Innovation and Immigration

As we eluded to in our commentary in the Boulder Daily Camera, one of the keys to pulling ourselves out of this economic recession will be to spark innovation and embrace the immigrant community here in the United States. Please see Thomas Friedman's Op-Ed in the New York Times from this past weekend:

Op-Ed Columnist - Invent, Invent, Invent - NYTimes.com

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Conservatives and Progessives Agree: Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The Heritage Foundation, one of the nation's leading conservative think tanks, beleives and advocates for increasing the number of available visas and promoting a sensible immigration policy.

From the Heritage Foundation website:

"The principles upon which the United States is established encourage immigration and promote the transformation of those "yearning to breathe free" into Americans, welcoming newcomers while insisting that they learn and embrace America's civic culture and political institutions. The federal government has a duty to carry out these principles in its policies, while ensuring that U.S. borders are both secure and open to commerce."
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/index.cfm

We were also quite impressed by the Heritage Foundation's stance on H-1B visas:

The Time to Act

"Congress has failed to raise H-1B caps for several years despite the wide range of support to do so. Raising H-1B caps will provide businesses the professionals and skills they need to develop

• Raise the cap back to 195,000 visas per year.
• Make the cap flexible. As the U.S. economy fluctuates through its business cycles, the demand for H-1B visas will rise and fall. Congress should establish a quota that, if met, automatically increases for the next year. In addition, unused visas should be recaptured for the next fiscal year.

Allowing the appropriate levels of high skilled workers into the United States helps the American worker, the economy, and America's federal budget. There is no good reason not to act."

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/upload/wm_2384.pdf

Comprehensive Immigration Reform

President Obama opened the debate on Comprehensive Immigration Reform yesterday much to the chagrin of restrictionists and xenophobes. Less than 24 hours later the push for a sensible approach is gaining steam and we are hopeful that cooler heads will prevail on this issue.

As the President stated yesterday "we are a nation of immigrants". Passing legislation must include reforms and improvements to our current system, address the undocumented population and provide a path out of the shadows, and improve Border Security by providing for an effective system of regulating migration in an orderly manner.

Obama: Immigration bill coming soon

Obama: Immigration bill coming soon - Amie Parnes - POLITICO.com

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The White House - Press Office - Remarks by the President after meeting with members of Congress to discuss immigration

The White House - Press Office - Remarks by the President after meeting with members of Congress to discuss immigration

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Guest commentary: No-win situation for legal immigrants : Guest Opinions : Boulder Daily Camera

Guest commentary: No-win situation for legal immigrants : Guest Opinions : Boulder Daily Camera

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Convoluted Visa Policies Leading to Brain Drain

As the immigration debate begins to stir, scientists, engineers , and other highly technical and skilled workers in the United states are packing their bags:

Silicon Valley Brain Drain Blamed on U.S. Immigration Policy

In addition, there is evidence that it's not just the workers that are packing their bags:

Microsoft's Ballmer on H1-B Visas, Immigration

The Detroit Free Press recently interviewed Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who asked him why Microsoft in 2007 built a research and development facility in Canada--over the border in Vancouver--not that far from Microsoft's quarters in Redmond, Wash.

Why not build it in the United States? Ballmer's response:

While the Canadian R&D credit may have been a factor, it wasn't the deciding one, Ballmer said. That would be immigration policy...

"We opened the lab in Vancouver," Ballmer said, "because we were having trouble getting visas for the best and the brightest to come to Seattle. The Canadian government said, 'We're happy to have those people.' "

"It's a bit goofy," he said, "because for every person we hire to be an engineer, there's probably another four or five people who we employ at Microsoft. There's another set of people employed in the community in construction and housing and retail, a bunch of different industries."

In 2008, Microsoft employed more than 78,000 individuals. According to Fortune, Microsoft employs 47,645 in the United States and 30,920 in other countries. Microsoft has said publicly that less than 15 percent of its U.S. work force are H1-B visa holders--which would put the total number of visa holders in the 6,000 to 7,000 range.

""I don't care whether they're American-born or Indian-born or Russian-born. I want to pay them to work in the U.S. That's why I'm trying to get 'em a visa.... I'm not trying to ship the job to India."

H-1B Visa Update

The H-1B program has, in recent history, been extremely difficult to access by employers. As of June 19, 2009, the USCIS has received only 44,500 of the 65,000 available H-1B visa petitions. This is a great opportunity to think about employees or potential hires in foreign countries that are considering a transfer to the U.S. Murad Immigration is available to assist you with the efficient filing of petitions for the last remaining H-1B visas for this fiscal year.

