters of this bill have essentially 3 main arguments they use to support this type of law which if only was applied literally and all human beings were perfect MAY make sense to a degree. These are;

- Illegal immigrants are violating federal law and thus should be punished for doing so
- US residents and citizens as well as legal immigrants and visitors have nothing to fear from this
- Illegal immigrants who commit crimes, take jobs, don’t pay taxes and use social services are a huge problem for society

So let’s take each of their arguments and state what is misguided about this notion.

1. Yes illegal immigrants are violating federal law as it is written today but all studies have shown the vast majority of these people do jobs that no US worker is willing to do or willing to do for minimum wages. Also most of these people are paying both income taxes and state sales taxes on their purchases.
If they all vanished tomorrow, the retail, hospitailityy, agriculture, construction and tourism industries of the US would be crippled. Then US citizens would be grumbling about either the fact the prices of goods/services are going up from groceries to clothing to hotels. Also given most of the people who are ardent, hardcore supporters of this type of law are also supposedly 100% supporters of the free market and capitalist economic principles. Well except where absolutely necessary, more jobs in the US (and thus wealth and tax dollars) will be shipped beyond US borders as that is how Walmart, Apple, Hilton and every other organization can maximize profit. So for every additional janitor that is hired by McDonalds, that could me additional office staff’s job are made redundant and contracted out elsewhere along with that person’s spending power and tax payments.
If you want this type of law then be prepared for all the consequences of this type of law.

2. Now say you are US citizen of Latin, Mediterranean or South Asian ancestry and you are visiting Arizona for the first time and are just wandering the streets as tourists do and get a little lost and ask for directions, get a bit frustrated and start arguing with your travel companion. Common travel story right! Say a Arizona police officer witnesses this episode. Well as the law is so grey they may feel like your shouting and back and forth walking down the same street seems odd so asks you for some identification. Now b/c you are a normal person, you would not be carrying around either your passport or a birth certificate. You may have a state ID but that may be expired or you left it in your hotel. Well in that moment and from then on how are you supposed to prove you are a legal citizen and you can rightfully be detained. Sounds a lot like some totalitatarean, non democratic states the US always decries. So these people who are so against the government mandating healthcare which actually can save people lives are NOT against the government mandating citizens always carry documents proving who they are. Hypocracy is always strong and used as a tool of fear with Immigration.

3. OK say you are mugged, assaulted or worse in the street, your home, the workplace, etc. and the person/people who witnessed this crime happened to be an illegal immigrant. Now this person who witnessed the crime has no incentive to do the right thing and to help you as by doing so they will get into trouble. Say you have a regular car accident with either an illegal immigrant driver or a legal resident driver who may be travelling with illegal immigrants. That person now has less of an incentive to stay and file police reports, exchange insurance details, etc. as again it could cause problems.
Then since most violent crime is committed by legal residents of the US, while Arizona police and resources are busy wasting their time with people who don’t have documents and trying to find witnesses to speak about what they saw, the really violent in society will continue to roam free.
Some reputable studies say Immigration contributes as much as $26B to the Arizona state economy. So in a state struggle with the economic crisis and a major real estate crash, making the state less attractive for business, tourism and indeed free citizens to go about their daily lives doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do.

Well with both Governor Brewers and Senator John McCain’s support of this recent bill in light of impending primary challenges from more hardcore right wing Republican opponents, it is not all that surprising. However somewhere between 2040-2050, it will be non-whites who will actually the dominate group in the US and creating all this unnecessary and counter productive hatred between people may cause the type of issues that South Africa has seen since the end of Apartheid with many angry Blacks lashing out in crime and other anti-social ways against White people and indeed society in general.

The big question here is the impact to Arizona leisure and business tourism both domestically and Internationally. Conventions and conferences are very popular in the state with great weather year round and lots of golf courses but Multi-National corporations, International business people and Domestic business people wary of their global reputation may now think twice.
Certainly you can imagine individual tourists will also think twice as given the other 49 states don’t have an issue, people just don’t want to deal with unnecessary hassle when they are trying to have fun.

