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

I don't know if his plan is to keep other citizens of Texas out of Brownsville or to keep Brownsville residents out of the rest of Texas, but Congressman Tom Tancredo made a very strange statement in Brownsville yesterday. Here's the story from the Channel 5 TV station in Weslaco:

BROWNSVILLE - A Colorado Congressman is under fire this morning for making a controversial statement to some Brownsville landowners.

Republican Tom Tancredo supports the border wall. The U.S. representative attended the hearing in Brownsville yesterday.

During the hearing, he told the Brownsville landowners, "I suggest that you build this fence around the northern part of your city..." implying that all of Brownsville should be on the Mexican side of the wall.

Right now NEWSCHANNEL 5 is working to get clarification from Congressman Tancredo.

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An optional practical training (OPT) authorizes F-1 students to receive up to 12 months of practical training either before or after completion of their studies. On April 8, 2008, an interim final rule was issued stating that certain F-1 students will be eligible to receive a 17-month extension following the completion of their OPT. Under the new rule, F-1 students with a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM), who are employed by employers enrolled in E-Verify, and who have received an initial OPT related to such a degree may apply for a 17-month extension of the OPT.

The student will file for the 17-month STEM extension on Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization, and include a copy of the STEM degree, and Form I-20 endorsed by the Designated School Official.

F-1 students with STEM degrees may benefit from this final rule if they are the beneficiaries of an approved H-1B petition by automatically extending their F-1 status. This allows the student to remain in the U.S. and continue working until October 1, the start date of the H-1B petition.

For more information please contact us at 214-999-9999.

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The government has released the May 2008 Visa Bulletin, and there are some bits of good news in it.

EB2 categories for Mexico and for the Philippines are still current (we always worry about backsliding). India's cutoff date advanced a month, as did the date for China, to January 1, 2004. All things considered, the bulletin was a good one this time.

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The Dallas Morning News reports today that immigration agents raided several companies across the country, and arrested quite a few people for identity theft. Especially hard-hit was a Pilgrim's Pride plant in East Texas. Here are excerpts from the story:

Federal immigration officials on Wednesday arrested more than 280 workers employed at Pilgrim's Pride poultry plants in five states, including Texas, on suspicion of committing identity theft. The crackdown is part of a widening criminal investigation involving workers at the world's largest poultry processor.

"This case is a good example of our efforts to prosecute identity theft that harms credit and the good name of U.S. citizens," said Julie Myers, assistant secretary for the U.S. Homeland Security Department, in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.

"We have cooperated fully with the government," said Ray Atkinson, a Pilgrim's Pride spokesman, at corporate headquarters in Pittsburg, Texas.

Pilgrim's Pride also participates in a federal government program to voluntarily check Social Security numbers against workers' names in two government databases, Mr. Atkinson said. The program is known as E-Verify. It has been criticized as error-prone and because it can't detect workers who are using authentic Social Security numbers connected to a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident.

"Unfortunately, it does not detect ID theft situations," Mr. Atkinson said of E-Verify.

Identity fraud is a felony under federal law, and a growing problem as federal immigration efforts have intensified and workers in the U.S. illegally have looked for ways to avoid detection. Some U.S. citizens, and legal residents, rent or share their Social Security numbers, making detection even more arduous.

In Houston, Dallas and Washington, D.C., advocates for those detained denounced the law enforcement round-ups. Douglas Rivlin of the National Immigration Forum noted the U.S. arrival on Tuesday of Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI and the pontiff's message to President Bush on immigration.

"At the same moment that Pope Benedict XVI was admonishing President Bush that the U.S. must treat immigrants with dignity and humanity, the Bush administration was rounding up immigrant workers in raids in at least five states across the country," Mr. Rivlin said in a prepared statement. "What a black eye for the president and for the United States."

Pilgrim's Pride officials have been activists for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's immigration laws. An attempt at such reform failed last year in Congress. It would have provided a path to citizenship for some of the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants, a guest worker program and toughened enforcement against employers.

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The Dallas Morning News today reports that 28 separate federal laws or regulations were waived in order for Homeland Security to build the Texas-Mexico border fence. It looks like the waivers will be appealed to the Supreme Court. Here are exerpts:

The U.S. Supreme Court may get a chance to join the fractious debate over building fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

A legal challenge by two environmental groups seeking to limit enhanced Department of Homeland Security powers to suspend more than 30 laws to build the fence is gathering support in Congress.

