Update on AILF Litigation
Posted Apr 01, 2000

We have reported from time to time in the MurthyBulletin on current and proposed litigation projects undertaken by the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF), the advocacy arm of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Two more lawsuits that may be of interest to our readers pertain to:

• certain health care workers processing for permanent resident status; and

• persons harmed by INS processing delays for employment based petitions, such as I-140s and I-485s.

Health Care Workers

The healthcare worker litigation involves persons in the following professions who have filed I-485 Applications for Adjustment of Status: Speech/Language Pathologists, Medical Technologists, Medical Technicians and Physician’s Assistants. As readers of the MURTHYBULLETIN may recall, Section 343 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 mandated a new certification requirement for seven types of health care workers, including the above professions plus Registered Nurses, Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists. However, INS still has not issued regulations to fully implement that requirement. As a result, many I-485 Applications have been placed on hold by INS, causing severe hardship to these workers, their families and their employers.

It took a lawsuit by AILF and a law firm to push INS to publish regulations for RN certifications in 1998, and in 1999 interim regulations were issued for Occupational and Physical Therapists. However, the remaining categories of workers are left without any way to fulfill the legal requirements of Section 343, so their applications continue to be held in abeyance.

AILF is seeking the following types of plaintiffs to participate in the suit:

• Speech/Language Pathologists, Medical Technologists, Medical Technicians and Physician’s Assistants who have filed employment-based I-485s prior to September 30, 1996

• Health care providers who have petitioned for these types of workers and have been adversely affected by the delay

• Children of the above types of health care workers who will "age out" (i.e. turn 21 and therefore become unable to immigrate with their parents) this year, and

• Workers in the above professions whose family members have been waiting abroad to join them

Persons or organizations adversely affected, as set forth above, should request their immigration attorneys to contact AILF for more information. If you are a client of The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C., please send an e-mail to our office <law@murthy.com> with "health care worker lawsuit" in the subject line.

Processing Delays for Employment-Based Petitions and I-485s

AILF is still in the research and planning phase of a possible lawsuit against INS over case processing delays. The organization has not released details of the lawsuit, but AILF is interested in locating plaintiffs who have been harmed by "serious adjudication delays." Employers and employees who are suffering from such delays should request their immigration attorneys to contact AILF for more information. If you are a client of The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C., please send an e-mail to our office <law@murthy.com> with "INS delay lawsuit" in the subject line. In a meeting of the Washington D.C. Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association on March 29, 2000, AILF representatives made a plea requesting names of employers and employees willing to participate in such a lawsuit. AILF's position is that instead of complaining, here is an opportunity for concerned parties to get involved.