You will notice that from our last post on this topic the number of available H-1B visas has increased by approximately 1,000. The USCIS has indicated that this represents petitions that were denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

This year's low usage of the H-1B visa program is a perfect indication why having a false cap is not the most effective way to regulate highly skilled immigration in the United States. As we see from this year's usage rate, the "market" is the most efficient way to set a cap for highly skilled workers.

Department of Labor Updates

The following are some highlights from the DOL at the AILA Annual Conference:

• The DOL is working on 3 major administrative and system enhancements: 1) Rolling out larger-scale supervised recruitment from the Atlanta National Processing Center by October 1, 2009; 2) Centralizing processing of all prevailing wage determinations; and 3) Centralizing all help-desk functions to the national Office of Foreign Labor Certification in Washington, D.C.
• The PERM section of the new iCERT Portal is not expected to take effect until September 2009.
• Statistics on PERM processing: About 58,000 applications are currently pending. 54% are under final review, 38% are in audits, 6% are on appeal, and the rest are undergoing business verification checks.
• For supervised recruitment: 25% of the cases are withdrawn, 45% are denied, 11% are certified and 20% are pending.

The processing numbers are interesting. One of the three main administrative goals is to roll out a larger scale "supervised recruitment" and 45% of all supervised recruitment cases are denied. What does this mean? Well, the numbers speak for themselves.

There is a good news/bad news item in these updates. The centralized processing of all prevailing wages will allow for standardization of the process and employers with offices across the United States will know what to expect in each state. Unfortunately, when the DOL moves from local processing to national processing, you inevitably lose the connection and ability to have questions answered as to why a particular position has come in at a higher or lower wage than anticipated. In many situations, working with a local officer allowed for lines of communication to remain open. When the PERM process was introduced in 2005 we saw a major breakdown in those lines of communications and we expect further erosion with the nationalization of prevailing wage determinations.

USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for I-140 Petitions

USCIS announced today that they are resuming premium processing services for certain I-140 petitions.

The following I-140 cases are eligible:

• EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability
• EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers
• EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability (not seeking a National Interest Waiver)
• EB-3 Professionals
• EB-3 Skilled Workers
• EB-3 Other Workers

The following I-140 cases are not eligible:

• EB-1 Multinational Executives and Managers
• EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability seeking a National Interest Waiver

While this service is convenient, the employment based visa backlogs may in some situations make this an unnecessary expense.

Gibbs: Not enough votes in Congress for immigration reform

Gibbs: Not enough votes in Congress for immigration reform

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On the same day that President Obama announced his support to pass comprehensive Immigration Reform during his presidency, the Press Secretary told "The Hill" newspaper that there are not enough votes to pass CIR, currently. We urge everyone to contact their elected representatives and ask them to support CIR.

President Obama's Statement at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast

"We also know that keeping this promise means upholding America's tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Those things aren't contradictory; they're complementary. That's why I'm committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform as President of the United States."

We were pleased to hear the President's message this morning. While he did not indicate a timetable, we are hopeful that he intends to live up to his commitment sooner rather than later.

You can read his entire statement at: President's Remarks at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast

Check out Reform Immigration for America | Why Reform

I want you to take a look at: Reform Immigration for America | Why Reform 

The Reform Immigration for America campaign is a broadspectrum of Businesses, Families, and Associations that have come together to support commonsense approaches for immigration reform.

Maybe Yes, Maybe No

As goes Immigration Reform so goes the largest (and growing) minority voting bloc in the United States. The current administration had scheduled a meeting with key congressional leaders to discuss Immigration Reform on June 8. This meeting was delayed to June 17. Now, the administration has announced that the meeting has been postponed indefinitely. Sounds like a regular day at the immigration service. While congressional leadership has advanced a schedule to push for immigration reform this year, the Executive branch has been noticeably distant from the current debate.

For the past several years immigrants have been playing a fools game in trying to meet requirements, which change on a seemingly daily basis. The agencies charged with regulating immigration in the United States are broken. The “back of the line” stretches for years and, increasingly, in a majority of cases, can be measured in decades. Who can blame these "legal immigrants" for the frustration they face with a system that changes the rules in mid stream.

