|
|
 |
IMMIGRATION
NEWS
INS
AGENTS BEAT IMMIGRANTS TO DEATH
The Washington Post reports that three INS agents beat an immigrant to the point
of paralysis and he succumbed to his injuries later.
20% CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS ARE IMMIGRANTS
Bronwyn Lance Chester, an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot writes, "According
to the Pentagon, more than 30,000 foreign-born individuals -- both naturalized
and noncitizens -- currently serve their adopted country. In 1999, half of all
new recruits at the Army station in Flushing, N.Y., were born in such far-flung
countries as India, Korea and Guyana. And immigrants make up 20 percent of Congressional
Medal of Honor recipients."
2 MEN TAKEN TO JAIL FOR TERRORISM PARANOIA
New York Times reports about a missed plane connection, terrorism paranoia, prolific
facial hair and arguably poor judgment resulting in the arrest of two men of Indian
descent last week in what seems to be one of the more bizarre instances of air-travel
hysteria.
PENNDOT POLICY ON DRIVER LICENSES
As part of a nationwide effort to enhance the issuance of secure identification
credentials, Pennsylvania has tightened the requirements for obtaining a Pennsylvania
Driver’s License, Learner’s Permit and/or Identification Card. Immigrants
in Pennsylvania for one year or less cannot get a Pennsylvania Driver’s
License. There is a bill that will be introduced that will provide for more limited
term licenses, similar to the scheme now used in New Jersey. Immigrants who are
eligible under the new guidelines may still be denied, as front desk personnel
are not familiar with immigration documents.
In
the Matter of Martin, 23 I & N Dec. 491 (2002), the Bureau of Immigration Appeals
determines that a conviction under Connecticut law of third degree assault is
an aggravated felony as a crime of violence under 101 (a) (43) (F).
The 9th Circuit has rejected the INS appeal in and affirmed the class certification
in IAP v. INS "known to the government" amnesty case.
CHECK
STATUS OF YOUR CASE ONLINE
You may now check the status of any case pending with any of the INS Service Centers
online. You can type in the INS receipt for any service center and you will get
a message providing the status of a case. The message online is the same as the
message on the automated line but it is a lot easier to check the status of a
case via online. No more busy signals !! Editor’s Note: We thank the INS
for this innovation from the bottom of our hearts!!!
LIBERIAN DED NOT YET EXTENDED
DED for Liberians expired last Friday, 9/29/02, but the Justice Dept. has not
yet announced whether it will be extended. The American Immigration Lawyer’s
Association is trying to obtain more information on the status of this extension.
The
nursing profession presents immigration lawyers with an unusual situation. It
is one of the few professions where it is difficult to bring a nurse into the
United States to work as nonimmigrant professional, but relatively easy to have
the nurse immigrate to the United States. We, therefore, begin our discussion
with obtaining immigrant visas for nurses.
The Department of Labor has determined that there is a chronic shortage of ‘Professional
Nurses’ and ‘Physical Therapists.’ Registered Nurses (RNs) are
included in the category of Professional Nurses, but Licensed Practical Nurses,
Nurse Assistants, or other nursing aides are not. This entitles RNs to a schedule
AA@ pre-certification, i.e. the position itself is Apre-certified@ and no application
needs to be filed with the Department of Labor for prior approval before filing
an immigrant visa petition with the INS. The process does require a prospective
immigrant nurse to establish her professional competence and proficiency in English
– first, by passing the examination given by the Commission on Graduates
of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), or possess an unrestricted state license to
practice nursing in the state in which she intends to work, and second, before
an immigrant visa is granted she must get the VisaScreen Certificate International
Healthcare Authority, a division of CGFNS. This article lays out the key requirements
and process of obtaining these certificates.
First Step - Immigrant Visa Petition, I-140, with the INS
The initial step to obtaining an immigrant visa for an RN is to file a form I-140
to the appropriate INS Service Center. The supporting documents must include ETA
Form 750 Parts A and B; employer’s Notice of job opening which was posted
in compliance with Department of Labor regulations; evidence about petitioner’s
financial ability to pay the nurse; CGFNS certificate or license from state of
intended employment; nursing diploma or degree with registration or licensure
from the country where the degree was obtained. The petition will not be approved
unless the nurse can provide evidence that she has already passed the state licensing
exam, or obtained a CGFNS certificate.
