Immigration Law Answers Blog : Texas Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Kraft & Associates Law Firm : Visas, Green Card, Citizenship, Deportation : Dallas, Texas

The Dallas Morning News reports that 66 gang members have been arrested in a North Texas sweep. This effort is part of a continuing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement project targeting gangs that operate both in Texas and in other countries including Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Laos. Here are excerpts from the article:

The arrests were made with assistance from police agencies in Arlington, Dallas, Carrollton, Fort Worth, Irving, Lewisville and Plano. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also participated.

Among those arrested were six gang members from the Mara Salvatrucha 13, considered one of the most violent transnational gangs. Two members of that gang were arrested in Carrollton, one person in Irving, and the other three in Dallas or Fort Worth, said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok.

One person, arrested in Fort Worth, was identified as a member of the Zetas, a gang linked to a Mexican narcotics cartel. Another 22 gangs were represented among those arrested, ICE said.

About a third of those arrested were U.S. citizens, ICE said. Fourteen of the 66 were deemed "gang associates."

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As of June 26, 2009, approximately 44,800 H-1B petitions have been received and counted toward the 65,000 cap. USCIS continues to accept cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until the 65,000 statutory cap limit is reached. More information is available at www.uscis.gov.
 

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Do you have a pending Form I-360 Special Immigrant Religious Worker Petition? If so, you are now eligible to file an application to adjust your status to permanent resident. On June 25, 2009, in response the district court’s order in Ruiz-Diaz v. United States, No. CO7-1881RSL (W.D. Wash. June 11, 2009), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is now accepting concurrently filed Form I-360 and Form I-485 Applications to Adjustment. Applicants who filed Form I-360 religious worker petitions and are currently pending with USCIS are immediately eligible to file Form I-485 Application to Adjust Status and Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization. USCIS has posted this notice on their website and is available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/dkt_127-2_notice.pdf.
 
Under the district court's order, if you have a Form I-360 religious worker petition that is pending with USCIS as of June 11, 2009, then you are eligible to file Form I-485 and/or Form I-765. Also, applicants filing after June 11, 2009, are eligible to concurrently file Form I-360/I-485. The order protects foreign nationals from the accrual of unlawful presence and unauthorized work since any period of unlawful presence and unlawful employment will be tolled until will be tolled until September 9, 2009.
 
For additional information please see the USCIS Web site.
 

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The U.S. Embassy recently issued a notice advising U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Honduras until further notice. This announcement is in response to the current unstable political and security situations. The U.S. Embassy will be open for emergency services but no visa services will be available June 29, 2009.
 
For the latest updates, please visit the U.S. Department of State Web site at www.travel.state.gov or the U.S. Embassy’s Web site in Tegucigalpa, Honduras at http://honduras.usembassy.gov.

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A recent Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision addressed the actions of a foreign national who simply claimed on a passport application that she had been born in Texas. In this decision, the BIA emphasized the fact that the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) strictly forbids anyone who is not a United States citizen from claiming, in any way, that he or she is a citizen.
 
This BIA decision serves as a strong reminder to anyone not a United States citizen that they should be very cautious not to claim, in any way, that they were born in the United States. Be aware that signing any document that says you are a citizen is the same as saying out loud that you are a citizen.
 
Always remain mindful that, not only is making a false representation of citizenship strictly prohibited by the Act, if you do falsely claim United States citizenship, you will be permanently barred from the United States. There are no waivers to this bar.
 
Continue reading to see the decision.

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As of June 19, 2009, approximately 44,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions have been received by USCIS and counted towards the H-1B cap. Approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption have been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits.
 
Note: the reduction in count from May 27, 2009, is due to H-1B cap cases that have been denied, revoked, or withdrawn during the filing period.
 
For more information, please visit www.uscis.gov.

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Effective June 29, 2009, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume Premium Processing Service for Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) for the following petitioner categories:
 
·   EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability,
·   EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers,
·   EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability not seeking a National Interest Waiver,
·   EB-3 Professionals,
·   EB-3 Skilled Workers, and
·   EB-3 Workers other than Skilled Workers and Professionals.
 
Premium Processing Service guarantees petitioners that USCIS will issue either an approval notice, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence, or will open an investigation, within 15 calendar days of receipt for a $1,000 processing fee. If USCIS does not process the petition within that 15-day window, the $1,000 fee will be refunded, but the Premium Processing Service will continue. Additionally, each petitioner who uses Premium Processing will have a dedicated phone number and e-mail address to check their petition status as well as ask any questions they may have.
 
For additional information, please visit www.uscis.gov.

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For many naturalized citizens, service in the United States military was the key to earning that citizenship. In fact, approximately 1,000 foreigners have earned their United States citizenship through military service since the Department of Defense initiated the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program after the 9/11 attacks.
 
The MAVNI pilot program expands upon a current Defense Department program that provides citizenship opportunities to those serving in the military who also hold green cards. In contrast, MAVNI provides a fast-tracked path to citizenship to those serving in the military who have been in the United States legally for two years or more, possess language or medical skills that are in high demand, but do not hold green cards.
 
Similar programs were initiated during World War II and the Korean War. These programs were crucial in fast-tracking immigrants toward citizenship following their service in the military.
 
For more information on the Department of Defense, please visit www.dod.gov.

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On June 22, 2009, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that a partnership between the two agencies has resulted in the elimination of a large backlog in the FBI’s National Name Check Program (NNCP).
 
The purpose of the NNCP is to “disseminate information from FBI files in response to name check requests received from federal agencies… foreign police… intelligence agencies…” as well as “state and local law enforcement agencies.” NNCP employees within the FBI respond to such requests by determining “whether a specific individual has been the subject of or mentioned in any FBI investigation(s)…” The FBI states that they do not adjudicate such requests from the various agencies – the FBI simply provides the relevant information.
 
While delays are still likely to occur, the USCIS reports that the continued partnership with the FBI will help ensure that name check processing is completed as soon as possible without compromising national security.
 
For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit www.uscis.gov. For additional information on the FBI, please visit www.fbi.gov.

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