Viewing entries tagged with 'amnesty'
Posted by Jeremy McKinney on 5 May 2009 | 0 Comments
Tags:
immigration,
reform,
amnesty,
legalization,
Congress,
fixes
One of the most illogical notions contained in our immigration laws is found within our “adjustment of status” statute. Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a), once an immigrant visa petition is approved and an immigrant visa is immediately available, any alien “inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States” is eligible to apply for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residency without leaving the United States. For example, if a man from Kenya enters the United States as a tourist and decides to overstay his visa, but later legitimately marries a United States citizen, he is eligible to apply for residency inside the United States. This is true no matter how long the person was here out of status. But, if a man from Mexico sneaks into the United States but later legitimately marries a United States citizen, he is ineligible to pursue legalization within the United States because he was not “inspected, admitted or paroled.” For purposes of legalizing one’s status within the United States, there should be no distinction between one who overstayed and one who entered without inspection. Each applicant has to go through a battery of security checks. The end result with each would be a documented alien and an intact family. President George H.W. Bush attempted to end the distinction when he signed into law 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i) -- also called § 245(i). The law allowed undocumented aliens otherwise eligible for residency the opportunity to apply within the United States upon payment of a fine. But the law had a sunset provision. The sunset date was extended three times through bills signed by President Clinton. But 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i) expired on April 30, 2001. President George W. Bush supported its renewal consistently, but the provision was never renewed. The result is more undocumented individuals in the United States who are otherwise eligible for residency but for the manner in which they entered out country. They cannot leave because of the unlawful presence bars (see our previous blogs) and cannot apply in the United States because of the manner in which our “adjustment of status” statute was drafted. So these individuals stay in our country illegally. This is another easy fix which continues to fails because opponents scream amnesty.
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Posted by Jeremy McKinney on 11 March 2009 | 0 Comments
Tags:
immigration,
reform,
amnesty,
children
One of the foundations of comprehensive immigration reform is fixing a problem that Congress created in 1996 - the creation of the 3 year, 10 year, and permanent bars. The bars have created a "Catch 22" where thousands of foreign nationals are ELIGIBLE for green cards but can't obtain the card in the USA due to unlawful presence and can't go home to obtain the card because our government won't let them back in. So they stay here and stay illegal. The U.S. Consulate in CD Juarez, Mexico and our Federal Courts have now made the problem worse by declaring that the permanent bar can apply to children!!
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Posted by Jeremy McKinney on 17 December 2008 | 0 Comments
Tags:
immigration,
reform,
amnesty,
jobs,
economy
Right now it takes four to five years for a permanent resident to sponsor a spouse or minor child (unless you are from Mexico, where it takes seven to eight years). It takes five to six years for a U.S. citizen to sponsor an adult child (unless you are from Mexico, where it takes over 15 years). It takes five to six years for an employer to sponsor a skilled worker for permanent residency. See Visa Bulletin.
Why so long? The reason is because Congress sets numerical caps on the number of immigrant visas which can be issued each year. None of us have a problem with providing a limit on legal immigration each year. The problem is that the current number is not realistic when compared with demand, and the visas are divided for all countries, although there is much more legal immigration with certain countries (like Mexico and India). Is it realistic to expect a Mexican permanent resident (or Mexican-American) in this country to be separated from his or her family for so long? Is it realistic to expect an American business to wait a half a decade to get a worker they need now? The result of the status quo is more undocumented family members and workers - a perpetuation of dangerous trips through the deserts of the Mexican-American border and our current black market of illegal workers building homes and landscaping business property.
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Posted by Jeremy McKinney on 21 October 2008 | 1 Comments
Tags:
immigration,
reform,
amnesty,
jobs,
economy
It is our hope at McKinney & Justice, PA to not only use our website to market our services, but also to illustrate to our friends and colleagues how broken our current immigration system remains. The issue of immigration reform remains one of the central challenges of our time for several reasons.
First, the issue is central because how we shape our immigration policy directly impacts our remaining American manufacturing and production. If business cannot meet its labor needs in America, jobs will continue to leave America. Many opponents of immigration and globalization scream, "They’re taking our jobs!" The reality is that (a) support jobs follow talent and every time we lose a talented scientist or researcher due to our immigration policy, we lose the support jobs as well, and (b) when business can’t find enough able and willing U.S. workers and current policy delays or prevents the sponsoring of guest workers, the entire operation shuts down and Americans lose their jobs. India and China benefit, and American workers lose.
Second, immigration reform is central to our national security. Our country has millions living in the shadows. If we are truly concerned about national security, we need to offer the undocumented incentives to come forward and be accountable. Accountability includes address registration, biometrics, and criminal background checks. The current system is a modern-day "Wild West," where we deport 250,000 aliens while 400,000 or so sneak in each year.
Finally, immigration reform is central to restoring America’s standing in the world. For most of our history, America has been the symbol of freedom and opportunity around the world. As the US Conference of Catholic Bishops put it, "people come from all over the world seeking opportunity in the United States[.] We know their names and faces; they are in our parishes, schools and Catholic Charities agencies. … Justice and prudence demand that we treat them with dignity and find a reasonable way for their contributions and presence to be recognized within the law." Each time we unjustly deny asylum to a person in need or break up families for the sake of mindlessly enforcing a fundamentally flawed set of laws, our image is tarnished. At the same time, we need laws; we need a secure border; we need to know who is in our country and why. Revising, not eliminating our immigration laws, can address our central challenge. And it can be done without a blanket amnesty. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be outlining what’s wrong and how we can fix it. Our firm would love to have your comments.
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