Monthly Archive: May 2012
In the absence of Congressional action on the DREAM Act, advocates and DREAMers have increasingly turned to the White House to help them secure temporary protection from removal. This week, DREAMERS got a huge boost from 96 law professors who sent a letter to President Obama outlining the extensive authority under law that his administration …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/31/law-professors-push-white-house-to-grant-administrative-relief-to-dreamers/
Earlier this year, USCIS proposed a new waiver rule that would allow some unauthorized immigrants (mostly direct family members of U.S. citizens) who are applying for a green card to apply for a waiver to the 3 and 10 year bar from within the United States, minimizing the amount of time they would have to …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/30/standardizing-guidelines-would-improve-usciss-proposed-family-unity-waiver-rule/
Despite the recent controversy over amendments to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), there is still no resolution on its reauthorization. The bill remains stalled in Congress due to conflicting versions passed by the House and Senate. As one source put it, while the current impasse is technically procedural (due to a revenue-related procedural rule), …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/29/still-no-resolution-on-vawa-protections-for-immigrants-at-risk/
Last year, lawmakers in California were poised to pass a bill—known as the TRUST Act—to let local jurisdictions opt out of Secure Communities, the federal program that routes fingerprints taken at local jails to federal immigration authorities. Before final passage, however, federal officials rendered the bill moot by declaring that participation in the program was …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/25/in-california-lawmakers-mount-new-challenge-to-secure-communities-program/
BY HEATHER M. STEWART, COUNSEL AND DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION POLICY AT NAFSA: ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS Current U.S. immigration law provides few options for foreign graduates of U.S. universities with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM” degrees) who want to stay here to contribute their skills and knowledge. Not enough American students are …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/24/administration-takes-step-to-keep-talented-foreign-students-in-the-u-s/
In a case of very creative accounting, the nativist Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is blaming students for Maryland’s fiscal woes. In a new report, FAIR lumps together students who are unauthorized immigrants with U.S.-born students who have unauthorized parents and claims that they are all costing Maryland taxpayers astronomical sums in educational expenditures. …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/23/antiimmigration-group-blames-students-for-marylands-budget-gap/
As previously noted, the administration recently proposed a new rule that would help keep American families —the “Proposed Rule on Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives.” This proposed rule would streamline the application process for many relatives of U.S. citizens currently eligible for a green card by minimizing the amount of …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/22/expansion-of-proposed-waiver-rule-could-help-more-families-stay-together/
Last week, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley publically criticized a bill intended to revise key sections of the state’s controversial immigration law (HB 56). He even announced a special legislative session to address his issues with the bill—namely, a provision that requires school officials to check the immigration status of enrolling students and that of their …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/21/alabama-governor-signs-bill-that-makes-states-immigration-law-even-worse/
While some states pushed for punitive immigration measures over the last year—measures designed to drive immigrants away —others, like those in Michigan, were busy putting together a plan that welcomes immigrants and their revitalizing power to the state. This month, leaders in Michigan—including state Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit)—helped launch …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/18/michigan-pushes-plan-to-welcome-immigrants-and-their-revitalizing-power-to-state/
Today, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced his disapproval of a bill intended to change parts of the state’s extreme immigration law (HB 56) and initiated a special legislative session to address the problems. Yesterday, on the last day of the state’s regular legislative session, the Alabama Senate passed a version of a tweak bill that, …
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Permanent link to this article: http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/05/17/alabama-governor-rejects-changes-to-states-extreme-immigration-law-starts-special-legislative-session/