Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Comprehensive Immigration Reform

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U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued instructions on making inquiries with the agency’s four Service Centers. Customers, community-based organizations and liaison groups should follow this guidance when inquiring about case related issues. This new process standardizes customer service and streamlines processing of customer inquiries at USCIS Service Centers. The step-by-step instructions are as follows:
Step 1: National Customer Service Center (NCSC) can be contacted at 1-800-375-5283. The NCSC can assist customers, community-based organizations and liaison groups with case related inquiries. Please get your Receipt No. the NCSC please have available your receipt number, alien registration number, type of application filed and date filed. We recommend you note down:
-The name and/or id number of the NCSC representative
– The date and time of the call
– Any service request referral number, if a service referral on a pending case is taken.

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Immigration Reform is getting delayed. The legislation, which was expected to be passed within 100 days of the swearing in of President Barack Obama. Immigration reform activists disappointed that the Obama administration has not given immigration top billing, are trying to push the same off the back burner by pressing ahead with lobbying and legislation plans they hope will reinvigorate reform efforts.

The demand for Immigration reform came in the year 2006, when more than a million people nationwide marched in solidarity to fight a bill considered anti-immigrant, since then, two legislation attempts failed. The election of President Barack Obama gave a sigh of relief to Immigration activists, who hoped Mr. Obama would push for immigration reform. Some thought the president would go so far as to put a moratorium on immigration raids. Recently Mr. Obama met with the 30 lawmakers over this issue but the final outcome of the same is yet to come.

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U.S. President Barack Obama says he is committed to passing comprehensive reform of the country’s immigration laws. The president told a gathering of Hispanics the nation’s borders must be strengthened to stop illegal immigration.

President Obama said that while immigration is vital for America’s future, illegal immigration cannot continue.

“The American people believe in immigration,” he said. “But they also believe that we cannot tolerate a situation where people come to the United States in violation of the law.”
At the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and Conference, Mr. Obama said the millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally should have the chance to become citizens.

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US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), along with Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) today introduced legislation to re-emphasize family unity in the US immigration system. The Reuniting Families Act would help legal immigrants reunite with their families and end decade-long waiting times for legal immigrant visas.

Senator Schumer said: “No matter our disagreements about how to reform our immigration laws, we can at least agree that families should not be made to suffer in the process. We can have a policy that is tough, but fair, and emphasizing family unity as a principle is key to ensuring that fairness.”

The legislation would reinforce the historical emphasis on families in the immigration system and reduce current wait times in the family immigration system by:

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Several thousand immigration rights advocates marched in Los Angeles, San Diego and hundreds gathered in the rain in San Francisco on Friday, but crowds in California appeared much smaller than in previous May Day demonstrations.

Marches in downtown Los Angeles took on a festive atmosphere with people carrying signs and banging drums while vendors sold food, cotton candy and ice cream from pushcarts with ringing bells. One group walked to a building housing federal immigration offices and blared salsa music from loudspeakers.

Immigrants and supporters in San Francisco’s Dolores Park hoped to keep immigration reform on Obama’s agenda. They held signs calling for amnesty for undocumented immigrants and an end to immigration enforcement raids. Many argued that allowing undocumented immigrants to become citizens and take a more active role in the economy will improve the country’s financial outlook. Dozens of students participated, many calling for passage of the DREAM Act, which was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in March, and would make undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. under the age of 15 eligible for in-state tuition.

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President Obama spoke at a prime time news conference commemorating his 100th day in office today. President Obama seems to be one step closer to being able to secure Comprehensive Immigration Reform. He said the following at the meeting:” I see the process (immigration reform) moving this first year. And I’m going to be moving it as quickly as I can. I’ve been accused of doing too much. We are moving full steam ahead on all fronts. Ultimately, I don’t have control of the legislative calendar, and so we’re going to work with legislative leaders to see what we can do.

At the news conference, reporter Lori Montenegro, asked the following: ” Going forward, my question is, what is your strategy to try to have immigration reform? And are you still on the same timetable to have it accomplished in the first year of your presidency?

And, also, I’d like to know if you’re going to reach out to Senator John McCain, who is Republican and in the past has favored immigration reform?”

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Missouri House of Representatives has cleared a law that would bar illegal aliens from attending public colleges in the state. The House voted 125-30 to approve the bill which has now been sent to the Senate, according to the Associated Press.

The vote is part of an ongoing debate across the country regarding immigration reform, and in particular the extent of publicly funded benefits that illegal immigrants should be entitled to. Earlier last week we reported about the College Board, an association of 5,000 schools, released a report that calls for federal legislation that would grant in-state college tuition, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants in the U.S.

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President Obama says he wants to tackle immigration reform; and do it this year. In fact, he says he plans to begin as soon as next month.

According to CNN, the president says he will rely on a bipartisan and diverse group of experts to frame the legislation. But officials say that immigration won’t be “on the same track” as other key initiatives like health care and energy, and “nobody’s promising legislation or a vote this year.”

Nonetheless, it looks like the president will try to make good on yet another campaign promise by working to fix the nation’s broken immigration system during his first year in office. There are an estimated 12 million illegal aliens in this country.

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Yesterday, the House and Senate delivered yet another signal that the political tide for immigration reform is getting stronger with their introduction of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act [Senate] and the American Dream Act [House]. The bill is a strong bipartisan effort and a sign that the muscle for comprehensive immigration reform is getting stronger on both sides of the aisle as momentum builds.

The bill would would provide a path to U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants who entered the country more than five years ago while they were under the age of 16 and who complete two years of college or 2 years of military service. It aims at giving hard-working undocumented children who have always considered America “home” the opportunity to fix their status and contribute to our economy and their communities.

Senate leader Harry Reid (D-NV) praised the bill:

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