The US is a country of immigrants. Ronald Reagan himself, the champion of the Right in the US, granted amnesty to illegal immigrants in 1986. There has to be a better solution than this type of reactive and short sighted legislation which will ultimately hurt the US and the so-called law abiding citizens.

CJ

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

However US Immigration Reform will probably not be the dominant topic in Washington for a while due to the sweeping Financial Reform championed by the Obama Administration and many in Congress at the moment. This is despite the fact that US Immigration is a front of mind topic recently with the opening of H1B visa season in 2010 and more recently and prominently the Arizona Immigration Reforms just signed into law and denounced by Civil Liberty groups, Immigration Advocate Groups particularly of a Hispanic nature and even President Obama himself.

My prediction is that although President Obama is clearly a big advocate of major Immigration reforms as are many in Congress there are a couple of big reasons why I think this will take a backseat to Financial Reform in 2010. These both involve politics and the coming Midterm elections in November in 2010;

1. Financial Reform is more a politically popular topic: Democratic Members of Congress who are up for re-election this election cycle will up for some tough battles, particularly with public anger and disillusionment at Congress with unemployment still at high levels, the bailouts of Wall St. firms not benefiting the average person and both the process and specific aspects of the Healthcare reform legislation.
Democrats in particular and the Democratic President Obama need a topic to turn public focus on to something else as they go to the polls. Enter Financial Reform! A majority of Americans according to all polls are angry at the fact that Corporate America who caused the economic recession and crisis were then bailed out by the taxpayer. So it becomes very difficult for Republicans politically to oppose strong legislation to regulate the financial industry as they did somewhat successfully in the Healthcare debate.

2. Immigration Reform is a politically divisive topic: The reality is that the average Democratic leaning and Independent voter is probably not going to be swayed to vote or vote at all solely on the basis of Immigration reform. This is because for the average US citizen from a selfish point of view, will largely be unaffected by the current proposals or indeed most of the expected modifications or revisions to Immigration proposals. From the plight of Illegal Immigrants, Anti H1B visa & Foreign Worker Rhetoric, the Drug cartels and crime, etc. Republicans have a lot more easy ammunition politically to attack on this issue. Republicans also accuse Obama and Democrats of wanting to legalize illegal immigrants and increase immigration as these people tend to be more likely to vote Democrat in elections.

Now as for the Graham (R-SC) and Schumer (D-NY) legislation, there are four major tenants to their Immigration legislation proposal. These are;

- Requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get job
- Fulfilling and strengthening commitments on border security and interior enforcement
- Creating a process for admitting temporary workers
- Implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here (approx. 11 million illegal immigrants)

Each of these proposals in and of themselves are going to have critics on both sides for different reasons. Supposedly the nature of this initial proposal is largely supported by Obama but it is definitely going to have a tough battle so let us take each one and disect the main arguments.

1. Biometric Social Security Card: The initial idea around this is that a person’s work authorization eligibility will be stored on this card but not stored on any central Government database. Thus to allay privacy and civil liberty concerns while also making it ever more difficult for illegal immigrants to find work with the hi-tech card and heavy punishments for employers not following check procedures including potential jail time. Apart from the fact that this is not a National ID card, it certainly will have all the hallmarks of one as every US Citizen and resident will need one along with every immigrant so civil liberty groups will certainly be fighting this. Also people forge and steal passports as well as the basic social security cards today so this certainly will not stop that trade and probably just raise prices on the black market. Right now it is estimated most illegal immigrants and legal immigrants working without authorization are paying taxes. This will certainly mean that any work these people now do will be less likely include taxes. Then finally a system this hi-tech and complex will be costly and difficult to implement across all residents and employers and will certainly take a long time and no doubt be problem riddled as the current simpler optional E-Verify system is today. There have been cases where US citizens have be shown illegible to work under the current system and with this system that danger will only become more common and magnified.

