Admin

Immigrants in US both hopeful and wary of Biden Borneo Bulletin OnlineView the full article

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today marked a significant milestone in its efforts to provide relief to victims of crimes by approving the statutory maximum 10,000 petitions for U nonimmigrant status, also referred to as the U-visa. This is the third straight year USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U-visas in 2008. Each year, 10,000 U-visas are available for victims of crime who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to help law enforcement authorities investigate or prosecute those crimes. A U-visa petition requires law enforcement certification of assistance in the investigation or prosecution of crimes. “The U-visa is an important tool aiding law enforcement to bring criminals to justice,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “At the same time, we are able to provide immigration protection to victims of crime and their families. Both benefits are in the interest of the public we serve.” In recent years, USCIS has greatly expanded its public education and outreach effort through partnerships with law enforcement agencies and service providers. As part of this effort, USCIS officers have traveled to more than 40 cities, including Denver, New York City, Newark, and San Antonio, to train federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and immigrant-serving organizations on immigration protections available to individuals who are victims of human trafficking, domestic violence and other serious crimes. The program was created by Congress to strengthen the law enforcement community’s ability to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crimes while at the same time offering protection to victims. More than 61,000 victims and their family members have received U-visas since the implementation of this program in 2008. USCIS will continue to accept new petitions as they are received until the end of the current fiscal year, and will resume issuing U-visas on Oct. 1, 2012, the first day of fiscal year 2013 when new visas are available. Source: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=5cd8f03530a49310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act (DREAM) is a bi-partition bill introduced to Congress in 2001 and reintroduced in 2009 by Utah Senator Orion Hatch and Illinois (D) Senator Richard Durbin created to help youths brought the United States by undocumented parents as children who are now graduating from High School not only find a path to citizenship for themselves, but also be allowed to continue their education into college and beyond. To qualify for the DREAM Act an applicant must adhere to several very strict guidelines that include the following: The applicant must have entered the United States prior to their 16th birthday. The applicant must have been in the United States for at least 5 consecutive years prior to the bill passing. The applicant must have graduated from High School, obtained a GED or currently be enrolled in College, a Trade School or another type of Institution for Higher Learning. The applicant must currently be 30 and under at the time they are applying. The applicant must have good moral standing (no previous or current convictions). With all of those requirements met and The DREAM Act is passed a person will be granted a temporary, conditional allowance to remain in the Untied States for up to 6 years provided they follow the next set of guidelines.

Stephen Santa-Ramirez: Faculty Expert on Higher Education Access, Equity UB News CenterView the full article

Biden must save DACA and TPS, and make a pathway to citizenship a priority, as he promised | Opinion Miami HeraldView the full article

Biden must save DACA and TPS, and make a pathway to citizenship a priority, as he promised | Opinion Miami HeraldView the full article

