Are You Ready for Another New Year?
Posted Jan 02, 2004

Last week in my message to you, we discussed the year 2003 in retrospect. Now, as we gaze into our crystal ball to try to foretell what may happen in 2004, here are some predictions and musings on the immigration law front. Are you ready for another year and the changes that it will likely bring to our lives?

With many F-1 and J-1 students returning in January 2004 from the Christmas and New Year's break, and many H1B employees returning to their work early in the year, as well, the airports are likely to be a place where they will have to encounter the vigilant inspectors of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). If our readers have followed the advice provided in past MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom articles, outlining the various documents needed to satisfy Inspectors when reentering the U.S., they should not find the process so burdensome.

DHS will roll out the US-VISIT program on January 5, 2004 at 115 airports and 14 seaports. This is a huge burden for both the CBP inspectors and arriving passengers. This new process will require CBP Inspectors to take fingerprints of the two index fingers and a photograph of the arriving non-U.S. citizen or non-permanent resident. Limited exceptions from the photography requirement will apply, for example, for women in religious attire. The exit process has not yet been crystallized.

We should expect a consolidation of the various functions and positions within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2004. It is likely that certain duplicative positions will be eliminated, while other new positions will be created since we now have three different agencies that need different agents to perform similar immigration-related functions in each of the agencies.

History suggests that, since this is a presidential election year, major immigration legislation will likely be signed into law in 2004. We hope it is positive legislation, such as the AG Bill or the Student Adjustment Act, also sometimes referred to as the DREAM Act. Of course, if the tides turn, negative immigration legislation reflecting the fears and insecurities could take precedence.

Comments from Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge in December 2003 seemed to imply that the Administration, including President Bush, may support legalization legislation during 2004. The scope and benefits will not be known until any such legislation passes both the U.S. House and the Senate and is actually signed into law by the President. We will continue to monitor Congressional action and update our pending legislation page on MurthyDotCom.

A recent and positive development released by The Washington Post on December 31, 2003, is that President Bush plans to unveil a new immigration reform package in January 2004. Coinciding with our aforementioned observation of the pattern in an election year, there are likely to be dramatic changes in immigration law. Citing unnamed sources from within the White House, the new immigration proposal is expected to focus on the guest worker program, improvements to the country’s tracking of border crossings, and easier ways for immigrants to work in the U.S. legally. This proposal is certainly a ray of sunshine on the immigration front at the beginning of the cold winter that was forecasted!

Here's wishing a Happy New Year to one and all! I hope that this greeting finds each of you and your loved ones ready for another new year, buckled into the immigration roller coaster!

~ Sheela Murthy