Imagine lining up to renew your driver’s license and you are told your wait will be 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the DMV announces it has run out of licenses and because of demand for licenses from other offices your wait is expected to stretch in to tomorrow. As the next day arrives you patiently wait. Again those in line are told, that the DMV has run out of licenses for that day and now they don't expect to have licenses available until the following week. As you return the next week, you are told that because the other offices were so efficient at processing their backlogs and requesting use of licenses, that the line you are in, is now expected to last into the next month. At this point, it's been a month since you could drive and this "song and dance" continues without end. The bus you have been using to move about has broken down several times, and you risk losing your job because you have been late to work on several occasions. As you look at the wait for licenses, you are told that the wait is now a year or more. You open your front door and take a long hard look at the car sitting in your driveway. Would you use the car despite the fact that your license is expired even though when you first applied to renew it you were told it would take 10 minutes, and that was 6 months ago and now you are told that you probably will not be able to get a new license for a year more?

Immigrants face this conundrum on a daily basis. Many choose to "drive". They face choices that are far starker than driving with an expired license; in most cases their situation involves a question of survival. Simply ignoring the issue does not mean it is not there. Inaction will certainly create a negative economic and social impact in the Unites States. Governments across the globe are taking advantage of America’s spoiled promise by working aggressively to lure the next great innovators out from under us. As our beacon of light dims, theirs are beginning to shine.

As immigrants make a calculated decision based on broken promises and changing benchmarks, the government loses its ability to provide for our security and the economy faces the inevitable consequence of losing the next "Google" to a more forward-looking government. As General Colin Powell recently said "Immigrants eventually become part of our social and economic fabric. But the policies with which we greet them are, in important ways, self-fulfilling. If we reach out, if we help, they will respond in kind."

The widow penalty is suspended

A new day has dawned at the Department of Homeland Security.

Imagine you have found the love of your life, you marry, you pick up your whole life and move to a new country. Things are going well as you and the love of your life are together. Yes, things are difficult, but you are learning the culture and the language of the United States. Things are improving. While a honeymoon was not possible after the marriage, you and your spouse decide to take one for your one year anniversary. While on your honeymoon, your U.S. citizen spouse passes away unexpectedly in tragic circumstances. As you return to your marital home, you are feeling lost and very depressed about the recent death of your spouse. However, despite this you realize you must carry on. You decide that the best way to carry on will be to continue the life you have settled here in the United States. Within a few weeks you receive a letter from the immigration service denying your application for benefits under the immigration laws of the United States because your spouse died.

This was a daily horror story that countless immigrants faced when their U.S. citizen spouses passed away. The unrelenting and unsympathetic Immigration and Nationality Act imposed this awful scenario on thousands of immigrants each year and the Government was for too log too happy to trap these immigrants in a technicality of our laws. It was a gross abuse committed by the government on a very vulnerable group.

Yesterday, the Secretary of Homeland Security suspended this gross abuse of government power. "Smart immigration policy balances strong enforcement practices with common sense, practical solutions to complicated issues. Granting deferred action to the widows and widowers of U.S. Citizens who otherwise would have been denied the right to remain in the United States allows these individuals and their children an opportunity to stay in the country that has become their home."

Effective immediately, the immigration service is instructed to suspend pending actions against widows and widowers in this situation. In addition, pending removal hearings will be suspended, and finally, Secretary Napolitano has announced that "USCIS will consider favorably requests for humanitarian reinstatement where previously approved petitions for widow(er)s had been revoked because of the law."

We laud this most recent effort on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security to restore common sense and decency to the immigration process. The Department is currently working on issuing guidance on how to move forward with these cases, Murad & Murad, P.C. is closely monitoring this situation and will be available to assist those affected by this humanitarian change in policy.

Our chips are "all in" for CIR!

We promise this is the last hokey reference to Vegas...

As the conference came to a close, one hand became apparent, the feeling that Comprehensive Immigration Reform is poised to happen late this year. Whether this is optimistic conjecture on behalf of immigration attorneys, or truly a reality, one thing is certain the current immigration system is broken and an enforcement only approach is unrealistic, inhumane and creates a gaping hole in our national security.

By not recognizing the fact that we have an undocumented population, we leave this community in the shadows putting them at risk and more importantly putting ourselves at risk by not knowing who is in our country and what they are doing. The purpose of having a working immigration system is to have control of our borders and to have the information necessary on foreign nationals within our borders. Leaving this unchecked creates a security nightmare that can no longer be ignored. While many may feel that the answer lies in an enforcement only approach, this is quite simply unrealistic. There is no conceivable way to round up the entire undocumented population in a short period of time and dump them at the borders. Furthermore, a strong majority of this may be eligible for an immigration benefit, that they are not aware of. Finally, ensuring that we find the bad actors is impossible, as they are in the shadows currently, and most likely are reaping the benefits of operating under the radar.

The United States, now more than ever, needs a workable immigration system, that will bring all of these individuals out of the shadows, allow for control of our immigration system, and allow us to find the bad actors with a much more manageable, sensible use of our resources.