Young undocumented immigrants who want to apply under a new federal policy for a reprieve from deportation could be inadvertently turning themselves in to authorities for deportation if they are deemed ineligible, several immigration experts are warning. "You don't want to go to a zoo if a cage door is open, because it can bite back. And you don't want to walk into the maw of a federal agency if you have a history," Casey Wolff, an immigration attorney in Collier County, said of illegal immigrants who may meet other qualifications for Deferred Action, but have been arrested. Wolff and other local immigration specialists said the program still is too new to understand if it will take a twist and work against applicants and their families under certain circumstances. They have tried to temper the excitement of young would-be applicants. The over-arching message if you think you might not make the cut is "Don't apply yet." Samuel Blanco, an immigration attorney with an office in East Naples, said this skepticism comes from immigration enforcement programs like Secure Communities, which originally was framed as a way to identify high-priority deportees like violent criminals, but yawned much wider and resulted in low-priority deportations nationwide. The deferred action policy, also known as DACA, went into effect Aug. 15. It expands the previous deferred action program, allowing for undocumented youth under the age of 31 to apply for a renewable two-year temporary reprieve of deportation proceedings under certain conditions. Details emerged between the June 15 announcement by the Department of Homeland Security and when the policy went into effect last week, with the agency elaborating on what type of criminal background could compromise eligibility. Undocumented immigrants who arrived as children but have felony, "significant" misdemeanor (including DUIs and domestic violence, but excluding minor traffic offenses), or multiple misdemeanor convictions are ineligible for deferred action, except under "exceptional circumstances," according to the Department of Homeland Security. Blanco, Wolff and an immigration specialist from Catholic Charities of Collier County said they are advising clients with an arrest record to proceed carefully before turning over to the federal government the application, $465 fee, and evidence documenting their life in the U.S. for the past five years. The supporting documents to prove eligibility and identity could include passports, birth certificates, school transcripts, and medical, financial and military records. "Unless you believe you have a very simple, straightforward case with no complications ... get legal advice," Blanco said. "Don't apply first. Don't be the guinea pig." It's a concern U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services tries to address in a question-and-answer section on its website. The agency states: "If your case does not involve a criminal offense, fraud, or a threat to national security or public safety, your case will not be referred to ICE for purposes of removal proceedings except where DHS determines there are exceptional circumstances." It also notes that if the agency doesn't approve deferred action in someone's case, it will apply its policy regarding the referral of cases to ICE and take into account if the applicant falls under a 2011 Citizenship and Immigration memo that outlines policies and the issuance of Notices to Appear, which are charging documents that initiate removal proceedings. "We really don't know what's going to happen to these folks once some of them start getting denied," said Blanco, who along with Wolff reported that the majority of calls to their practices regarding the deferred action policy were from Latin Americans and Eastern Europeans. In central California, one group has been warning farmworkers and their children not to sign up for the program at all. "Immigration agents could haul them off that same day," said Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League. "Even if they don't, if this policy is disbanded, now ICE has the addresses of all the families. Why would you want to squeal on your parents?" Laura Lichter, a Denver attorney who heads the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said everyone takes a risk by applying. "I would say that people are between a rock and a hard place. In most cases, people can take (the government) at their word that their intent is to administer this policy in a fair and appropriate manner but there are going to be people that are going to find themselves having problems," she said. Source: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/aug/20/immigration-experts-new-federal-policy-could-on/

As many as 1.76 million unauthorized immigrants could gain temporary relief from deportation and be authorized to work legally in the U.S. under President Barack Obama’s deportation deferral program announced earlier this year, according to the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration think tank. Long lines of young, potential beneficiaries formed in several cities across the country last week when the program’s first applications were issued. The program is open to undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. before age 16. They must be in high school, have graduated from high school, earned a GED or served honorably in the military, among other criteria. What will the possible flood of new job applicants mean for small business owners? And how should small employers deal with existing employees who present work authorizations along with admissions that they were not previously authorized to work? These questions are likely to arise as applications are processed and work authorization cards issued, says Bill Flynn, an attorney heading the immigration practice at Fowler White Boggs in Tampa. That will be particularly true for companies in California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois, home to 57 percent of the total population of potential beneficiaries, three out of four of whom were born in Mexico or Central America, according to the MPI. “A lot of information is yet to be determined as the details of the procedural aspects of the program come out over the next couple of months,” Flynn says. There is also uncertainty around whether the program will move forward if President Obama is not reelected this November and what will happen after the program’s stated two-year deferral period expires. Additionally, how states will handle the program is up in the air: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer last week instructed her state to deny driver’s licenses and other state benefits to immigrants who qualify for the program. Nevertheless, attorney Michael Wildes, managing partner at Wildes & Weinberg in Manhattan, is busy prepping his business clients about the program and says a majority of the newly authorized immigrants will likely find work with small businesses in both skilled and unskilled positions. The MPI estimates that 80,000 of the potentially eligible beneficiaries have an associate’s degree or higher, 44 percent have a bachelor’s degree, and 8 percent have advanced degrees. Once they start getting hired, they will present employment authorization document (EAD) cards to verify their employability on the I-9 forms that employers must complete and file. The cards look like driver’s licenses and should be accepted as legitimate documents, similar to green cards or American passports, says Jay Starkman, CEO of Engage PEO, a Ft Lauderdale, Fla.-based company that provides human resources to 50 small and mid-sized business owners. The trickier situation will present itself when existing employees, who may have passed off phony documents, come to their bosses with EAD cards, Starkman says: “That puts employers in a really tough situation that may be damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t.” Some employers will not take kindly to such news and consider the lie grounds for termination, particularly if the employee works in a sensitive position of trust. Others may value the employee enough to overlook the past deception and continue their employment. If an employer chooses to terminate based on the employee’s admission, he should be aware that he could face a potential discrimination claim, Starkman says. “They’re out of work because you fired them, and there are lawyers out there ready to pounce.” The main defense in such a case is documentation that the business owner requires the same standard of honesty from all employees, whether they are “the blonde, blue-eyed secretary born in Ohio or the employee with a Latino surname,” Flynn says. For employers willing to keep an employee who used false documentation, it’s important to keep all paperwork – old and new – in the employee’s file, Flynn says. Immigration authorities have been “very enforcement-oriented” in recent years and audits are “busting people right and left,” he says. To be on the safe side, he instructs clients to prepare a memorandum explaining the situation, documenting the paperwork presented initially, why they believed it to be legitimate, and including the new paperwork and date it was presented. “State that on a certain date, you did the following and you now believe in good faith that you employee is in compliance with federal work authorization rules,” Flynn says. One final detail for employers to note is a confidentiality provision in the law, Starkman says. It’s not yet clear whether that provision applies to both government authorities dealing with applicants as well as employers. To be on the safe side, he’s telling clients not to discuss the immigration status of their employees – period. “’Congratulations to so-and-so who’s just received their papers!’ is not an item for the company newsletter. Keep it in the HR file,” he says. Source: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-20/lawyers-expect-young-immigrants-to-flood-small-employers