2. Border Security and Interior Enforcement: As can be seen from the recent Arizona immigration laws there a diverse range of opinions as to how this should be applied. Many think that a policy whereby police and law enforcement personnel can ask a person’s immigration status should be mandatory across the country whereas others view this at best as racial profiling and at worst akin to the Nazi and Apartheid regimes where people always had to carry documents in case they were checked by officials. Then of course there are different opinions in relation to a Border Fence and constitutional rights of Immigrants.

3. Admitting Temporary Workers: So this in theory could include legislation around H1B visa and other skilled non-immigrant visas and may incorporate aspects of the Durbin-Grassley H1B visa and L1 visa legislation proposed last year or the Kerry-Lugar Business StartUp Visa legislation earlier this year , this proposed bill focuses more specifically on very hi-tech and then low-tech immigrant candidates.
Currently graduates from US universities at Masters or pHD level in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math have access (along with US Masters Graduates) to an extra 20,000 Advanced Degree cap for the H1B visa. They also more recently exclusively have access to a 17 month extension their F1 Visa OPT period which effectively gives them 2.5 years of work authorization up from the original 1 year in lieu of their degree. Currently these high skilled foreigners have access to US Permanent Residency (i.e. Green Card) via the EB-2 immigrant visa category via sponsorship from their employer. This legislation wants to streamline this process to keep these highly skilled and educated workers within the US as the most like to innovate, be entrepreneurs and create employment and wealth for the US.
As for the low-tech workers (i.e. agriculture, manufacturing, labor, etc.) there is currently no legal visa for these people to come temporarily to work in the US. So the provision would be for an changing quota for this category depending on the needs and state of the economy to allow these workers to come to the US legally and if they have been in the US for a longer period, have learned English and can demonstrate contirbution to their community, the chance also to pursue a Green Card.

4. Legalization Path for Illegal Immigrants: This is always a contentious issue but is a public debate often filled with lies and myths. The last amnesty for illegal immigrants in the US was by Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1986 so is certainly an option thought of and acted on both sides of the political spectrum. The idea in this proposal is that illegal immigrants have to admit their illegality, pay fines, do community service and any back taxes owed, learn English and then go to the back of the current immigration queue for residency in the US.
The reality of making this work is where this often becomes problematic as if a couple came here illegally and then had a child in the US (often derogatorily called an Anchor baby by Immigration opponents who accuse illegal immigrants of only having a child to help legalize their own status) who is now in school. So as per the US Constitution, any person born in the US is automatically a US citizen. Therefore in this case unless it makes sense financially, etc. a less educated illegal immigrant may not see any benefit in doing anything to make their own status legal as it would only cause them further hardship as their child already is protected as a citizen. Of course opponents believe that illegal immigrants should never be rewarded for their bad actions and even some legal immigrants who had to wait many years and pay large financial and other costs to come to the US legally oppose others coming into the same queue as them.

As an Immigrant What Should You Be Happy and Worried About?

- Well in this particular proposal the easier road to a green card for some Masters and pHD Graduates should definitely be welcome news
- For those particularly on F1 Visa, J1 Visa Work and Travel and J1 Visa Internship programs who may be working part-time elsewhere technically unauthorized to help pay their tuition fees or just living expenses in the US, this will present a significant hurdle for doing that anymore
- This also could be welcome new to low-skilled workers wanting to work in the US, however competition for these is bound to be fierce and thus these jobs will no doubt be largely minimum wage positions.
- For those on visa like the H1B visa or E3 visa and wanting to transfer between employers, I can foresee issues whereby implementation and update issues may cause false readings about eligibility to occur.

In the end taking all of this into account it will certainly be an interesting Immigration journey over the next period in the US. However because of all of this my current US Immigration prediction is that this may only be strongly debated following Financial Reform and may only be a legislative reality following the Midterm Elections and in a non-election year in 2011. Incidentally this was exactly the case when the last major Immigration reform was proposed by Senators John McCain and the late Ted Kennedy in 2007 following the 2006 Midterm elections.

