Frustrations with H-1B Processing Delays Exacerbated by USCIS Stonewalling
AILA members and their clients are well aware of the lengthening processing times for several product lines at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) service centers. However, most pronounced is the extraordinary expansion of processing times...
New Opportunities to Move Forward in 2016
The American people are frustrated by the inability of Congress to take action and tackle the challenging, yet not insurmountable, task of reforming our immigration system and bringing it into the new century. That shouldn’t be too much to ask now that we are already...
What I Need to Hear
In a January 7, 2016, article in Fusion, Tim Rogers tells readers that the Obama Administration, “is on pace to deport more people than the sum of all 19 presidents who governed the United States from 1892-2000.” Think about that for a second. This is the reality as...
The Impact of Inaction on American Children
America is a nation of immigrants, and Congress has the critical job of making sure U.S. immigration laws are up to par. Yet, decade after decade, we are left with legislative scraps and executive orders on how to deal with the immigration system. That lack of...
DHS Rule For Highly Skilled Immigrants: Helpful, But Timid
Yesterday morning began with a panicked message from a software engineer employed by one of my corporate clients. The engineer had “ported” his green card application, joining my client after having been sponsored by a prior employer for permanent residence. The...
Ineffective and Discriminatory is not a Winning Combination
At the time of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, I was a teenager, completely unfazed by the events unfolding. My brother and I were both going to school in the U.K. and my older sister had already immigrated to the U.S. When the revolution peaked in late 1978, my...
When the Narrative Shifts
I joined AILA’s Executive Committee with quite a bit of media experience under my belt. One thing I’ve known for a long time is that the news cycle can turn on a dime and what you may have thought you’d be talking about with a reporter can change, sometimes...
I-140 Employment Card Rule Could Be a Winner for Both American and Immigrant Workers
It’s no secret that the U.S. has shortages of workers in a variety of fields. Our immigration system seemingly provides a solution to the problem. If an employer is willing to undertake a complicated recruiting process where the position is advertised in a variety of...
Can the Innocence of a Child Soften the Hearts of Anti-Immigrants?
Sophie Cruz became an instant celebrity when she approached Pope Francis’s motorcade to hand him a letter begging him to help her keep her parents in the United States. Her message was simple, coming from a five-year-old, yet it carried more power and conviction than...
Seeing the Forest for the Trees in the Immigration Debate
U.S. immigration law is a myriad of statutes, regulations, policies, memos, practices and procedures which span a wide variety of practice areas. The immigration debate playing out in the media is largely focused on the refugee, humanitarian, and family-based areas of...
