Immigrants Face County Crackdown

Illegal immigrants wouldn’t be able to go to public schools, get free medical care or check out library books if Virginia’s second-largest county approves an anti-immigrant measure that is among the toughest in the nation. Prince William County is likely to approve the resolution on Tuesday, although it could be…

Jul 6, 2007 9:03 PM CDT

Suit Will Target Visa Retraction

The American Immigration Lawyers Association will sue over the government’s withdrawn offer to consider permanent residency for skilled foreign workers with employer-sponsored visas. The State Department dashed the workers’ hopes by retracting a three-week-old statement in its visa bulletin indicating that green cards were available for the workers. (See previous…

Jul 6, 2007 3:05 PM CDT

Retraction Disappoints Skilled Workers

The government’s reversal of an offer to put skilled foreign workers on a fast-track to permanent residency could result in a class-action lawsuit. The State Department’s Visa bulletin is closely watched because it announces who is eligible to file a green card application in the coming month, the Wall Street…

Jul 5, 2007 5:08 PM CDT

Ariz. Law Tough on Illegal Hires

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has signed a law imposing stiff sanctions on companies that hire illegal aliens. Businesses that fail to verify the legal status of employees may have their licenses suspended, and those that commit a second offense may have their licenses permanently revoked, the New York Times reports.…

Jul 3, 2007 4:16 PM CDT

Vote Blocks Immigration Bill

Supporters of a federal immigration bill were unable to get the 60 votes needed to limit debate in the Senate, likely postponing any action of the issue until after the presidential election. The vote fell 14 votes short, Reuters reports. Associated Press reports that the vote is a setback for…

Jun 28, 2007 5:44 PM CDT

Canadian Policy Offers a Lesson for US

With twice as many immigrants coming into the country annually as in the U.S., Canada’s system–which otherwise is similar to proposed legislation in Congress–offers cautionary lessons about what doesn’t work. One drawback is a points system that provides credits for desired traits, like education and English fluency, but is difficult…

Jun 28, 2007 1:37 AM CDT

Doctor, Soldier Among Plaintiffs Suing Feds Over Delayed Background Checks

A 30-year physician in Texas and a former member of the U.S. Army National Guard might seem to be unlikely national security risks. But they are among thousands whose background checks have been delayed for months or even years, reports the Houston Chronicle. As a result, families have been separated…

Jun 27, 2007 1:22 AM CDT

New Immigration Bill Making Progress; Is ‘Clay Pigeon’ Really an Emu?

An effort to pass landmark immigration legislation failed in the last Congress, and there is no guarantee that it will pass this time around either. But some forward progress is being made on a new version of a bill that would provide millions of now-illegal immigrants currently in the U.S.…

Jun 26, 2007 11:44 PM CDT

Immigrant Detainee Deaths Probed

Sixty-two immigrants have died in detention since 2004, according to a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement accounting. The United Nations had counted only 20 deaths in the same time period, based on a list compiled by immigrant-rights lawyers, the New York Times reports. The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general…

Jun 26, 2007 3:50 PM CDT

Firm Takes Heat for YouTube Debut

An immigration law seminar doesn’t have the appeal of a dog riding a skateboard. But a YouTube video on the former topic is attracting a lot of viewers and creating controversy for a Pittsburgh law firm. A lawyer at the Cohen & Grigsby seminar explains how employers can search for…

Jun 25, 2007 1:01 PM CDT

Efforts to Protect Immigrants from Crime Elicit Praise—and Criticism

In separation investigations more than 1,000 miles apart, officials say they have found that illegal immigrants are targeted as crime victims at least in part because they are reluctant to contact police. Authorities say they have been sensitive to these concerns, focusing enforcement efforts on immigrants who have committed crimes…

Jun 22, 2007 2:19 AM CDT

Illegal Immigrant Rental Ban Blocked

A federal judge has blocked a law that would require landlords in one Texas town to verify that tenants are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay of Dallas granted a preliminary injunction barring the law from taking effect, the Houston Chronicle reports. Lindsay wrote that the…

Jun 20, 2007 7:06 PM CDT

Deportees Challenge Forced Sedatives

Two deportees claim in a class action lawsuit that immigration officials injected them with sedatives over their protests. The suit claims the two men were injected as they were about to be deported when they expressed reservations about leaving, the Washington Post reports. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the…

Jun 20, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

Detained Aliens Target Medical Care

Lawyers claim that scores of illegal immigrants have received substandard medical care while in detention. One immigrant, Francisco Castaneda, has filed a tort claim over medical neglect that he says allowed the spread of his penile cancer, the Washington Post reports. He is likely to die in two years, according…

Jun 13, 2007 5:03 PM CDT

Traffic Stops Snag Illegal Aliens

Hundreds of thousands of names of people with outstanding deportation orders are being added to a national FBI database.

That’s bad news for illegal immigrants stopped for traffic violations, the Washington Post reports. Police search the database for outstanding warrants and in some jurisdictions they are detaining the traffic offenders for deportation.

Immigration advocacy groups sued the government contending it does not have legal authority to add administrative deportation records to the database for criminal warrants.

Jun 13, 2007 4:14 PM CDT