CJ

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

A great number of people is confused about immigration law and citizenship in the United States. Here are a few of the many common misconceptions about immigration laws and United States citizenship:

• If I marry a U.S. citizen I can automatically become a citizen. False. To become a citizen, you still need to follow various procedures such as applying for a marriage visa and providing proof of the validity of your marriage.
• Only if I am married can I bring a child into the United States legally. False. Children are eligible to relocate to the United States under a Family Visa petition regardless of your marital status.
• Attaining citizenship via naturalization is an easy process. This is not true. Naturalization is a complex process with many steps that must be followed.
• Legal immigrants, who are in the country on a visa, can be deported for minor legal infractions, such as traffic tickets or DWIs. This is not true except in extreme circumstances.
• You cannot become a legal immigrant if you come into the United States illegally. This is false. Someone who is an illegal alien can petition the government for a visa, green card, or a temporary worker visa.
• All immigration applications are the same. This is false. Every immigration case is unique and requires careful analysis and advocacy, preferably by a skilled and experienced immigration lawyer.
• The naturalization test is simple. The immigration test is a civics exam that requires a significant amount of knowledge of the United States government and its history. There are over 100 questions to study.
• You must be able to speak and write in the English language. This is not true. There are situations that allow an alien who cannot speak or write in English to become a permanent resident. But if you are unable to speak and write English that does make it difficult to pass a citizenship test if you are trying to be naturalized.

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

History clearly tells that immigration was not as we know it today. For many, being a citizen of the United States came naturally when their forefathers walked into the country via the New York Harbor. More than twelve million migrants have been assessed and permitted to walk in to the United States in the last sixty two years since the country’s immigration department has offered its services. This is as per the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation. These immigrants had to undergo a physical examination which was followed by identity verification. Of these, around ninety eight percent were granted permission to enter the country.

The concept of DNA testing was alien to the authorities then. The Bureau of Immigration was accountable for matching identities and ensuring that the right people have been allowed to pass through. They had to question the migrants and contrast their answers with the questionnaire that has been filled in prior.

However, with changing times and with the advent of technology, the mode of assessment has become sleeker than ever. With this, the department also emerged to be known as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services or commonly known as the USCIS. Today, the USCIS asks for a proof that could be verified better for an individual’s identity before granting a permit to enter.

Today, there are many ways to gain a permit to enter the United States. One such method is through having family relations. Immediate blood relatives such as those of parents, siblings or children who are US citizens could be verified for. In such a case, the US citizen is known as the petitioner and the foreign relative is called as the beneficiary. Here, evidence proving the relationship between the petitioner and beneficiary has to be produced. This proof can be in the form of birth certificates, census or school records or any form of documentation which is relevant.

It is also agreed that there are instances where it is difficult to find any form of documentation. In fact, a fire led to the complete destruction of the first ever immigration records that were stored at the Ellis Island processing facility. Records that have been lost or misplaced due to natural disasters or due to negligent officials are common.

To cater to the above problem, the USCIS has come up with a more sound system of identity verification. And so came in the concept of DNA testing to state a particular blood relationship.

No other form of assessment can be better at judging the blood ties between any two individuals. Any accredited laboratory under the American Association of Blood Banks is capable of proving the relationship with an accuracy of ninety nine percent. Thus, a DNA test is best form of testing which makes the process of verification very precise. This test is required as evidence in case of sponsoring foreign nationals.

The test is a painless process where in a sample of the petitioner and the beneficiary’s DNA is taken. These samples are tested at specific laboratories that are designated by the USCIS. The results are then forwarded to the office of the Homeland Security. These reports act as proof for both the USCIS and the Department of State to verify the applicants.

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

It is with great difficulty that an immigrant acquires the status of permanent residence in the United States. But this does not mean that an immigrant should act indifferently once he gets his permanent resident status. Once obtained, he has a greater responsibility of maintaining that status. This is because it takes only moments to wash away all the hard work that has been put in to acquire that status.

The most important of all the reasons for the loss of a permanent residence status is indulging in any form of criminal activity. No government of any country can tolerate its immigrants adding to the crime rate. It is similar with the United States government.

