New Initiative by Immigration Voice
Posted Jan 17, 2008
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The nonprofit organization, Immigration Voice, is again rallying the immigrant community to action. This is the grassroots organization that coordinated hundreds of floral deliveries to USCIS Director Emilio Gonzales in response to the 485 crisis in July 2007. Regular readers of MurthyDotCom and the MurthyBulletin will recall from our earlier articles (cited below), that Immigration Voice also led a rally in Washington DC on September 18th with much success.
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Immigration Voice members emphasize that they are all legal immigrants who have waited patiently and played by the rules to maintain legal status, and yet Congress is doing nothing to address their concerns. The Murthy Law Firm continues to support such efforts by individuals and organizations to express their concerns to our lawmakers on the subject of increasing both nonimmigrant and immigrant quotas, thereby dramatically reducing the waiting times for professionals and skilled workers to obtain their temporary employment and their permanent residency, or “green cards.”
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Current Request to Participate in Campaign for Administrative Fixes
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At this time, Immigration Voice wants the voices of immigrants to be heard and are encouraging the immigrant community to write letters to President George W. Bush as part of their Campaign for Administrative Fixes. Details of their Administrative Fixes Campaign can be found on the Immigration Voice WebSite at: http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16506

Specifically, they request the following:

• Recapture unused immigrant visa numbers to ensure that 140,000 green cards are in fact issued each fiscal year, as required by law.
   

• Expand to generously interpret the term "same or similar" under the law to grant even greater job flexibility for those whose adjustment of status (I-485) applications are pending.
   

• Allow the filing of adjustment-of-status (Form I-485) applications, even when an immigrant visa number is not available, so that I-485 applicants can obtain EADs, APs, and enjoy job flexibility.
   

• Implement the existing interim rule to allow for the issuance of a multi-year Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and Advance Parole (AP)
   

• Allow visa revalidation in the U.S., rather than having individuals / families get stuck abroad for weeks or months during consular reviews of cases.
   

• Reinstate premium processing of Immigrant Petitions.

Legal Authority to Write Letters, Participate in Marches, File Lawsuits, Etc
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We at the Murthy Law Firm have often been asked about the impact or repercussion when an individual writes to the government, complains to the media, or sues the government to express his or her grievances. To answer that question, we must all celebrate that we are in a democracy with individual rights and freedoms guaranteed to each of us under the U.S. Constitution. Our Constitution is considered the primary source of all our rights, freedoms, and our responsibilities for both individuals and groups. The freedom to constructively criticize our government, which is supposed to work in the interest of the people, is basic to those freedoms upon which this country was founded. It is always recommended that participants in this campaign - or anyone who sends correspondence to government officials - compose letters that are courteous and professional, without harming another person or group so that there are no issues of defamation, libel, or slander. One should be sincere, to the point, and keep the letter short to improve the chance of its being read and considered.
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So, let us work together for a better tomorrow, by taking advantage of the incredible opportunities afforded to us under the U.S. Constitution. It is the people who make America stronger and better, when our lawmakers and our laws represent the will of the people and recognize the contributions of our immigrants who work hard and contribute to the greatness of our nation!



Background Information on Immigration Voice can be found in our earlier articles, available on MurthyDotCom:

Immigration Voice Group Organizes September Rally (Aug 23, 2007)

Immigration Voice Rally Great Success (Sep 18, 2007)