[April 15, 2008]

USCIS ISSUES E-VERIFY UPDATE

U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on February 12, 2008, that more than 52,000 employers have voluntarily signed up to participate in E-Verify, the federal government¡¯s web-based employment authorization verification program.  USCIS claims that the program has been growing approximately 1,000 new employers each week since October 2007.

Participation in E-Verify is voluntary under federal law; however, a number of states require certain employers to participate in and comply with a federal work authorization verification program, which accounts for much of the recent growth in use.

E-Verify is an internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.  USCIS administers the program.

 HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

ENTERS INTO FORCE

            On April 1, 2008, the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption entered into force in the United States.  The provisions of the Hague Convention now govern both incoming and outgoing intercountry adoptions between the United States and other Convention countries.

            The The Hague Convention establishes international norms and procedures for processing intercountry adoption cases involving more than 70 Convention member countries. It mandates safeguards to protect the interests of children, birth parents, and adoptive parents. It also provides that member nations recognize adoptions that take place within other Convention countries.

            As the designated Central Authority for the United States, the Department of State is responsible for ensuring that these new requirements are met for all intercountry adoption cases under the Hague Convention involving a U.S. adoptive parent or child.

Membership in the Convention will change the U.S. intercountry adoption process with respect to other Convention countries in many ways, including:

• Establishing federal accreditation of adoption service providers, through accrediting entities designated by the Department.
• Launching the Adoption Tracking Service that the Department will use to track incoming and outgoing cases. For the first time, it will be possible to track the cases of American children who are adopted by citizens of other Hague countries.
• Establishing a Hague Complaint Registry which will track public complaints related to intercountry adoptions.
• Using new Department of Homeland Security petition forms (I-800A and I-800) for ¡°Convention adoptees.¡±
• Issuing new certificates from consular officers in Hague stating that the requirements of the Convention have been met for an adoption or custody declaration completed overseas.

  Issuing a declaration from the U.S. Department, for outgoing adoptions or custody declarations under the Hague Convention, documenting that the new requirements have been met.

  

  OF 11 NEW IMMIGRATION JUDGES, FEW ARE FROM PRIVATE PRACTICE

              Nearly a year after U.S. Justice Department officials conceded they considered politics when hiring immigration judges, eleven new judges have been sworn in, including three in California.

              The immigration judges include a former circuit court judge, a private immigration attorney and nine former prosecutors or government attorneys.  Some private attorneys expressed concern over the lack of judges with private bar experience.  One attorney expressed disappointment that the attorney general had chosen to appoint nine out of the 11 judges from the prosecutorial side of the government.

              The nation¡¯s immigration courts have come under increased scrutiny since 2006, when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales ordered an investigation into the immigration courts, citing rude or intemperate judges.  He later unveiled a 22-point plan aimed at improving the courts.  But the plan stalled after questions arose over the hiring and firing of U.S. Department of Justice employees, including immigration judges to the point that the embattled attorney general stepped down.

  The number of immigration judges has quietly dropped over the past two years, according to recent figures provided by the Executive Office for Immigration Review.  In 1006, there were 227 immigration judges and in 2007, the number was around 213.  That figure has risen to 224, but some judges are expected to retire this year.

             

   On April 12, 2008, The Economist (a respected weekly magazine) openly ridiculed the immigration laws as they relate to H-1B visa petitions and the limitations imposed on the number of applicants that can benefit from such petitions.  The article called the present situation ¡°Idiocracy¡±.  The article ends by saying that America suffers from one big problem: its political system which is especially dysfunctional when it comes to immigration:  ¡°A few brave souls are trying to lift the H-1B visa cap.  But most politicians are more interested in bellowing about building walls to keep illegal immigrants out than thinking seriously about the problem.  And a few are even actively campaigning to reduce the number of H-1B visas in order to keep American jobs for Americans.  How do you win the global talent wars when Congress is already in the hands of the idiocracy?

  

  LA MAYOR REPROACHED ICE FOR WORKPLACE IMMIGRATION RAIDS

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked the federal government to review its immigration enforcement priorities, warning that work-site raids on "non-exploitative" businesses could have "severe and lasting effects" on the local economy.

  "I am concerned that ICE enforcement actions are creating an impression that this region is somehow less hospitable to these critical businesses than other regions," Villaraigosa wrote in a March 27 letter to Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

   

  Immigration and Customs Enforcement has cracked down on businesses that hire undocumented workers in California and around the nation in recent years, arresting scores of workers and their employers. In fiscal 2007, ICE made more than 4,900 work-site arrests, a 45-fold increase over the number in 2001, authorities said.

  In February, more than 130 undocumented workers were arrested at a Van Nuys manufacturing company during an ongoing investigation. Last week, more than 60 workers were arrested on immigration violations during routine federal inspections at South Bay area import warehouses. Other Los Angeles companies, including giant clothing manufacturer American Apparel, have reported that ICE recently inquired about its hiring procedures.

  In his letter, Villaraigosa said ICE has targeted "established, responsible employers" in industries that have a "significant reliance on workforces that include undocumented immigrants."

  "In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote. He said ICE should spend its limited resources targeting employers who exploit wage and hour laws.

  "At a time when we are facing an economic downturn and gang violence at epidemic levels, the federal government should focus its resources on deporting criminal gang members rather than targeting legitimate businesses," said Matt Szabo, the mayor's spokesman.

  Chertoff has not responded to the mayor's letter.

  But Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said the department believes its priorities are correct. In its work-site investigations, she said, ICE's focus is on national security and public safety. The agency also investigates companies it believes may have committed visa fraud, money laundering, tax evasion or egregious violations of hiring laws.

  

              Currently, foreign students in F-1 non-immigrant status who have been enrolled on a full-time basis for at least one full academic year in a college are eligible for 12 months of OPT for U.S. employers in a job directly related to the student¡¯s major area of study.

              An interim rule extends the maximum period of OPT from 12 months to 29 months for those students that completed a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (stem) degree and accept employment with employers enroleld in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services E-verify employment verification program.

   

  VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS FOR IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICANTS

              The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) amended the Immigration and Nationality Act by adding to the health-related grounds of inadmissibility a new subsection which requires any person seeking an immigrant visa to show proof of having received vaccination against vaccine-preventable diseases as recommend by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices which is an advisory committee to the CDC that makes general recommendations on immunizations, including safe and effective vaccination schedules.

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the 2007 ¡°CDC Immigration Requirements: Technical Instruction for Vaccination,¡± which supercedes all previous vaccination-related Technical Instructions.

  Significant changes to the immigration vaccination requirements since the last revision of the ¡°Technical Instructions to Panel Physicians for Vaccination Requirements¡± are:

  ¡¤                    Rotavirus vaccine should be given orally to children 2 through 6 months of age.

  ¡¤                    Hepatitis A vaccine should be given to children 12 through 23 months of age.

  ¡¤                    Meningococcal conjugate vaccine, specifically tetravalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) should be given to persons 11 through 18 years of age. Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (MPSV) or other forms of meningococcal conjugate vaccine (e.g., monovalent MCV) is an acceptable alternative if MCV4 is not available.

  ¡¤                    Human papillomavirus vaccine should be given to females 11 through 26 years of age.

  ¡¤                    Zoster vaccine should be given to persons 60 years of age or older.

  ¡¤                    Hepatitis B vaccine should be given from birth through 18 years of age.