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Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 11:27 AM
Happening
at the border In light of all the immigration controversies that are
taking place, one major issue has been standing out these past few days. Images
and stories of children being torn away from their parents and caged up are
rampant over news and social media sites. This separation on parents and
children is causing unnecessary fear and trauma and suffering amongst these
individuals who are in fact human beings and not being treated as such.
From the words of Melania Trump herself, "She believes we need to be a country that follows
all laws, but also a country that governs with heart. |
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Posted on Monday, June 18, 2018 12:02 PM
The Attorney General’s Push to Have Immigration Judges to Deny
Asylum to Victims of Violence
The AG issued a precedent decision, he vacated the Board of
Immigration Appeal’s decision, stating that in his view, domestic violence victims
and other victims of crimes perpetrated by private, non-governmental actors do
not generally qualify for asylum.
This decision just goes to show that this current
administration does not respect the fundamental rights in our Constitution and
laws. Each incident is case specific and must be assessed based on their own
individual merits. I believe that this decision is being made blindly, with the
AG’s inconsideration of the fact that certain victims can be targeted with no
kind of relief solely because the crime was done by a private actor and not a member
of the government. The safety of people’s lives is being blatantly ignored. |
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Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 10:30 AM
An
upcoming vote on 2 bills next week
The moderates and the conservatives have finally come
to an immigration agreement that has been long awaited. Both parties will be
voting on two bills next week, one proposed by the conservatives that is not
expected to pass, and another based on closed-door negotiations regarding DACA.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman
Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican, emerged from the conservative
meeting late Tuesday saying he'd talked to moderates about what conservatives
could accept, offering a promise that his members would support a vote on the
to-be-written negotiated bill if they got a vote on their preferred
conservative bill. The moderate Republicans are hoping that with some
support towards the bolstering of the border, they come get a DACA solution. There
is also talk of creating a new possible visa that could create a special path
to citizenship only for undocumented immigrants. I think that this movement will create better understanding of what is
to come. |
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Posted on Friday, May 25, 2018 12:07 PM
New Policy Memorandum for F, J, and M Nonimmigrants
As per a new policy memorandum issued by the Unites States
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on May 10, 2018, starting on
August 9, 2018, foreign students (F), exchange visitors (J), and foreign
vocational students (M) who were admitted or present in the United States in
duration of status (D/S), will accrue unlawful presence the day after USCIS finds
a nonimmigrant status violation while adjudicating a request for another
benefit, or the day after an immigration judge ordered them excluded, deported,
or removed. |
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2018 9:25 AM
USCIS Updates Policy of DNA Evidence
The purpose of this policy was to change the USCIS’s policy on evaluating DNA
evidence between siblings. When the USCIS files petitions for siblings of US citizens, they have
to evaluate DNA evidence. A sibling relationship is determined by if the beneficiary and the
petitioner share at least one parent. Evidence is needed to determine if the relationship is
conclusive. Primary evidence includes proof such as birth and marriage certificates while
secondary evidence includes medical records, school records, religious documents, etc.
Affidavits from people can also be used. The USCIS can also conduct a Blood Group Antigen
Test or a Human Leucocyte Antigen Test to further conduct tests to prove sibling relationship.
However, these methods are rarely used nowadays and instead, DNA testing has become more
favorable.
In March 2016, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)’s decision in the Matter of
Ruzku held that sibling-sibling relationships should have a 99.5% when testing for DNA.
Currently, USCIS has set the value for full and half-sibling for 90%. They may find the full
sibling relationship inconclusive if it falls below 90% unless it is greater or equal to 9%
probability. If the probability is less than 9%, then the relationship does not exist. If the value for
half-sibling relationships is below 90% then it is also inconclusive however, if the probability is
less than 9%, it does not necessarily mean that it is completely invalid.
Reference:
http://www.aila.org/infonet/uscis-updates-guidance-on-dna-evidence-of-sibling |
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2018 9:23 AM
USA’s Competitive Advantage
The first reason for why lawmakers should work towards reform is that attacks on immigration
will affect USA’s competitive advantage. Immigrants make up a large amount of our working
population. They also account for $2 trillion of the overall economy of $18 trillion. Cutting legal
immigration will result in the decline of the country’s economy in the long run and also decrease
the labor supply. In addition to this, attacks on immigration has also discouraged travelers from
entering the United States, creating a decline in tourism. |
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2018 9:19 AM
Why Lawmakers Should Work for a Reform Against Attacks on Legal Immigration
The report, “The Case for Protecting Legal Immigration Against Recent Attacks”
includes several of the efforts that are made or being made by our current Administration in the
United States. Most of these efforts are targeted towards making immigration more difficult for
legal immigrants, Dreamers, and those that are already even here and to overall reduce legal
immigration. This is problematic especially because immigrants and immigration are good for
the economy of the country. According to the report, immigrants are “a source of economic
strength”, helps to grow the GDP of the country which will provide more jobs for Americans as
well as increase wages. Attacking legal immigration puts America at an economic disadvantage.
More specifically, there will be a 2% drop in GDP by 2040 and 4.6 million fewer jobs. As a
result, it is crucial that they need to understand why we need to make reforms towards these new
attacks on legal immigration for the sake of our own country. |
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Posted on Friday, May 04, 2018 11:20 AM
The
Trump administration has been considering proposing a policy that would separate
families who seek to cross the border illegally. However, immigration advocates
and other supporters deem it inhumane to enact such treatment, especially to
those persons seeking safety and security from their home countries. But, because
in past situations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has found that
smugglers would pair non-relative children with adults in hopes of achieving
the less suspicion factor. |
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Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 3:49 PM
In March 2017, the United States reached its mandated allotment of 66,000 H-2B visas. This left many businesses with a need for more qualified workers. The Trump administration has agreed to allow another 15,000 temporary and non-agricultural foreign workers into the U.S to fill the need. In order to get these workers, companies must attest, under the penalty of perjury, that the they are likely to suffer irreparable harm if they are not able to get more workers. This is quoted as a one-time increase aimed to help these suffering businesses temporarily while they find more qualified U. |
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Posted on Tuesday, March 06, 2018 4:27 PM
Oakland Mayor Warns Illegal Immigrants of Raid
Oakland’s Democratic Mayor, Libby Schaaf, released a warning to members of the community notifying them of an upcoming raid that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had imposed. The Mayor claimed that her “priority is for the well-being and safety of all residents,” and that is safer when we share information, encourage community awareness, and care for our neighbors.” Mayor Schaaf believed that it is her duty and moral obligation to give the targeted immigrants and their families fair warning when that threat becomes imminent. However, for ICE, that was not the smart nor helpful thing to do, especially in efforts of protecting this nation. “The raid led to the arrest of 232 illegal immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area, 180 of which ICE said “were either convicted criminals, had been issued a final order of removal and failed to depart the United States, or had been previously removed” from the country and had come back illegally.” ICE states that if it were not for the warning given by Mayor Schaaf, there would have been greater numbers in the amount of arrests. |
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