27 Mar 2010

Labor Department Will Certify U Visa Applications

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced last week that her department will begin to certify U visa applications, with the first certifications expected in late summer. Long-time readers of MurthyDotCom will recall that U visas allow people with direct knowledge of a crime - such as...

26 Mar 2010

Just How Urgent is CIR?

Here's an example. Monday's edition of USA TODAY contains another in a long line of cautionary tales that we can only hope will spur Congress to act - finally - on CIR. The article tells of several Silicon Valley programmers and engineers who are leaving...

25 Mar 2010

USCIS Blog Now On Line

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced last week the addition of a new blog to provide immigration-related information and to serve as a forum for public dialogue. The official agency blog is called The Beacon, which can be accessed through the USCIS. Readers...

24 Mar 2010

Schumer-Graham Blueprint – What’s In It?


Last Friday, Senators Schumer and Graham wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post, sketching out their blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform. (See: The Right Way to Mend Immigration, by Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham, Washington Post, 19.Mar.2010) According to the Senators, the four pillars of...

23 Mar 2010

Yes We Can! (Can’t we?)

Tens of thousands of marchers converged Sunday, March 21, 2010 on the National Mall in Washington D.C., to press the case for immigration reform - now, rather than later. Waving flags and shouting, "Yes we can!" and "Si se puede!" the huge crowd enthusiastically voiced...

18 Mar 2010

Health Care Reform vs. Immigration Reform?

Last week, President Obama held a much-anticipated meeting with Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), to discuss the prospects for passing a bipartisan immigration reform bill this year. Senators Schumer and Graham have been working for months to craft a centrist immigration reform...

17 Mar 2010

Case Backlog Still Growing, Study Says

As if there weren't already enough reasons to make immigration reform a top legislative priority, a recent study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University found that case backlogs at U.S. immigration courts has reached an all-time high of 228,421 cases currently...