Legal Immigration Predictions for 2021 - Boundless BoundlessView the full article

Have you submited your application yet? If not, what are you waiting for... Yes or No

I have created this topic to discuss your feelings and reactions towards the 2 bombers and we all know by now what happened. What did you think when it happened? How did you react when it happened? Why do you think they did it? These are just some questions to think about when writting your replys. We should to have a good discussion about the bombing and how it affected our lives in one way or another.

U.S. News & World Report Democrats to roll dice on Dream Act, abortion bill HeraldNet (blog) The Dream Act and the Reproductive Parity Act, which requires health plans to cover abortion if they cover maternity services, are among the most important policy bills pushed by Democrats this year. And both are sponsored by some moderate Republican ... Democrats will try to force Senate vote on blocked billsSeattle Post Intelligencer (blog) Democrats plan maneuver on 2 controversial billsThe Spokesman Review (blog) Democrats hope to slip 2 bills onto Senate floorThe Seattle Times KGMI all 43 news articles » View the full article

Christian Science Monitor DREAM Act: Senate immigration reform bill offers 'best' version yet Christian Science Monitor In such a climate, the Senate bill is much less restrictive in terms of its eligibility criteria and more generous in what it offers than were previous versions of the DREAM Act, according to a legislative summary of the bill and additional details ... The Dream is Now: ReviewedNew America Foundation (blog) Inside the immigration bill: Special path for DREAMers - Washington PostWashington Post (blog) 'Los Otros Dreamers' Find Ways To Adapt To Living In Mexico - Huffington PostHuffington Post all 4 news articles » View the full article