But at least one constitutional expert said that although the legal challenge underscores the broad array of powers Congress has delegated to Homeland Security, "environmentalists face an uphill battle."

"There is a legitimate legal gripe here, in that there are serious questions about how much power Congress can delegate to other branches of government," said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law authority at George Washington University Law School.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the waiver of about three dozen environmental laws to expedite construction of the border fence in Texas and Arizona on April 1.

"This blanket waiver of laws like the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act is a clear and disturbing abuse of the secretary's discretion," said U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee. "Congress' efforts to seek justification for this waiver from DHS have been stonewalled, which leads me to believe none exists."

Congress also denied oversight by federal appeals courts to any challenges, except for a request to the Supreme Court to review.

In his announcement of the most recent waivers, Mr. Chertoff said that Homeland Security remains committed to environmental responsibility and that the agency "is neither compromising its commitment to responsible environmental stewardship nor its commitment to solicit and respond to the needs of state, local and tribal governments, other agencies of the federal government and local residents."

He stressed that his agency will continue to work closely with the Department of Interior and other federal and state resources management agencies to ensure that impact to the environment and cultural and historic artifacts is properly analyzed and minimized.

But the size and scope of the use of waivers to clear the path for construction of the border fence is virtually unprecedented, Dr. Turley said.

More troubling, he added, is the apparent dismissal of due process as "endless debate or protracted litigation."

Mr. Chertoff has said the waivers are necessary because "criminal activity at the border does not stop for endless debate or protracted litigation."

But Dr. Turley said Congress has in recent years "become almost waiver happy."

"They see it as a form of no-cost legislating," he said. "But there is no evidence Congress considered the implications of giving Homeland Security such broad waiver power."

There are indications that Congress may be trying to regain some of the authority it gave away.

Hidalgo Couny: Laws in suspension:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived the following laws for construction of the border fence in Hidalgo County, Texas: 1. National Environmental Policy Act 2. Endangered Species Act 3. Federal Water Pollution Control Act 4. National Historic Preservation Act 5. Migratory Bird Treaty Act 6. Clean Air Act 7. Archaeological Resources Protection Act 8. Safe Drinking Water Act 9. Noise Control Act 10. Solid Waste Disposal Act 11. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 12. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act 13. Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act 14. Antiquities Act 15. Historic Sites, Buildings and Antiquities Act 16. Farmland Protection Policy Act 17. Coastal Zone Management Act 18. Federal Land Policy and Management Act 19. National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act 20. Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 21. Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 22. Administrative Procedure Act 23. Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 24. Eagle Protection Repatriation Act 25. Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act 26. American Indian Religious Freedom Act 27. Religious Freedom Restoration Act 28. Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 SOURCE: Federal Register Online

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International adoptions are back in the headlines again, and it is not because a celebrity has adopted another international child. On April 1, 2008, the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention) became effective with respect to the United States. The Hague Convention is an international agreement between Convention member countries. Currently, there are 75 countries that have joined the Hague Convention.

U.S. parents seeking to adopt overseas will see new adoption procedures. Some of the pertinent changes are:

New forms must be used. Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, and Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative are required as of April 1, 2008. All Hague Convention intercountry applications will be processed at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services National Benefits Center.

U.S families will now be working with accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved adoption providers that provide adoption services;

U.S. families will be able to initiate a public complaint related to the intercountry adoptions.

New documents will be issued by consular officers overseas, The Hague Adoption Certificate or the Hague Custody Certificate. These documents will essentially state the requirements of the Convention have been met for an adoption or custody declaration completed overseas.

It is important to note that the new regulations apply only to adoptions that transpire between two countries that have approved and implemented the Hague Convention.

For more information, please call us at 214-999-9999.

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According to figures released today by USCIS, there were 163,000 applications filed for the 65,000 available H-1B visas. So if most of the applicants are actually qualified, each applicant has less than a 50-50 chance of being chosen in the lottery drawing. Pitiful. The United States has such a great need for qualified workers, but we continue to use an artificial cap to deprive ourselves of this productivity. Here is the USCIS press release:

USCIS Releases Preliminary Number Of FY 2009 H-1B Cap Filings

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a preliminary number of nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. More than 31,200 of those petitions were for the advanced degree category.