Sobering news for Businesses

AILA Executive staff and attorneys are abuzz with the expectation that the Fraud Detection Service for USCIS is gearing up to perfoprm 1000's of site visits to ensure compliance with the H-1B and L-1 visa programs. Partly in response to a GAO report finding that USCIS had no effective manner of validating or ensuring that the programs were not being abused and partly because of the vasts amount of money they have in their war chest from the Fraud Detection Fee, the USCIS is planning on visiting businesses.

Murad & Murad is ready to help you, as the need arises in responding to USCIS investigations. These investigations are beginning to happen as a handful of attorneys across the country are starting to report investigations to local AILA chapters. If you would like to discuss the ramifications and implications of these investigations, please do not hesitate to contact any of the attorneys at Murad and Murad http://www.muradimmigration.com/

The Annual Conference: Rolling the Dice in Vegas

The conference kicked off yesterday morning to the news of the Attorney General overturning the previous administration's ruling making it difficult, if not impossible for foreign nationals to make a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

This ruling restores the rule of law and the principles of due process to our immigration system that the previous administration sought to overturn with the stroke of a pen. Murad and Murad joins AILA and immigration advocates across the world lauding this administrations decision to provide a sense of fairness in the immigration process for the most vulnerable foreign nationals in the immigration process.

While the annual conference historically opens with some major announcement from the government, this year's decision instilled a sense of pride and rejuvenated an audience of immigration attorneys who are, all too often, met with a culture of "no" from the US Government. Of note at this year's opening plenary session was a copy of the U.S. Constitution left on our seats for the installation of AILA's president, an immigrant from South Africa, who has truly lived the American Dream. Bernard Wolfsdorf arrived from South Africa, nearly 30 years to the day of his inauguration as President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. As we hold the constitution dear to our hearts and looked on as this American from South Africa taking the helm of our organization, the Attorney General's decision restoring the fundamental principles of the constitution was a welcome sign to all of us, who have seen the rights of our clients treaded on throughout the last administration.

Uniting American Families Act - it is about time...

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first Congressional hearing on the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). This bill was re-introduced to the House and Senate by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on February 12, 2009, and would allow citizens and legal permanent residents to seek residency in the United States for their same-sex partners, just as spouses now petition for foreign-born husbands and wives.

Since the mid sixties, "family reunification" has been a major focus of US immigration policy. Under this policy, Americans may petition for the legal permanent residency of their spouses. However, under the current system, family reunification does not apply to U.S. citizens and their same-gender partners from other countries. If separated, gay and lesbian families trying to re-unify, legally, often face bureaucratic, heartbreaking and often insurmountable challenges.

While this bill could ultimately become part of a larger, comprehensive immigration reform package, it is time that America joined the 19 other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Isreal, South Africa, Spain, and many others, in allowing sponsorship of same sex couples.

Updates from the American Immigration Lawyers Association Annual Conference

Murad & Murad will be blogging live from the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference bringing you the latest breaking immigration news.

H-1B Visas Still Available

The H-1B program has, in recent history, been extremely difficult to access by employers. As of May 18, 2009, the USCIS has received only 45,500 of the 65,000 available H-1B visa petitions. This is a great opportunity to think about employees or potential hires in foreign countries that are considering a transfer to the U.S. Murad Immigration is available to assist you with the efficient filing of petitions for the last remaining H-1B visas for this fiscal year.

"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") today announced information on the number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program. USCIS has received approximately 45,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap.

Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, we continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable. Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas. "

Permanent Resident Card Production Delays

We hope this 8-week delay is not a temporarily "permanent" delay. In July 2007, the USCIS implemented an exhorbitant fee increase with the promise of reducing backlogs and providing more efficient quality service. While this delay is in line with the use of funds created by the fee increase, we hope that the "upgrade" is a necessity, that will create a system allowing for faster processing of card production.

"USCIS is announcing that applicants may experience up to an eight week delay in the delivery of their permanent resident card while we are in the process of upgrading our card production equipment. USCIS Field Offices will be issuing temporary evidence of permanent residence in the form of an I-551 stamp to applicants approved for permanent residence at the time of their interview. You will need to take your passport to your appointment. If you do not have a passport, you must bring a passport style photo and government issued photo identification to receive temporary evidence of permanent residence.

If the application is approved subsequent to your interview or by a Service Center or the National Benefit Center, the applicant should bring the above documents to an INFOPASS appointment to be issued temporary evidence of permanent residence in the form of an I-551 stamp."

INFOPASS appointments can be scheduled at the following website: http://infopass.uscis.gov/