WASHINGTON, April 15 (UPI) -- Unauthorized immigrants may have to pay $2,000 as part of a bipartisan U.S. immigration reform plan, a person familiar with the talks told The New York Times. The fee, whose amount was not finalized but which would have to be paid before an immigrant could earn legal status, would include $500 when the person applies for a temporary work permit and $1,500 or so that the person would have 10 years to pay, before they apply for a green card, the person said. A Senate aide described the $2,000 figure to the Times as "significant but not impossible, punitive but not unreasonable." Democrats and immigration advocates had earlier pushed for a lower amount. The fees, reported Monday, came a day after Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., dismissed colleagues' fears the immigration overhaul that awards citizenship to people in the United States illegally would amount to amnesty. "It's not amnesty because you pay serious consequences for having violated the law," the first-term senator and possible 2016 presidential contender told NBC's "Meet the Press." The measure would boost the number of taxpaying Americans and be a "net positive for the country economically, now and in the future," Rubio told "Fox News Sunday" in one of seven Sunday talk show interviews he did on the five major networks, plus the Spanish-language Telemundo and Univision networks. The measure -- expected to be unveiled by Rubio and seven other senators of both parties as early as Tuesday -- calls for unauthorized immigrants who arrived in the United States on or before Dec. 31, 2011, to be allowed almost immediately to apply for temporary legal status that would let them live and work in the country. At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security would be required to monitor the nation's entire southwest border with Mexico -- and catch 90 percent of people trying to cross the border illegally, said Rubio, a member of the so-called Gang of Eight senators. "We are going to get the toughest enforcement measures in the history of this country," he told ABC's "This Week." In addition, the senators' plan also requires business owners to use the federal government's free, Web-based E-Verify system that checks new employees' immigration status. Washington would also have to identify each time a foreigner enters and exits the country, USA Today reported. If those benchmarks are reached, and after 10 years pass, unauthorized immigrants could apply for a green card, which grants permanent legal status. If approved, they could apply for U.S. citizenship three years later. "I'm very optimistic about it," Rubio said on the CBS News program "Face the Nation" in a reversal of the caution he expressed about the measure several weeks ago. The bill is expected to be examined by the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Rubio said lawmakers would have weeks to study the bill, but he also told CNN's "State of the Union" he expected unspecified lawmakers would introduce amendments "designed as poison pills" to doom the measure. "I'll oppose those if I know that's what they're for," he said. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who appeared on ABC's "This Week" after Rubio, said he was "not convinced" by his colleague's pitch. "I know Senator Rubio's heart is exactly right," he told the program. "And I really respect the work of the Gang of Eight. But they have produced legislation, it appears ... that will give amnesty now, legalize everyone that's here effectively today, and then there's a promise of enforcement in the future. "Even if you pass laws today that appear to be effective, it doesn't mean they're going to be enforced," Sessions said. Rubio said newly legalized immigrants wouldn't receive federal benefits during the 13 or so years it would take them to qualify for full legal citizenship. "This is an important point. No federal benefits, no food stamps, no welfare, no Obamacare," he said on Fox. "They have to prove they're gainfully employed," he said. "They have to be able to support themselves, so they'll never become a public charge." Rubio is a son of Cuban immigrants. Cuban immigrants, through the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act, can become permanent U.S. residents after a year. Being a public charge doesn't make a Cuban ineligible to become a permanent resident. Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/04/15/Unauthorized-immigrants-may-have-to-pay-2000-to-earn-legal-status/UPI-69571366011000/

This is some REALLY good insite about if your over 30+. I would read this and comment your thoughts and opinions! It