A CGFNS certificate is granted after the RN completes a three step review of their
skills, in nursing and English: (1) a credential evaluation, (2) an English language
proficiency exam, and (3) the CGFNS qualifying exam. The requirements and procedures
for state licensing exam, officially known as the National Council Licensure Examination
for Registered Nurses, or NCLEX-RN, vary from state to state. These are available
at www.ncsbn.org. While the CGFNS exam is conducted three times
in many parts of the world, NCLEX-RN is conducted in U.S. alone. However, NCLEX
officials have indicated that starting in 2003, the exam will be offered abroad.
Second Step – Process at US Consulate Abroad
After the I-140 petition is approved, the INS sends the approved petition to the
National Visa Center (NVC), which sends out the necessary forms to be filled out
to the prospective beneficiary and her family members, if any, and a list of documents,
which must be presented at the interview. The filled forms are sent to the U.S.
consulate, who then schedule an interview for the RN. The documents required include,
application(s) for immigrant visa; biographic information, valid passports; police
clearance; birth certificates; documents to establish RN’s relationship
with family members like marriage certificate with spouse, divorce or death certificate
of previous spouse, birth certificates for all family members; medical examination;
employer’s job offer letter and employer’s financial information;
and VisaScreen Certificate.
VisaScreen certificate is required in addition to the CGFNS certificate mentioned
above. The International Healthcare Authority, a division of CGFNS is the only
agency designated to administrate the VisaScreen certificate program. The VisaScreen
certificate requirements are: (1) the RN’s education, training, license,
and experience must meet all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements
for entry into the United States; (2) the RN must have the prescribed level of
competence in oral and written English, as shown by an appropriate score on one
or more standardized exams; and (3) the RN must take the exam predicting the success
on their NCLEX-RN exam, or pass the exam itself.
In order to meet the educational requirements for the VisaScreen program, the
applicant must have completed a senior secondary school education that is separate
from their professional education; graduated from a government-approved professional
healthcare program of at least two years duration; and successfully completed
a minimum number of clock and/or credit hours in specific theoretical and clinical
areas during their professional program. The fee for VisaScreen certificate is
$325.
There is one exception to the requirement of VisaScreen certificate. This exception
is for nurses who: (1) completed their nursing education from certain designated
countries; (2) have passed the NCLEX examination and have a valid unencumbered
license from the state of intended employment. The designated countries are Australia,
Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom
and the United States. However the RNs from these countries must still complete
the VisaScreen application and pay the $325 fee. The exception only permits an
expedited processing and results into a ‘Certified Statement.’ Recently,
CGFNS has approved ‘provisional eligibility’ for nurses educated in
the nation of Trinidad and Tobago as eligible for expedited processing of their
professional credentials. If the RN is in the United States, VisaScreen certificate
is still required to adjust her status into a lawful permanent resident status.
In all cases, RNs are required to adhere to the licensing requirements of the
state in which they intend to work. Licensing requirements vary from state to
state. To demonstrate eligibility and preparedness for the NCLEX exam, most states
require a combination of materials with the license application, which may include
CGFNS certification, copies of foreign academic credentials with certified translations,
an education/credentials evaluation, and a demonstration of proficiency in English.
As with all immigrants, the alien must not be Aexcludable@ to process into status.
Thus, prior immigration violations, criminal convictions or certain health related
issues must be addressed before the immigrant will be able to adjust or enter
into the United States in a legal permanent resident status. The RN’s spouse
and unmarried minor children may accompany them into the United States in this
status.
PRESIDENT
BUSH PROPOSES ADMITTING ONLY 50,000 REFUGEES
President Bush has proposed admitting only 50,000 refugees in FY 2003. That is
25,000 less than the 75,000 refugees that the Administration had earlier indicated
it would admit in FY 2003. Refugee advocates have asked President Bush to admit
more than 100,000 refugees in 2003 in order to rescue some of the tens of thousands
of refugees who were unable to enter this year due to new security restrictions
following September 11. Many of these refugees are stuck in places where they
are in danger or suffering severe hardship. The Administration is now proposing
admitting fewer refugees.
IBRAHIM TO APPEAL SENTENCE
Egyptian-American human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim, whose jailing is at
the center of a diplomatic spat between Washington and Cairo, will appeal his
sentence, his lawyers confirmed on Sunday.
