Immigration Reform News Today: ICE Announces New Guidelines For Detained Transgender Immigrants

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced new guidelines when detaining transgender immigrants.
A new guidance for ICE and the Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) called for three new elements in regards to the treatment of transgender immigrants in custody.
The first element is to appropriate data systems and update it to record an individual's gender identity. The second new guidance calls for "comprehensive" officer training and tools "to ensure an individual's gender identity can be identified early" while in detention.
Finally, ICE addressed its housing practices for transgender immigrants. According to ICE, the memorandum includes "a voluntary ICE detention facility Contract Modification," which calls for the creation of a facility-based multidisciplinary Transgender Care Classification Committee. The committee will be tasked to make decisions related to searches, clothing options, medical care and housing assignments and reassessments.
Read more:http://www.latinpost.com/articles/63077/20150630/immigration-reform-news-today-transgendered-immigrants.htm
Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information

Immigration reform news 2015: What's Bernie Sanders' take on the immigration issue?

Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, appeared in a meeting with Latino officials last week and his speech was mostly targeted toward support for immigration reform.
Sander's comments came at the conference on the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, where he vowed that if he wins the White House, he would push for reform and do more than Obama has done for deportation relief.

"It is time to end the politics of division in this country, of politicians playing one group of people against another group, whether it is white against black, male against female, straight against gay or native born against immigrant, that division has got to end," he said in his statement.
Read more:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/immigration.reform.news.2015.whats.bernie.sanders.take.on.the.immigration.issue/57231.htm
Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information

Immigration Reform: Signature Collection Underway For California Initiative To Give Undocumented Immigrants Residency

An initiative to give residency permits to immigrants living in California illegally is gaining momentum in the country’s most populated state, where backers of the measure are gearing up to begin collecting signatures to get the proposal before voters in 2016, according to Los Angeles Daily News. The California Immigration Reform Act would require permit holders to pay state income taxes and bar the state from using public funds to aid federal immigration enforcement.
Backers, who gained permission to begin collecting signatures Wednesday, have until Dec. 21 to get the required 365,880 signatures from registered California voters to put the initiative on the 2016 ballot. Immigrants who take part in the program would not have to show proof of immunizations until they apply for permanent residence cards, which would be made available only after five years of living in the state. The permits would establish an official arrival date in the country and give immigrants a tax identification number to allow them to attend school or apply for jobs.
Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/immigration-reform-signature-collection-underway-california-initiative-give-1985664
Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information

Delays in U.S. Visa Processing Due to U.S. Department of State Technical Problems

On June 15, 2015, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that its visa system is experiencing technical problems, which are now causing significant delays in visa processing. The technical problems are preventing the DOS from performing national security checks, without which the DOS may not issue visas to foreign nationals. The DOS is also unable to print some visas upon approval. The issue is not specific to any particular country or visa category.

The DOS has made some progress in restoring its visa processing capabilities, and the Department is working around the clock to restore the system to full functionality. In the meantime, the visa backlog continues to grow. Many applicants are currently waiting several weeks for visa appointments at U.S. consulates abroad, and applicants at certain consulates must continue to wait for their approved visas to be printed and issued. On June 23, 2015, the DOS issued a list of consulates that are connected and able to issue visas.

Read more:http://www.natlawreview.com/article/delays-us-visa-processing-due-to-us-department-state-technical-problems

Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information

U.S. Visa Glitch Continues to Stall Workers, Strain Farms

A computer hardware problem continues to cripple U.S. visa processing around the globe, stranding tens of thousands of foreigners who need to reach the country for business, weddings and funerals and other purposes.
 A few hundred agricultural workers who were stalled near the Mexico-U.S. border have entered since the problem began. But many more remain there, farmers said, unsure if they will get visas before crops rot.
“We are talking about a situation now where we are falling further and further behind,” said Daren Gee, a major California strawberry grower. He said 200 seasonal workers he has arranged to employ had been delayed 19 days as of Friday, costing him $25,000 to $30,000 a day mainly in potential revenues.
Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-visa-glitch-continues-to-stall-workers-strain-farms-1434740816
Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information 

Have immigration papers ready, but watch out for scammers, San Jose audience told

SAN JOSE -- Get your papers ready but don't fall for scams while waiting for an appellate court decision on President Barack Obama's expanded immigration actions, a deputy state attorney general told a mostly Spanish-speaking audience Saturday.

