Immigration Updates

USCIS has eased requirements for background checks by the F.B.I. of immigrants seeking to become permanent United States residents.  According to a recent policy memo authored by Michael Aytes, Associate Director for domestic operations, if an immigrant’s application for a residence visa has been in the system for more than six months and the only missing piece is a name check by the F.B.I., immigration officers will now be allowed to approve the application.  If after approving the green card, the authorities find any negative information about the file, they may cancel the green card and initiate removal proceedings in court.

Under the new policy, immigrants applying for the green cards, will still be required to complete two other security checks: an F.B.I. criminal fingerprint check and a search in a federal criminal and anti-terrorist database known as Interagency Border Inspection Services (IBIS).  This new policy does not include applicants for U.S. citizenship.

Currently the agency processes about 1.5 million applications requiring name checks each year, and 99 percent are cleared by the F.B.I. in less than six months. But about 140,000 applications have been hung up in the system for more than six months because of the name checks, he said, including applications both for green cards and citizenship.

As to citizenship applications, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that last summer's fee increases will give the agency the money it needs to get back on track.

Becoming a citizen now costs $595, up from $330. The price to get a green card is $1,010, up from $395. Applicants for both pay another $80 each for digital fingerprinting, a $10 increase.

Finally, in Phoenix, AZ, where a new anti-immigrant law took effect on January 1, 2008, there are multiple signs of a Latino flight out of Arizona.  Families are moving out of apartment complexes, schools are reporting enrollment drops, and business owners are complaining about fewer clients.  The consensus is that a weakening economy coupled with recent curbs on illegal immigration are steering Hispanic immigrants out of the state.

As a result, The Arizona economy, heavily dependent on growth and a Latino work force, is sliding into a deep recession.  Ironically however,
State Representative Russell K. Pearce, a Republican from Mesa and leading advocate of the crackdown on illegal immigration, takes reports of unauthorized workers leaving as a sign of success. “The desired effect was, we don’t have the red carpet out for illegal aliens,” Mr. Pearce said.

On Monday, state lawmakers, voiced their concerns about shortages of workers and the failed revamping of immigration law in Congress, which was pushed by Senator John McCain of Arizona.  Also, Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, offered to help the United States Labor Department rewrite regulations designed to streamline visas for agricultural workers, who growers say are increasingly hard to find.

A persistent decline in the immigrant population could damage the overall Arizona economy. A study by the Pew Hispanic Center released in January said illegal workers made up close to 11 percent of the state’s work force of 2.9 million people in 2006, double the national estimate.

What is happening in Arizona may be a blue print for the whole nation.  The time to ensure that we have a fair and just immigration reform is now.  When you vote in November, regardless of whether it’s a McCain, Clinton, or Obama, please check the candidate’s record and rhetoric regarding this very important issue.