ARREST OF RWANDA GENOCIDE SUSPECT THARCISSE RENZAHO
The United States State Department “welcomed” the recent apprehension
and transfer by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of Tharcisse
Renzaho to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Renzaho, the
former prefect of Kigali, is alleged to be one of the masterminds of the 1994
genocide in Rwanda. He is believed to be a leader of the Army for the Liberation
of Rwanda (ALIR) and to have played a commanding role in the war that has gripped
the Great Lakes region of Africa. The arrest of Renzaho is part of a commitment
that President Joseph Kabila made to President George W. Bush during the UN General
Assembly in New York. This is the third arrest of an alleged leader of the Rwandan
genocide since the beginning of the Rewards for Justice Campaign, which offers
up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of persons indicted for
war crimes.
Burma: UN Human Rights Rapporteur Invited to Visit Burma
The United States welcomes the announcement that UN human rights rapporteur Pinheiro
has been invited to visit Burma next month. Areas of human rights concern in Burma
include forced labor, political prisoners, and abuses in minority regions. We
hope that Mr. Pinheiro's visit encourages the regime to take steps to address
human rights abuses and that Mr. Pinheiro will be able to reach agreement with
the regime on a credible investigation with United Nations involvement.
US CONDEMNS PRE-ELECTION ATMOSPHERE IN ZIMBABWE
The United States condemned the environment of fear and intimidation in Zimbabwe
in the run-up to nationwide local elections there. Violence and harassment have
been directed predominantly against supporters and potential candidates of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Opposition candidates have been subjected
to intimidating, onerous, and unfair nomination requirements. As a result, opposition
candidates are running in fewer than half of the 1,400 contested seats Independent
observers, including international and non-government organizations, have expressed
concern about reports of violence and election irregularities and the threats
these pose to credible democratic elections. The Government of Zimbabwe has not
taken the necessary steps to ensure conditions for a credible democratic election.
ISLAMIC MOVEMENT OF UZBEKISTAN STILL A FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION
The Department of State announced the redesignation of the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan (IMU) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under U.S. law. The group
was first designated two years ago, and designations last for a two-year period.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a threat to the security of Uzbekistan and
to the region. The group has close ties to al-Qaida and has received al-Qaida
funds. It fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan against coalition forces
in Operation Enduring Freedom. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan military leader
Juma Namangani apparently was killed during an airstrike last November. Last September
the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was added to Executive Order 13224 that blocks
terrorists' assets. This redesignation of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
keeps the total number of Foreign Terrorist Organizations at 34. The Department
reviews designated groups every two years, the Secretary of State is authorized
to make new designations at any time, or to remove a group from that list at any
time if the facts warrant. The Foreign Terrorist Organization designation makes
it illegal for persons within U.S. jurisdiction to provide funding or material
support to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and gives the Department of the
Treasury the authority to block any of the group's assets within U.S. jurisdiction.
HALF A MILLION IDPs RESETTLE IN ANGOLA
About 570,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have resettled or returned to
their areas of origin in Angola over the past five months, the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest situation report.
EGYPT LEFTISTS SLAM U.S AMBASSADOR
Forty Egyptian leftists declared the U.S. ambassador "persona non grata" after
he accused the Egyptian media of irresponsibility and distorting the facts about
the Sept. 11 attacks.
A statement criticizing Ambassador David Welch signed by 34 leftist intellectuals
and writers appeared in several Arab newspapers Sunday. One of the organizers,
newspaper columnist Ahmed Taha el-Nuqr, said six others had signed the statement
after it was sent to the papers.
El-Nuqr, a columnist with the pro-government newspaper Al-Akhbar, said he and
others were "shocked" by an article by Welch published in Al-Ahram, one of Egypt's
leading pro-government dailies, and posted on the embassy Web site Friday. In
his article, Welch called on "responsible media" to "exercise their editorial
judgment."
Many in the Arab world don't believe that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror
network carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. Speculation the United States or Israel
was behind the attacks to create a reason for attacking Arabs and Muslims is rampant,
despite the appearance on Arab television stations of bin Laden and other al-Qaida
members claiming responsibility for the attacks.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: National Campaign to Protect Children
A nationwide campaign to establish district committees charged overseeing implementation
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is under way in the
Central African Republic (CAR), Marie Edith Douzima-Lawson, a lawyer and president
of the national commission in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Convention,
told IRIN on 27 September.
