Visa Lawyer Blog

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According to TRAC, Justice Department data show that Immigration Judges are declining substantially fewer requests for asylum. Denial rates have reached the lowest level in the last quarter of a century.

Twenty five years ago, in FY 1986, almost nine out of ten (89%) of the asylum requests in the Immigration Courts were denied. While the annual rates have gone up and down during the ensuing years, only half (50%) of the requests were denied during the first nine months of FY 2010 — a record low.

One factor contributing to the improved success of the asylum seekers is that a higher proportion of the total are represented by counsel. It must be noted, however, that the number of those seeking asylum in court proceedings has fallen.

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Costa Rica’s appeal to the Arizona District Court over the rights of illegal immigrants in the United States was thrown out last week because it was submitted past deadline. In an e-mail to The Tico Times, an assistant to the clerk of the court confirmed that “the motion was denied on Sept. 2, 2010 as untimely.”

Federal Judge Susan Bolton entered an order on July 1, stating that any interested party wishing to file an amicus curiae must do so no later than July 14, according to the court. (An amicus curiae is someone not involved in a case who volunteers information that could affect the could bear on the case’s outcome.) Costa Rica filed its motion on July 21.

Costa Rica was not the only one to file a motion with the Arizona District Court. Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Nicaragua also denounced Arizona’s new law.The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry wrote in a press release that it was concerned for the civil and human rights of Costa Rican citizens while in the United States. Faithful to its tradition of promoting and defending human rights, Costa Rica has raised its voice against discrimination against immigrants in the United States.

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What a shameful story. DOJ announcement on the indictment of six individuals for engaging in a conspiracy to commit forced labor and document servitude. The charges arise from the defendants’ alleged scheme to coerce the labor and services of approximately 400 Thai nationals to work on U.S. farms.

The Justice Department announced that a federal grand jury in Honolulu

indicted Mordechai Orian, an Israeli national; Pranee Tubchumpol, Shane Germann and Sam

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Indian Government sources had said that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security had contacted the ministry of external affairs (MEA), India around the time Mr Pacheco was incarcerated for his alleged involvement in the mysterious death of his girlfriend Nadia Torrado — he was in jail from July 9 till July 26, when he was awarded bail. He is a former Goa, India tourism minister Francisco Xavier “Mickky” Pacheco was caught on the backfoot on Sunday once again as reports surfaced that the US State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security had informed India that Mr Pacheco might be involved in a big immigration and money laundering racket.

Mr Pacheco used to operate an employment agency along with his estranged wife Sara Pacheco which specialized in finding employment for Goans abroad. But according to the former minister, he has had nothing to do with the agency since he separated from his wife around four years back.

Mr. Mickey Pacheco has been accused by the US Bureau of Diplomatic Security of running an international immigration and money-laundering racket. The bureau got in touch with the external affairs ministry through the US embassy in Delhi and reportedly backed its allegations with documents and details of banking transactions. The ministry then passed on the information to the CBI. The evidence is being described as substantive. According to the US Bureau of Diplomatic Security report, Pacheco had 15 million dollars in his account in the US. He recently transferred 2 million dollars to India.

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Figures show that between 2005 and 2009, illegal US immigration fell by more than 60 per cent. In the first half of the decade, an average of 850,000 people were moving to the US without the correct US visas. However, this has fallen to just 300,000 between 2007 and 2009, according to new figures released by the Pew Hispanic Centre.

The fall is thought to be the result of a combination of factors, including tougher border controls and the recession. The drop has also impacted the overall estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the US. In 2007, the number was thought to total around 12 million. This number had fallen by around eight per cent to 11.1 million by last year.

Some 60 per cent of the people moving to the US without US visas are coming over the border from Mexico, with a further 20 per cent coming from other parts of Latin America. The remaining illegals come mostly from Asia, Africa and Canada.The new figures may go some way towards calming the national debate about Arizona’s new US immigration act, which encourages law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if they have reason to believe they may be living in the US illegally.

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Haitian F-1 students experiencing severe economic hardship from the Jan. 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake eligible for employment authorization. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has approved special relief for certain F-1 Haitian students who have suffered severe economic hardship as result of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. This relief applies only to students who were lawfully present in the United States in F-1 status on Jan. 12, and enrolled in an institution that is certified by ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

The suspension of certain regulatory requirements, by notice in the federal register, allows eligible Haitian F- 1 students to obtain employment authorization, work an increased number of hours during the school term, and, if necessary, reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 student status. F-1 students granted employment authorization by means of this notice will be deemed to be engaged in a full course of study if they meet the minimum course-load requirements specified in the notice.

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Proposals have been made in Congress for many years to confer an opportunity for the young students to become legalized. These proposals, commonly known as the “Dream Act”, so far have not gone too far in the legislative process. The terms of the Dream Act various. According to the latest proposal in 2009, a person must be between the ages of 12 and 35 when the law was enacted, must have arrived in the United States before the age of 16, must have resided continuously in the United States for at least five (5) consecutive years since the date of their arrival, must have graduated from a U.S. High School or obtained a General Education Diploma GED, and must have good moral character. If eligible, these individuals will be able to obtain temporary residency for a six year period.

There have been many instances in which immigrant students were released from detention after they were arrested for being without immigration status in the U.S. There is a clear federal policy to suspend or defer enforcement efforts on them, according to various reports. These students were brought to the United States by their parents who did not have legal status. They attended schools and adopted an American lifestyle. Many are now high school graduates but have difficulties continuing their education on account of their illegal status. Although the current immigration policy is temporarily sparing these youngsters from deportation, their future will remain uncertain without actual changes in immigration law. Within the six year period, a qualified student must have acquired a two-year degree from a community college or completed 2 years of a program for a bachelor’s degree or higher degree in the United States. Alternatively, he or she may also serve in the military for at least two years. If the applicant fails to meet one of these three requirements, the student shall revert back to the immigration status that he or she had immediately prior to receiving conditional permanent resident status.

Furthermore, although the applicant would not be eligible for Pell grants, they would be entitled to apply for student loans and work study. However, should these students commit a serious crime or a drug-related violation during these six years, they would lose their conditional status and subject to deportation. Upon successful completion of the requirements at the end of the six years, the applicant will be eligible for lawful permanent status. Legalizing these young students would actually bring in a new pool of educated people to the workforce, reduce costs associated with social problems, and foster family unity. If passed, the law will benefit more than 700,000 individuals throughout the United States. Energetic and educated, these students have become increasingly vocal in fighting for their rights.

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We all know by now that Requests for Evidence in O1, H1, L1 and P cases have almost doubled in the past 12 months. It has now become a matter of practice at my firm, to let clients know that a Request for Evidence will most likely happen in their case. This is frustrating to us lawyers, and creating extreme hardship to clients.

The situation is so bad with denials coming from the California Service Center that the LA Times covered this issue in a recent story:

The nation’s immigration chief has launched a effort to quell the outcry from Hollywood and the performing arts community about a spike in visa denials, processing delays and requests for evidence to support their petitions to bring in leading foreign artists for U.S. performances.

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This is a recent update from the AILA Rome Chapter for the benefit of our readers. The State Department has substantially rewritten the FAM provisions relating to physical or mental disorders as medical grounds of inadmissibility. These significant changes, set forth at 9 FAM 40.11 N11, focus on physical or mental disorders with harmful behavior, and on substance-related disorders, corresponding to INA 212(a)(1)(A)(iii) and (iv), respectively.

The following is a summary of these sweeping revisions.

Introduction

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