Passing U.S. citizenship requirements a difficult challenge for older refugees

Khin Shwe, a refugee from Burma, now called Myanmar, was 68 when she was resettled by the U.S. State Department to the United States in 2008. She first lived in Ohio but later moved to Fort Wayne to join her daughter, who is married with three children. She has been trying to learn English since she arrived.

“It is very hard,” Shwe said through an interpreter, Nyein Chan, who is refugee resettlement coordinator for the Fort Wayne office of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. She is working now on learning the alphabet.

Read more: http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20150512/NEWS/150509683/1005

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information. 

DOS June 2015 Visa Bulletin - Department of State

The Department of State’s June Visa Bulletin on a whole brought relatively few changes of note.

Progress was made in the EB-2 category, where priority dates for Indian nationals advanced six months from April to October 1, 2008. Similarly, Chinese nationals experienced forward movement of one year in priority dates, with the Department of State (DOS) now processing cases with priority dates of June 1, 2013 or before. 

Read more: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/dos-june-2015-visa-bulletin-department-state

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information.

Immigration Reform: When Deporting Felons Breaks Families Apart

Raquel Garay lives just a few minutes’ walk from the U.S.-Mexico border, the line that has separated her from her family for more than two years. Since being deported from the U.S., where she lived for more than 40 years, in 2013, she lives alone in a country that feels foreign to her while her husband, children and grandchildren remain just a few hours away, across a border bridge she can’t cross.

The story is familiar for many deported immigrants, potentially hundreds of thousands, who have been torn away from their families in the United States. It’s what spurred President Barack Obama to pledge last year a smarter immigration policy that focuses on deporting “felons, not families.” While he has pushed executive action to shield those with strong family ties in the U.S., he has also touted an 80 percent increase in the number of immigrants with criminal convictions deported from the U.S. during his presidency. Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/immigration-reform-when-deporting-felons-breaks-families-apart-1872214

Contact Darren Heyman, Immigration attorney Las Vegas, for a free consultation.

Homeland Security Official Defends Handling of Visa Program

The deputy secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, conceded at a congressional hearing on Thursday that his intervention in three cases of visas for foreign investors had created an impression of political favoritism, and he said he regretted fostering that perception. But he defended the results of his involvement, saying he had helped “to make sure we were adhering to the law.”

In a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Mr. Mayorkas responded to findings in a March report by the department’s inspector general that his actions had led some employees to believe politically connected investors were given special consideration in the visa program. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/us/homeland-security-official-defends-handling-of-visa-program.html?_r=0

Contact Darren Heyman, Immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information.