OCTOBER 5, 2006: Department of State issues notice on Registration for the 2008 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (aka "The Visa Lottery").

SEPTEMBER 22, 2006: USCIS expands Premium Processing Service to include Outstanding Professors and Researchers as well as Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability not seeking a National Interest Waiver.
On August 28, 2006, USCIS began accepting Premium Processing requests for I-140 petitions involving Professionals (workers with a Bachelor's Degree who are members of a Profession) and Skilled Workers (aliens performing labor requiring at least two years of education, training or experience).

SEPTEMBER 15, 2006: Individuals with applications for Labor Certification pending at one of the Backlog Proceesing Centers in Dallas or Philadelphia may now check their status online.
This service will assist individuals whose applications for Labor Certification were filed prior to March 28, 2005, when the PERM system went into effect.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2006:The House passed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (H.R. 6061) by a vote of 283-138, which calls for the construction of 700 miles of 2-layered reinforced fencing, as well as other barriers and surveillance equipment, along specified regions of the U.S.-Mexico border.
This bill is being harshly criticized by the CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. According to President Peter Schey,

"[T]his approach simply pushes migrants into more dangerous migration routes rather than stopping them from entering the country, increases the number of migrants who die trying to enter without inspection, destroys the ecology of the border, and most importantly ignores the fundamental economic and political conditions that drive migration into the U.S. Seven hundred miles of fencing along the Mexico-U.S. border also entirely fails to address national security concerns. A few hundred miles of fencing between the U.S. and Mexico will not in any way help the war on terrorism. . . HR 6061 is a law conceived to help incumbent elected officials in the upcoming November federal elections, but has very little to do with rational immigration reform or protection of the national security."

SEPTEMBER 2006: "We Are America Alliance" to Mobilize Millions Labor Day Weekend! Join the Movement!

August 18, 2006: PREMIUM PROCESSING now available to SKILLED WORKERS and PROFESSIONALS under the EB-3 category whose employers are filing an I-140 PETITION on their behalf.

August 17, 2006: USCIS Establishes Records Digitization Facility.

AUGUST 9, 2006: Attorney General Gonzales Outlines Reforms for Immigration Courts and BIA

August 6, 2006: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' USCIS Today publication includes a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section which provides answers to employers' questions about how to complete employment authorization verification using the I-9 form.
The FAQ notes that an employer "is not required to know with absolute certainty whether a document is genuine or false." USCIS notes that the law merely requires that an employer examine the original document, not a photocopy, and make a good-faith determination that the document appears to relate to the employee, appears to be genuine, and is listed as an acceptable document on the back of the I-9 form.

August 2006:DHS has updated the Visa Waiver Program Passport Traveler Guide. Any passport issued on or after October 26, 2006 must be an e-Passport for VWP travelers to be eligible to enter the US.
There are currently 27 countries that participate in the Visa Waiver program, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain and most other countries of Western Europe.

July 28, 2006:U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is discontinuing local production of Employment Authorization Cards in favor of the Employment Authorization Document produced at one central location; USCIS said the locally produced I-688B lacks security features and is not well-suited to verification by employers.

July 25, 2006: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rep. Mike Pence present a Joint Proposal concerning IMMIGRATION REFORM.

The Republican Party is deeply divided on the subject of immigration reform. Among the many issues currently being discussed are enhanced border enforcement as well as a guest worker program. It should be noted that although the Senate recently passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill, unless there is a compromise with the House of Representatives which recently passed an enforcement only bill, there will be no changes to existing laws. If such changes occur, we will provide a detailed analysis and explanation.

Below are highlights of the proposals in Congress:

Senate Judiciary Committee's bill:

Would allow undocumented aliens who were in the United States before 2004 to work legally for six years if they paid a $1,000 fine and cleared a criminal background check. They would become eligible for permanent resident status upon paying another $1,000 fine, any back taxes and learning English.

Would allow for new immigrants to have temporary work visas. They also could earn legal permanent resident status after six years.

Would add up to 14,000 Border Patrol agents by 2011 to the current force of 11,300 agents.

Would authorize a "virtual wall" of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border.

Would create a guest worker program for an estimated 1.5 million immigrant farm workers, who can also earn legal permanent residency.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's proposal:

Would require employers to verify the identity and immigration status of their employees electronically.

Would assess civil penalties between $500 and $20,000 against employers for each illegal immigrant they hire and criminal penalties up to $20,000 per illegal immigrant hired and up to six months in jail for engaging in a pattern of employing illegal workers.

Would raise the number of employment-based green cards from 140,000 to 290,000, and makes more visas available to high-tech and unskilled workers. It would free up other visas by exempting immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from being counted in the annual pool.

Would cancel visas of immigrants who have overstayed and require them to return to their home country to undergo additional screening at U.S. consulates.

Would make it a misdemeanor for an undocumented alien to be in the country illegally.

Would not address President Bush's proposal for a guest worker program.

Read More ...