USCIS expects next week it will conduct the computer-generated random selection process, beginning with the selection of the 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemption. Those petitions not selected under the advanced degree category will join the random selection process for the cap-subject 65,000 limit.

USCIS will reject, and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, unless found to be a duplicate. USCIS will handle duplicate filings in accordance with the interim final rule published on March 24, 2008 in the Federal Register.

USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY 2009 H-1B cap cases continues.

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Here's a troubling bit of news from today's Dallas Morning News: Violence against U.S. Border Patrol agents is up 47 percent for the first six months of the fiscal year, as surveillance toughens along the 2,000-mile stretch of U.S.-Mexico border, David Aguilar, the nation's top Border Patrol official, said Tuesday.

"As we continue to gain control of our borders, we fully expected the violence to go up," said Mr. Aguilar, in Dallas for a quarterly gathering of about 50 sector chiefs and other leaders.

In the past six months, there have been nearly 500 incidents against Border Patrol agents, as varied as rock-throwing, physical assaults and gunfire. Smugglers "frankly thought they owned" the border region, and could operate with impunity, Mr. Aguilar said.

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I posted recently about the Bush administration getting a waiver to bypass environmental regulations so work could proceed on the Texas-Mexico border fence. The Dallas Morning News published an article yesterday about two wildlife preserves that may disappear if the border fence is built. Here are excerpts:

Two nature preserves almost certainly will close after the announcement last week that the federal government would waive environmental protection laws for a fence along the border.

"We'll have to close," said Anne Brown, executive director and vice president of Audubon Texas. "Basically, you've moved the border."

The Sabal Palm Audubon Center and most of the Nature Conservancy's Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve would end up in the no-man's land between the fence and Mexico.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Tuesday that he would bypass more than 30 environmental laws and regulations to build the section of the fence, designed to stop illegal immigration and smuggling.

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Well, this is one way to do it. I've written a lot on this blog about the resistance Texas landowners are showing toward the building of a new fence along the Texas-Mexico border. Now comes word today that the Bush administration will plow ahead with the fence regardless of any opposition by landowners, by laws, or by regulations. Here are excerpts from a story today in the Dallas Morning News:

The Bush administration will use its authority to bypass more than 30 laws and regulations in an effort to finish building 670 miles of fence along the southwest U.S. border by the end of this year, federal officials said Tuesday.

Invoking the two legal waivers -- which Congress authorized -- will cut through bureaucratic red tape and sidestep environmental laws that currently stand in the way of the Homeland Security Department building 267 miles of fencing in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, according to officials familiar with the plan. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly about it.

As of March 17, there were 309 miles of fencing in place, leaving 361 to be completed by the end of the year to meet the department's goal. Of those, 267 miles are being held up by federal, state and local laws and regulations, the officials said.

One waiver will address the construction of a 22-mile levee barrier in Hidalgo County, Texas. The other waiver will cover 30 miles of fencing and technology deployment on environmentally sensitive ground in San Diego, southern Arizona and the Rio Grande; and 215 miles in California, Arizona and Texas that face other legal impediments due to administrative processes. For instance, building in some areas requires assessments and studies that -- if conducted -- could not be completed in time to finish the fence by the end of the year.

Residents and property owners along the U.S.-Mexico border have complained about the construction of fencing. In South Texas, where opposition has been widespread, land owners refused to give the government access to property along the fence route. The government has since sued more than 50 property owners in South Texas to gain access to the land.

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This is a follow-up on the last post about the immigration raid on security guards in Dallas. According to the Dallas Morning News:

Twenty-nine of 49 people picked up in a weekend Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep targeting illegal immigrants who were working as state-licensed security guards have been sent back to Mexico, officials said Monday.

The U.S. attorney's office is evaluating what charges to pursue against the others still being held at the Bedford Jail, which ICE contracts to use as a short-term detention facility.

Those returned to Mexico were offered a "voluntary return" because none of them would have faced prosecution for criminal charges, ICE Dallas spokesman Carl Rusnok said. "Voluntary return is offered to noncriminal aliens or low-level criminal aliens" – such as for violations that usually result in a ticket, he said.

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