Being a law abiding society, it is but obvious that all the permanents of the United States are to follow the laws of the country. If any of the immigrants are convicted for any form of criminal activity or practice activities that are considered a crime in the United States or any other country, which would pose a barrier to their status. The immigrant would instantly be deported back to his native country and would not be permitted to enter the United States ever again.

Some of the following criminal activities that could hamper the permanent residence status of an individual include the following:

• Any form of violent activities and the punishment of such crimes include a minimum of a year of service in the prison.
• Committing murder.
• Activities involving terror which would may pose a threat to the local population.
• Rape, molestation and sexually assaulting women and children.
• Illegal dealings in arms, drugs and human trafficking.
• Sexual misconduct, causing physical harm, any fraudulent practices which have led to loss or damage to people and property.
• Threatening someone for one’s own means as well as reckless behavior.

Additionally, there would be a serious outcome incase of the following:

• Providing with false information and lying to get immigration benefits.
• Claiming to be a citizen of the United States when the immigrant is actually not.
• Participating in elections – federal or local, that is only permitted to the citizens of the United States.
• Indulging in drinking or being a habitual drunk as defined by the US immigrant department as well as using drugs illegally.
• If an individual is married to two people at a given period of time.
• Neglecting the responsibilities of supporting the family.
• Found to be practicing domestic violence.
• Not filing tax returns on time.

In case an individual has been involved in any of the above, the first thing that he must do is to contact an immigration lawyer or any community based organization which provides legal support to these immigrants.

Guest Post Author

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

However one point that we strongly believe that one of the top 2 or 3 causes of illegal immigration in the US is the legal immigration system. This is a widely held belief among well versed Americans that really understand the US Immigration system and its major inadequacies and inequities, as well of course a lot of foreigners that have to suffer through it.

The illegal immigration issue is far more widely covered in the media and talk radio due to its ability to garner passions which are too often irrational among the consumers of those providing the media. As ultimately that passion turns into greater numbers of viewers, listeners or readers and thus more advertising dollars for the publication and those engaging the audience.

The main focus of the illegal immigration debate tends to center around some core issues in the US today which includes;
- Terrorism & National Security
- Open Borders & Need for a fence on the US Southern border
- Illegal immigrants who commit felonies
- Paying taxes and receiving social benefits
- Unsafe and illegal workplace conditions for undocumented workers
- Lowering overall wage levels & taking US jobs
- Breaking up families where parties are of different nationalities

As you can see just by the nature of the headers, each of these points on their own has the ability to garner strong views from both side of the political spectrum producing less than cordial debate and thus no practical, long term, workable and overall beneficial solutions.

I would like to approach a couple of these issues from a different perspective that is rarely discussed in the mass media as a solution for all these problems. That being the US immigration system or the legal immigration system and its inequities that help cause many of the above problems.

As it relates to National Security types issues and Border Control, the current US immigration system and processing is not only more than sufficient, it goes way past what is practical. Every person who applies for a US visa has to supply all 10 fingerprints at their US Consulate interview. Additionally all these people as well as those traveling via the Visa Waiver Program and the new ESTA have to give fingerprints at the port of entry. This is in addition to all the background checks against all suspect databases and information.

Given that 99.999% of people are not National Security threats, nor have done anything that would make them even be considered a threat, this is certainly a huge intrusion into people’s privacy for a free society. It is also worth pointing out that almost all illegal immigrants are not national security risks and that many of the people that have committed atrocities within the US were legal immigrants or citizens. Everyone of the people who slipped through the system were as a result of government bureaucracy and federal agencies not talking to each other.

So really by implement ever more intrusive procedures the US is further alienating almost all the foreigners that are law abiding and follow the rules and yet still missing the ones they want to catch because of simple communication issues that a adolescent could see needed to be fixed.

The other issue I will cover relates to the workplace, taxes, social benefits and taking jobs from US citizens. In a healthy proportion, illegal immigrants are performing tasks that Americans would like not to do and at the same time are secretly happy is being performed by illegals at lower wages as it means lower prices at grocery stores, restaurants and retail stores.