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators has largely agreed on a broad immigration bill that would require tough border measures to be in place before illegal immigrants could take the first steps to become American citizens, according to several people familiar with drafts of the legislation. But in a delicate compromise worked out over weeks of negotiations, the bill avoids any hard hurdles related to border enforcement that could eventually halt the progress of those immigrants on a pathway to citizenship. Instead, the bill sets ambitious goals for the Department of Homeland Security to fortify the borders — including continuous surveillance of 100 percent of the United States border and 90 percent effectiveness of enforcement in several high-risk sectors — and other domestic enforcement measures over the next 10 years. It provides at least $3 billion to meet those goals. The bill includes provisions or “triggers,” that allow Congress at different points to ensure that the enforcement goals are being met. On the same day that the group of eight senators continued to iron out details of the bill, thousands of immigration activists who support a path to citizenship for immigrants who are here illegally were converging on Washington for a rally. The activists are pressing Congress to move quickly to pass a broad immigration overhaul, and they are calling for a direct path for illegal immigrants toward becoming Americans. “We need a clear path to citizenship,” said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland, one of the lead organizers of the rally. “Anything less than that undermines American democracy.” The senators’ compromise allows Republican lawmakers, including Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, to say that they succeeded in including border enforcement advances that will be met before any illegal immigrants will apply for permanent resident green cards, the first step toward citizenship. It also allows Democrats to say that the border measures are goals, but they are not roadblocks that could stop the immigrants from reaching the final stage of citizenship. President Obama, who has been largely silent during the negotiations, is strongly opposed to any hindrances that could be subject to political battles later on. According to the draft, the legislation would provide $3 billion for the Department of Homeland Security to draw up and carry out a five-year border security plan. Officials must present the plan within six months, and no immigrants can gain any provisional legal status until the plan is in place. The plan must include how border authorities will move quickly to spread technology across the border to ensure that agents can see along its entire length. The authorities will also have five years to reach 90 percent effectiveness in their operations, a measure based on calculations of what percentage of illegal crossers were caught or turned back without crossing. Homeland Security officials also have six months to draw up plans to finish any border fencing they deem necessary. If, after five years, border officials have not reached the surveillance and enforcement goals, the bill creates and finances a border commission, made up of officials from border states and other experts, to help the Department of Homeland Security reach its goals. Homeland Security officials will also be required to expand a worker verification system, making it mandatory nationwide for all employers within five years. They must also create an electronic exit system to ensure that foreigners leave when their visas expire. Under the legislation, illegal immigrants who pass background checks and meet other requirements will have to wait in a provisional status for 10 years, during which time they would be allowed to work and travel but not to remain permanently, before they could apply for green cards. At the end of 10 years, officials must show that the border security plan is operational, the fence is completed, and the worker verification and visa exits systems are operating. At that point, immigrants in provisional status will be allowed to apply for green cards. On Tuesday, Senator Diane Feinstein, a Democrat of California who is spearheading a deal on an agricultural worker program, said that she expected to have an agreement between the farm workers and growers within 24 hours. The talks had stalled earlier this month when the labor unions and employers could not agree on the number of workers to allow into the new visa program, and what wage rate to pay the workers. On Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the discussions said that the workers had offered a cap of 200,000 workers total through 2020, in addition to roughly 50,000 workers who are already in the existing agricultural guest worker program, known as H-2A. That number, the person added, is “far more generous” than the cap reached under a similar deal between the nation’s leading business and labor groups, for a low-skilled worker program. In terms of wages for agricultural workers, the person added, there is currently a deal under consideration that offers specific starting wage rates — divided by region, job type, and crop type. If growers and workers cannot agree on fair wages, the senators will likely fall back on a process that takes into account various economic factors and is overseen by the secretaries of agriculture and labor. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/us/politics/bipartisan-group-of-senators-agrees-on-outline-of-immigration-bill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=2&

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A raucous public debate over the nation's flawed immigration system is set to begin in earnest this week as senators finalize a bipartisan bill to secure the border, allow tens of thousands of foreign workers into the country and grant eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living here illegally. Already negotiators are cautioning of struggles ahead for an issue that's defied resolution for years. An immigration deal came close on the Senate floor in 2007 but collapsed amid interest group bickering and an angry public backlash. "There will be a great deal of unhappiness about this proposal because everybody didn't get what they wanted," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a leader of the eight senators negotiating the legislation, said Sunday. "There are entrenched positions on both sides of this issue." "There's a long road," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., appearing alongside McCain on CBS' "Face the Nation." ''There are people on both sides who are against this bill, and they will be able to shoot at it." Schumer, McCain and their "Gang of Eight" already missed a self-imposed deadline to have their bill ready in March, but Schumer said he hopes that this week, it will happen. "All of us have said that there will be no agreement until the eight of us agree to a big, specific bill, but hopefully we can get that done by the end of the week," said Schumer. Schumer, McCain and other negotiators are trying to avoid mistakes of the past. A painstaking deal reached a week ago knit together traditional enemies, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, in an accord over a new low-skilled worker program. The proposal would allow up to 200,000 workers a year into the county to fill jobs in construction, hospitality, nursing homes and other areas where employers say they have a difficult time hiring Americans. The negotiators also have pledged to move the bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee and onto the floor according to what's known in Senate jargon as "regular order," trying to head off complaints from conservatives that the legislation is being rammed through. Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/immigration_reform_bill_expect.html

