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This week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano designated 11 new countries as eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs. With the addition of the 11 new designated countries, the following countries are now designated for H-2A and H-2B purposes: Argentina, Australia, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, [...]
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced late this past Friday that she was designating Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for Haitian nationals who are unlawfully present in the U.S. as of January 12, 2010. In the January 15, 2010 statement released by Secretary Napolitano, she stated: “This is a disaster of historic proportions and [...]
In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the U.S. Government has sent aid in the forms manpower, food, and water. However, what is to be done with Haitian citizens who reside unlawfully in the U.S.? Will they be sent back to Haiti? For the time being, the answer is “no.” On Wednesday, Homeland [...]
On December 15, 2009, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Illinois) introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009. Among many other provisions, CIR ASAP would repeal the 287(g) program only allowing the federal governments to enforce federal immigration law. Section 287 (g) was added to the Immigration and Nationality [...]
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), marriage fraud accounts for approximately 37% of illegal immigration. Spouses of both U.S. Citizens and U.S. Permanent Residents are eligible, through slightly different processes with varying time frames, to become U.S. Permanent Residents and eventual citizens. On October 6, 2009, Sgt. Wesly Farris and Stephen Schneider pleaded [...]
On September 23, 2009, Ms. Maria Refugia Camarillo, a 72-year-old grandmother, was sentenced to serve 44 months in federal prison for operating a marriage fraud ring from 1980s until 2008. Ms. Camarillo had been investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector [...]