There are plenty of places you can get legitimate help, California Deputy Attorney General Marisol Leon told the crowd, many of whom turned out because they may qualify under one of the president's two immigration actions.

In November, Obama announced two Immigration Accountability Executive Actions that expanded "Dream Act" deferments for childhood arrivals and created a Deferred Action for Parents (DAPA) for parents of legal permanent residents.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_28352086/have-immigration-papers-ready-but-watch-out-scammers
Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information

Congress needs to pass immigration reform before 2016

Most of us grow up hearing about how we should practice loving our neighbors. Well, Mexico is our neighbor; maybe we should start acting a bit more neighborly! The same can equally be said of Mexico. Why do both sides spend so much political rhetoric demonizing each other?
I live in Texas, and, like most Texans, am darn proud of it. As it stands right now, I am a minority in my state. My answer to that is: so what? I was born in Texas as a minority: a Swede! But my mother and father were Americans first and never taught me Swedish — something I sometimes now regret, although I understand how important it was for me to be accepted into "our" country.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/immigration/245671-congress-needs-to-pass-immigration-reform-before-2016
Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information

American Samoans don’t have right to U.S. citizenship, court rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that people from the South Pacific islands of American Samoa do not have a right to U.S. citizenship simply because they were born in the U.S. territory.

The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit preserves federal laws that make those born in American Samoa U.S. nationals, but not citizens like people born in Puerto Rico and other territories.

Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Janice Rogers Brown said the Constitution’s 14th Amendment does not automatically extend birthright citizenship to the nation’s unincorporated political territories.

Read more: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/american-samoans-dont-right-u-s-citizenship-court-rules/

Contact Darren Heyman immigration attorney Las Vegas, for more information

Immigration Reform News: California Lawmakers Invest $55 Million to Improve Healthcare, DACA Applications for State's Immigrants

California lawmakers agreed to invest millions for the state's immigrant population, from health care, education, legal services and community integration.

In a statement released by Democratic Assemblyman Luis Alejo of Salinas County, chairman of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, more than $55 million of the state's budget will be invested for the immigrant community. Alejo stated California has been leading the efforts of improving immigrant life while Congress continues to struggle. Read more: http://www.latinpost.com/articles/60428/20150617/immigration-reform-news-california-lawmakers-invest-55-million-states-immigrants.htm

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

American Dreaming: Choosing the Right Employment-Based Green Card

For entrepreneurs and business professionals seeking life in the United States, a green card is one effective route. Likewise, business owners often want to recruit foreign professionals from overseas to be involved with their company's operations.

With so many subcategories, it can often be difficult to determine which type of green card is the best option and how to go about obtaining it.

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

Read more: http://www.business.com/human-resources/choosing-the-right-employment-based-green-card-eb2-and-eb3-visas/

EDITORIAL: Move on immigration reform

On Thursday, Pew Research Center released poll results indicating widespread support for substantive immigration reform.
The nationwide survey indicated that 72 percent of Americans support allowing people living illegally in the United States to stay, under certain conditions; 42 percent directly supported a pathway to citizenship; and 26 percent supported at least allowing illegal immigrants to apply for permanent residency.
These finding roughly echo a survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California in March, finding statewide support for immigration reform. In that survey, 80 percent of Inland Empire residents backed some legal status for undocumented immigrants. Read more: http://www.pe.com/articles/immigrants-769209-immigration-reform.html

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

U.S. Firms, Workers Try to Beat H-1B Visa Lottery System

Companies eager to hire foreign talent, mostly in the tech sector, and workers hoping for jobs in the U.S. have found ways to game a government lottery used to distribute a limited number of visas each year.

Immigration lawyers involved in the process say they have helped companies file multiple H-1B skilled-worker visa applications for the same person. Some workers, meanwhile, are accepting offers from multiple employers, each of whom files a petition on their behalf, the lawyers say.

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-workers-game-h-1b-visa-lottery-lawyers-say-1433237586

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