Additionally illegal immigrants like their legal immigrant counterparts are also paying taxes like Social Security and Medicare on top of the relevant Federal and State taxes with no acess to any of these social services. So all immigrant types are helping to contribute to the welfare of their US citizens counterparts. Now if the US government even gave some basic access to social services to legal immigrants, then that would be a reason for people to both follow the rules as immigrants and to also pay their taxes.

As we have discussed in numerous other posts, citing studies like those by Duke Professor, Vivek Wadhwa of the huge net benefit job wise of the healthy immigration policy the US has always had. In that the overall benefit is of a mass job creation and innovation and thus more jobs and wealth for the US and its citizens. So making this process more streamlined and equitable in the end will only create more jobs for US citizens as opposed to arbitrary restrictions and protectionist policies.

In the end illegal immigration is a issue that deserves a lot more attention than this one post. However we just wanted to highlight the relationships between illegal and legal immigration and how fixes in one area can only help the other and the US as a whole.

CJ

©2010 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

Well the fact that he barely mention Immigration in the speech at all suggests that as we mentioned in our US Immigration Reform 2010 expectations post above as well as our US Immigration Predictions for 2010, that not to expect much at all is a safe bet.

After the recent Massachusetts Senate Race long and the fact that Midterm elections are due in November 2010, where all members of the House and about one third of the Senate will be up for re-election, it has become imperative of the Obama administration to more largely focus of populist parts of his agenda. This is so he can continue to appeal to Independents who largely supported him during his Presidential Election Campaign but deserted the Democratic Party in the recent Massachusetts Senate Race.

So it is clear that the Economy and Jobs will take the focus for the large part of the first half of 2010 as well as attempts to salvage some form of Healthcare reform which was very close to passing but now with the new makeup of the US Senate is under threat.

US Immigration reform is not a populist topic as there is not a broad coallition that agrees on most topics of reform. Then due to the general economic conditions and the millions of US citizens who have been laid off and are still unable to find permanent work, the pool of people who could possibly support a pro Immigration agenda is even smaller than in better times.

Therefore even if US Immigration gets debated in any meaningful way and some sort of bill passes, it may have a few benefits for the current US immigrant on a US visa but is sure to have many downsides as well. As it will definitely need a broad coalition of Republican and Democrats from a broad spectrum of the country to successfully navigate both Houses of Congress and land at Obama’s desk for him to sign.

Already Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, worried about the re-election of her party members in the House this year has stated she wants to limit the amount of controversial legislation that is debated and that is all hesitant to do more when so many bills that her chamber has passed is still stuck in the US Senate.

All in all if there is any beneficial US Immigration reform in 2010, it will may be in less controversial areas like improving Green Card Waiting Times for current applicants generally applying to the EB2 visa or EB3 visa status from visas like the H1B visa, L1 visa and E3 visa.

This is a low risk area as it is viewed as highly skilled immigrants, already in the country for a longer period of time and thus both beneficial to the US economy and low risk from a National Security perspective in that they are and have been law abiding residents. These are probably the 2 most polarizing areas of the US Immigration debate within the US as these are the constant arguments brought up any type of US Immigration reform is mentioned. These are the areas opportunistic politicians like Senators Dick Durbin (Il) and Chuck Grassley (IA) and celebrity media pundits play upon on cable news.

However things will be unlikely to improve based on the current environment include;
- any increase to the current main H1B visa quota of 65,000
- any form of amnesty for Illegal Immigrants
- approval for borderline cases of refugee or political asylum
- fairness in the tax and social security laws as it applies to Immigrants
- improvement of waiting times in US visa processing and 221(g) Administrative Processing
- responsiveness to hearing of complaints and grievances filed regarding employer abuses in workplaces of people on non-immigrant visas

Unfortunately this is not a great way to start the year with a pessimistic outlook for positive US Immigration changes and real reform in 2010 after people have been promised so much in the past, and not for the first time either! It is looking increasing like depending on the legislative successes and failures in other areas this year, the overall state of the economy and the unemployment rate and finally the results of the Midterm elections in November will probably have a larger bearing on whether real US Immigration reform may be possible in 2011.

CJ

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