The Senate’s Gang of Eight is aiming to release comprehensive immigration reform legislation on Thursday, according to Senate sources. A member of the group said the bill is virtually complete and the plan is to roll it out this week, but he warned it could slip into next week. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a leading member of the group, confirmed the members are hoping to unveil the legislation before lawmakers leave town for the weekend. “We’re shooting for that kind of progress,” he said. One of the last questions to be resolved was over how to handle immigrant agricultural workers. The farm industry and unions were split over the issues of wages and visas. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has taken the lead on negotiating agricultural visas, said Tuesday a tentative deal had been reached. “There’s a tentative agreement on a number of things, and we’re waiting to see if it can get wrapped up,” she told reporters outside the Senate chamber. Source: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/2...ll-by-thursday

So I got this idea to help follow and track progress, add the following info to your signature FROM YOUR PROFILE. If you need help, just reply here. Use the following format: Date Application Sent - The Lockbox the application was sent to - Mailing Method (Express, priority, certified) etc. - Date delivered - Date acceptance letter of application received - Date of I-797 C Notice of Action (Application Approved) - Date Biometrics scheduled - Date of EAD received - You can color it, fix it however you would like!

So more than likley, we will all need to fill this form for work authorization.. So why not just get familiar with it from now and try and fil it out as much as possible. Link to Form I-765: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-765.pdf You can also download the Form below from the attachment. Questions? Thoughts? Form I-765.pdf

WASHINGTON — Eight senators who have spent weeks trying to write a bipartisan bill to overhaul immigration laws have privately agreed on the most contentious part of the draft — how to offer legal status to the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants. According to aides familiar with the closed-door negotiations, the bill would require illegal immigrants to register with Homeland Security Department authorities, file federal income taxes for their time in America and pay a still-to-be-determined fine. They also must have a clean law enforcement record. Once granted probationary legal status, immigrants would be allowed to work but would be barred from receiving federal public benefits, including food stamps, family cash assistance, Medicaid and unemployment insurance. The group's current draft is largely in line with President Obama's call to set a pathway to earned citizenship as part of a broader immigration reform package, as well as with recent efforts by prominent Republican lawmakers to resolve an issue that hurt GOP candidates in November's election. Though the draft is a long way from becoming law, immigration advocates expressed guarded optimism about a possible breakthrough. "Nine months ago, people would have thought you were nuts to say that four Republicans and four Democrats were working on a way to legalize 11 million people," said Angela Kelley, an immigration expert at the Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the White House. "It's a Rubik's Cube, but more sides are matching in color than ever before. That's significant." Still undecided is how long illegal immigrants would need to wait before they could apply for permanent resident status and eventually become citizens. The delay for a green card probably would be 10 years or longer, the aides said. Also unresolved are such politically charged topics as how many visas to issue to high-tech specialists and other guest workers; how to keep track of when visitors leave the country; and how to pay for more Border Patrol officers, fencing and other security measures in an era of shrinking budgets, the aides said. The eight senators met Tuesday and Wednesday, alternating between a private office in the Russell Senate Office Building and a marble-floored ceremonial room off the Senate chamber. The group had hoped to deliver a completed bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration before the Senate leaves for Easter recess on March 22. But aides said remaining issues required more technical advice and cost estimates that could delay delivery until early April. The group includes Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona. The Democrats are Sens. Charles E. Schumer of New York, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado. The draft bill will be several hundred pages long when finished. For now, the unfinished pieces are peppered throughout the draft. "We're working through them. I'm not sure we'll get them all done," McCain said in an interview. "Some of these issues are very controversial." Business groups and Silicon Valley companies have pushed for more H1B visas for software engineers and other high-skilled employees, for example, while labor unions have warned that too many immigrants would undercut qualified Americans seeking high-tech jobs in a weak economy. Unless the group designs a visa program that ensures a robust labor force, Rubio told reporters, "What you're going to have is people coming into the country illegally or overstaying visas." Immigration overhaul bills floated in 2006 and 2007 were sunk by disagreements between labor and business leaders over how many workers to allow into the country. Some senators are skeptical that the current group can find a solution. "The country can absorb only so much low-skilled labor without significantly impacting the prospects of working Americans to get jobs and get higher pay," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a member of the judiciary panel who has been critical of previous efforts to expand the visa program. In an effort to resolve the issue, negotiators from the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have worked with Senate staffers to set a formula so the number of visas for both high-tech and low-skilled workers can fluctuate. They have agreed that the tally would move up or down based on job demand, unemployment rates and other data. "We're really trying to fill in the details," said Ana Avendano, an AFL-CIO negotiator. The two sides have agreed that a work visa need not be tied to a specific employer and that foreign workers would be allowed to change jobs. Unions want assurances that foreign workers have the same rights as Americans to report mistreatment to the Labor Department and to sue employers for unpaid wages. Unlike in the past, both business and organized labor want an immigration bill to pass, said Eliseo Medina, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 2 million workers. "No one wants to be responsible for deep-sixing the effort," Medina said. Negotiators also have hit a roadblock on whether the government should keep track of who is leaving the country and how to do so. Under current law, U.S. immigration authorities do not keep a record when tourists and other foreign visitors leave the country. So the government doesn't know whether they have overstayed their visas, as thousands do each year. The Senate group has tentatively agreed to create a system to check visas against an immigration database at international airports and seaports but have not determined whether it is feasible at much busier border crossings. The task is potentially huge: U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada are the most highly trafficked in the world, with 250 million crossings each year. Some lawmakers warn that checking visas as people leave the country would be expensive to implement, further clog busy border crossings and slow crucial commerce. Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute at New York University School of Law, said the real legislative battle over immigration would come after the bill was made public. "We haven't even begun to see the opposition to the bill," Chishti said. "Because there isn't meat on the bone." Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-hurdles-20130311,0,1484422,full.story

