Musings on Immigration

In her decision on the constitutionality of Arizona’s SB 1070, Judge Bolton was quite specific as to what provisions were unconstitutional: Applying the proper legal standards based upon well-established precedent, the Court finds that the United States is likely to succeed on the merits in showing that the following Sections of S.B. 1070 are preempted by federal law: Portion of Section 2 of S.B. 1070 –A.R.S. § 11-1051(B): requiring that an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States, and requiring verification of the immigration status of any person arrested prior to releasing that person Section 3 of S.B. 1070–A.R.S. § 13-1509: creating a crime for the failure to apply for or carry alien registration papers Portion of Section 5 of S.B. 1070– A.R.S. § 13-2928(C): creating a crime for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply fo...

I was driving to court recently down a highway in Atlanta when I drove past a toll booth with a HUGE sign on it. The sign read “AMNESTY.” I thought: “wait a second! Amnesty” is a dirty word, literally unmentionable in polite company. How could there be an “Amnesty?” On my way back to the office, I passed the toll booth again. Again, the sign was there. This time I slowed down (a little), and noticed it was a “Toll Amnesty.” This toll “Amnesty” is apparently a regular event in Georgia. I explored a little more about this “Amnesty,” trying to understand how a toll “Amnesty,” turning illegal drivers into legal ones is permitted, but an “Amnesty” that would turn “illegal” people into legal people is not. I dug around a little on the Internet and found some information about the reason for and the goal of this toll “Amnesty:” What is the toll violation amnesty program? Normally, the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) charges a $25 administrative fee, as provided by Georgia ...

Much has been written and said about the new Arizona Law pertaining to immigrants (it pertains to everyone actually, and certainly is not limited to undocumented immigrants). From Eugene Robinson and Richard Cohen at the Washington Post, to John Stewart on The Daily Show , and even Tom Tancredo , everyone is up in arms about this law. We have heard from Megan McCain (John McCain’s daughter), President Obama , and even from Governor Jan “Show Me Your Papers” Brewer , all opine about the law and WHY the Arizona Legislature had to act on “illegal” immigration. The conventional wisdom now is that Congress will be “forced” to act on immigration reform . The caution to understand here, from pundits and politicians alike is that the prospect of immigration reform based upon a knee jerk reaction to an unconstitutional law does not change the inherent political dynamics in Congress. Immigration reform needs 60 votes to pass the Senate. The lone Republican who was supporting reform, Senator...

Okay, so Lou Dobbs appears on Bill O’Reilly’s show last night. And Dobbs appears the more rational one. It is amazing what a desire to get into politics will do to one’s “uncompromising” standards. Watch it here: Hearing about it, does not do it justice.

A year ago I began my journey as AILA President with a speech at the annual conference in Vancouver. I focused my words on five principles in which I believe, God, Family, the Constitution, Service, and Litigation. Today is my last day as AILA President. As I reflect on the last year, I see that it was my belief in these five principles which carried me through what has been an amazingly difficult year. From the economic disaster that started in the fall and continued through the spring of this year, to an election that has promised change, but which has not yet had time to fulfill all its promise, to the impending departure of two of AILA’s long time and key leaders, we have seen our fair share of challenges and obstacles. BUT, we stand at the dawn of a new day. We believe that with the key personnel the Obama administration has begun to put into place at the Department of Justice, USCIS, ICE, CBP, and within the White House that we will see aggressive and positive administrative chan...

Is it possible? Is there really link between President Obama’s bold nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, with possible movement or non-movement on Immigration Reform this fall? The folks over at http://www.electoral-vote.com/ note that there may be a link: “A side effect of the Sotomayor nomination is that it may allow Obama to delay dealing with immigration reform for a while since Latino voters will be feeling good about him for a while just due to this nomination. On the other hand, if Obama (or more realistically, Rahm Emanuel) wants to enjoy the spectacle of the GOP tearing itself to bits, reintroducing the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill would be a good first start. The Tancredo wing the the Republican party will go all out to block it because it provides a path to citizenship for over 10 million illegals currently in the U.S. But an all out fight against these people–many of whom have friends and relatives who are citizens (and voters) will further alienate Latinos from the Rep...

Admit it. Every now and then you veg out in front of the computer cruising the Internet. At least I do. Tonight was just such a night. But I ran into this immigration quiz . The purpose of this quiz is to point out how far we have come, or perhaps how far we have not come in our understanding of immigration. Go ahead, take the quiz!

Okay, we all know there are no visas available until October 1, 2009 for any third preference employments immigrant. It stinks. It makes no sense in how we grow the economy and bring in “legal” workers. And, we know there is a 5-9 year wait in this category. We know that there are between 8-50 year waits for the assortment of family based immigrant visas (do the math for Mexican Brothers and Sisters–its not pretty). But we resign ourselves to fixing this disastrous , undocumented immigration causing problem as part of CIR. But, in today’s Visa Bulletin we get this terrific surprise . India EB-2 has retrogressed to January 2000! What the Heck? You mean if I am from India, and I have an ADVANCED DEGREE, and my work is in the NATIONAL INTEREST, that I have to wait 9 YEARS before I can even apply for permanent residence? No wonder these advanced degree, economy growing, job creating immigrants are deciding to go home. Vivek Wadwha , whom AILA is honoring with its Media Leadership Award at...

Senator Arlen Specter ( D -PA) (Wow, that looks weird), just changed parties, and this changes the dyanmic somewhat for immigration reform this year. While Senator Specter has always been considered a friend of immigration and immigration reform, he has long been under pressure from more conservative Republican Senators to not support a legalization plan as part of CIR package. That pressure to remain closer to the “new,” more conservative Republican party approach (as opposed to the Reagan era Amensty approach), is now gone. Does this mean we will definitely have immigration reform now, particularly if Norm Coleman ever gives up his challenge to Senator-elect Franken? No, but it certainly paves the way for at least one more vote for a CIR package. Probably even more important is the boost this gives to those who believe, like us, that CIR is essential to renewed economic growth. Senator Specter spoke to our Spring AILA Conference (was it that which pushed him over the edge?). He let u...