AMNESTY EXPRESSES FEARS FOR SAFETY OF PRISONERS IN UGANDA
Amnesty International, has expressed concern over the safety of 20 prisoners held
by the Ugandan army at a military detention facility in the northern town of Gulu.
INS
ISSUES CERTIFICATION RULE FOR SEVIS ENROLLMENT
The INS announced that it is immediately implementing regulations governing the
review and certification of schools for enrollment in the Student and Exchange
Visitor Information System (SEVIS). With a 60-day public comment period, this
interim rule takes effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register
September 25, 2002. All schools must enroll in SEVIS by January 30, 2003. Schools
wishing to accept new students are strongly encouraged to submit form I-17 in
SEVIS by November 15, 2002. This rule implements Phase II of the transition to
SEVIS and provides that all schools not already approved to use SEVIS, including
a school that would have been eligible for preliminary enrollment but did not
enroll, must undergo a certification review.
Theoretically,
the INS may use prosecutorial discretion in deciding which cases to pursue. This
power has received increased attention since passage of the Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act in 1996. Part of this legislation severely
limited the authority of immigration judges to provide relief from removal, and
persons facing removal have sought to avoid removal by other means, including
prosecutorial discretion from INS.
Prosecutorial discretion is the authority that every law enforcement agency has
to decide whether to exercise its enforcement powers against someone. INS, like
other law enforcement agencies, has prosecutorial discretion and exercises it
every day. In the immigration context, the term applies not only to the decision
to issue, serve or file a Notice to Appear (NTA) when starting removal proceedings,
but also to a broad range of other discretionary enforcement decisions. These
include focusing investigative resources on particular offenses or conduct; deciding
whom to stop, question and arrest; deciding whether to detain certain aliens in
custody; settling or dismissing a removal proceeding; granting deferred action
or staying a final removal order; agreeing to voluntary departure, permitting
withdrawal of an application for admission, or taking other action in lieu of
removing an alien; pursuing an appeal; or executing a removal order.
While INS can refrain from exercising its law enforcement authority against a
particular person on a case-by-case basis, it cannot regularize someone's
immigration status or grant a benefit that an alien is not legally entitled to
receive. For example, INS has no discretion to admit into the United States an
alien who is inadmissible and cannot adjust the status of a person who isn't
qualified for adjustment. INS has prosecutorial discretion not to place a removable
alien in
removal proceedings, but it does not have prosecutorial discretion to approve
a naturalization application by an alien who is ineligible for that benefit under
the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Exercising prosecutorial discretion does not lessen INS’ commitment to enforce
the immigration
laws to the best of the agency's ability. It is not an invitation to violate
or ignore the law. Rather,it is a means to use the agency's resources in a
way that best accomplishes INS' mission of administering and enforcing the
immigration laws of the United States.
These are the factors that the INS states is uses in determining whether to exercise
prosecutorial discretion. The factors that can be taken into account in deciding
whether to exercise prosecutorial discretion favorably include the following:
• Immigration status
• Length of residence in the United States
• Criminal history
• Humanitarian concerns
• Immigration history
• Likelihood of ultimately removing the alien
• Likelihood of achieving enforcement goal
by other means
• Whether the alien is eligible or is likely
to become eligible for other relief
• Effect of action on future admissibility
• Current or past cooperation with law enforcement
authorities
• Honorable U.S. military service
• Community attention
• Resources available to INS
Prosecutorial discretion is not a full or adequate substitute for the forms of
relief previous available from an immigration judge prior to the changes in the
law in 1996. In many cases, the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by INS leaves
a person in limbo, at risk of future immigration enforcement action and unable
to travel outside the United States without the fear of being denied readmission.
Although it is INS policy that a favorable exercise of discretion by an INS office
should be respected by other INS offices unless the facts and circumstances have
changed, the exercise of prosecutorial discretion does not grant a lawful status
under the immigration laws, and there is no legally enforceable right to the exercise
of prosecutorial discretion.
Ultimately, the INS believes that a complete solution requires legislation to
restore, to certain aliens affected by the 1996 changes, the possibility of a
grant of relief by immigration judges during the removal process.
|
|