PHOENIX - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday ordered state agencies to deny driver's licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations under a new Obama administration policy. In an executive order, Brewer said she was reaffirming the intent of current Arizona law denying taxpayer-funded public benefits and state identification to illegal immigrants. Young illegal immigrants around the nation on Wednesday began the process of applying for federal work permits under the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The federal policy defers deportations for that group if they meet certain criteria, including arrival in the United States before they turned 16 and no convictions for certain crimes. After President Barack Obama announced the policy change in June, Brewer labeled it ``backdoor amnesty'' and political pandering by the Democratic president. Arizona has been in the vanguard of states enacting laws against illegal immigration. The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned parts of the Arizona enforcement law known as SB1070 but ruled that a key provision on requiring police to ask people about their immigration status under certain circumstances can be implemented. The Obama administration challenged that law in 2010 after Brewer signed it into law. In the past decade, Arizona voters twice approved laws denying publicly funded services, such as in-state resident university tuition rates, to illegal immigrants unless mandated by the federal government. Brewer's order said the policy's federal paperwork doesn't confer lawful status on illegal immigrants and won't entitle them to Arizona public benefits. However, it said the policy change ``could result in some unlawfully present aliens inappropriately gaining access to public benefits contrary to the intent of Arizona voters and lawmakers who enacted laws expressly restricting access to taxpayer funded benefits and state identification.'' Brewer directed state agencies to start any necessary emergency rulemaking processes to implement her order. State Rep. Catherine Miranda, who supports the federal program, called Brewer's action mean-spirited. ``She just continues to put obstacles in front of young people in Arizona,'' the Phoenix Democrat said. Rep. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, said he questioned whether the order would have much practical effect under Arizona's current laws. But he said it served to demonize good kids who should be allowed to get state-issued identification and enter the workforce. Source: http://ktar.com/22/1...tion-recipients

First New DACA Applications Approved in Final Weeks of 2020 U.S. News & World ReportView the full article

First new DACA applications approved in final weeks of 2020 Associated PressView the full article

Applications for 171 new DACA recipients approved in finals weeks of 2020, the 1st in several years KTLAView the full article