USCIS continues to streamline its processing of applications and petitions with the recent change in filing locations for several forms. The following forms should be mailed to USCIS lockbox facilities rather than directly to USCIS Service Centers:
* I-129F
* I-130
Arizona has been hit with several lawsuits and dozens of business boycotts since the law was passed, and musicians have also gotten in on the act: Many are canceling shows in the state, while others are voicing their opposition through music.
Arizona is no stranger to musical protests over its politics. In 1991, Public Enemy’s “By the Time I Get to Arizona” lambasted Arizona’s decision not to recognize the holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Stevie Wonder, Bill Cosby and others boycotted the state.
“We have to intervene in order to do whatever we possibly can to limit that state’s ability to function and implement the law,” Zack de la Rocha, of the band Rage Against the Machine, says in a Web video he’s produced. He’s organized a boycott of Arizona called The Sound Strike. So far, he’s recruited artists ranging from Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails to Latino bands such as Los Tigres del Norte. Jorge Hernandez says Los Tigres del Norte’s decision to join the boycott was personal: If the Los Angeles musicians were to come to Arizona, he says, they worry that police could detain them.
USCIS is going to launch a pilot program in July 2010 that will use Dun & Bradstreet databases to verify business information of employers who submit immigration related petitions. “Verification Instrument for Business Enterprises” (VIBE) is a tool intended to help combat immigration fraud, and to minimize RFE’s regarding petitioners’ business data and eventually to make submission of routine documentation unnecessary.
VIBE will be used to verify a petitioner’s ownership, date of establishment, current address, number of employees, business activities, and relationship with other entities, etc. In case of discrepancies between VIBE and the information contained in a petition, the employer will give an opportunity to explain the discrepancy.
The full implementation of VIBE is expected to take place later in the year 2010. Hence, we are advising our all corporate clients to verify and keep updated their D&B information.
It was announced today that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will seek an average 10% increase in immigration fees in order to close a projected $200-million deficit for 2010-11. According to USCIS, budget cuts of $160 million were not enough to offset the gap between the agency’s projected $2.1 billion in revenue and $2.3 billion in costs.
“Many of the government expenses being underwritten by these fees are unrelated to the services for which fees are being paid. These are matters of public benefit, and should be funded by appropriations, not applicants,” said AILA President Bernard Wolfsdorf. “While a 10% fee increase in and of itself may not seem high, this comes only 3 years after a 66% USCIS fee increase. Taken together, these increases bring many fees to excessive levels,” Wolfsdorf continued.
One positive aspect of the proposal is that it would not increase fees for citizenship applications. Those fees were hiked by 70% to $675 in 2007, an increase that immigrant-rights groups blamed for putting citizenship out of reach for many lower-wage immigrants. Most clients and lawyers are not happy at all with this announcement.
USCIS is launching a pilot program in July 2010 that will use Dun & Bradstreet databases to verify business information of employers who submit immigration related petitions. “Verification Instrument for Business Enterprises” (VIBE) is a tool intended to help combat immigration fraud, and to minimize RFE’s regarding petitioners’ business data and eventually to make submission of routine documentation unnecessary.
VIBE will be used to verify a petitioner’s ownership, date of establishment, current address, number of employees, business activities, and relationship with other entities, etc. In case of discrepancies between VIBE and the information contained in a petition, the employer will given an opportunity to explain the discrepancy. The full implementation of VIBE is expected to take place later in the year 2010. We are advising all corporate clients to verify and keep updated their D&B information.
Today, the ACLU, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, ACLU of Arizona, National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice) filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s sheriffs and county attorneys, asking the court to find S.B. 1070 unconstitutional. It violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law because it unlawfully invites the racial profiling of Latinos and other people who look or sound “foreign-born.”
It also violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution by interfering with the federal government’s authority to regulate and enforce immigration. Our lawsuit is on behalf of a diverse coalition of Arizona residents and organizations including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Southside Presbyterian Church, the Asian Chamber of Commerce of Arizona, and the Muslim American Society.
Read the complete posting from the ACLU website here…
Senators Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey O. Graham may have the answer. In a great article published by the Washington Post, they outline their idea and hope to work closely with President Obama to get it done.
The answer is simple: Americans overwhelmingly oppose illegal immigration and support legal immigration. Throughout our history, immigrants have contributed to making this country more vibrant and economically dynamic. Once it is clear that in 20 years our nation will not again confront the specter of another 11 million people coming here illegally, Americans will embrace more welcoming immigration policies.
Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here.
We are a few hours away from the biggest Awards ceremony in Hollywood and the world. So what part do Immigrants play in the biggest show on earth? Talent is the one universal passport, and Hollywood has always had a place for immigrants — from German maestro Fritz Lang, who headed west when Hitler’s minister of propaganda pressured him to take over Germany’s top studio, to Polish Roman Polanski, who directed Los Angeles’ definitive film noir, “Chinatown,” and Taiwan-born Ang Lee, who became the first nonwhite to win an Academy Award for directing for “Brokeback Mountain,” his reinvention of the western.
As Hollywood tries to stave off commercial stasis, the industry has been undergoing another chapter in its love affair with foreign writers and directors, particularly those from the Far East and Latin America. The international box office now accounts for more than 60% of a film’s box office gross.
Of course, in this age of globalization, it’s unclear what it even means to be a Hollywood immigrant anymore. “It doesn’t matter where you live,” says Paramount Classics chief John Lesher. “We all talk on the phone. We see each other at film festivals. You can edit a movie in Brazil, and your editor can be in London, and you can put it together seamlessly in perfect time.”
USCIC announced the availability of two new grants that are designed to help lawful permanent residents prepare for citizenship and integration in the U.S. This year, nearly $7 million will be made available for education initiatives throughout the country. According to USCIS, these two competitive grant programs will help expand citizenship preparation programs for lawful permanent residents that wish to achieve U.S. citizenship.
Citizenship and Integration Direct Services Grant Program – The first funding opportunity will focus on providing funding for local programs that are currently working to promote the rights and responsibilities of citizenship through direct citizenship preparation programs for lawful permanent residents. Examples of such programs include those with initiatives to prepare lawful permanent residents for the civics and the English reading, writing and speaking portions of the naturalization test.
Organizations interested in applying for this grant opportunity should send a required letter of intent by March 26, 2010 to the following email address: citizenshipgrantprogram@dhs.gov.
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