Archive for the ‘Immigration Reform’ Category

Rancho High School students conduct rally for immigration reform … – News3LV

LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV)

A group of Rancho High School students organized a rally this afternoon to promote the passage of the BRIDGE Act.

Its a bill that would allow children brought to the United States illegally at a young age to stay in the country. Those children are now referred to as DREAMERs.

Supporters say they believe it would be a more permanent solution than the current executive ordered signed by former President Barack Obama.

"We believe that our voices should be heard and, although we don't have DACA, we have family members that have DACA and we've seen how hard they work," said Rancho sophomore Joanna Conchas, who helped set up the rally.

"I have a sister myself, who has DACA, she's a DREAMer herself."

RELATED LINK | Trump's border, immigration actions worry Las Vegas 'Dreamers' and activists

Joanna says the culture in recent weeks of deportations and immigration roundups have left her in a state of fear.

"It's scary to not know maybe by the day of tomorrow, my parents will not be home or my sister will have no job and she'll be gone," she said.

Familiar chants of "Si se puede" translated to "Yes we can" filled the streets in front of the high school and drew about 40 students, teachers and supporters.

Rancho High School teacher Reuben D'Silva says he was undocumented when he was growing up in Las Vegas.

"It was something you kept to yourself. It was something that shamed my family a lot. The fact that we were quote-unquote illegal," D'Silva said.

The teacher sympathizes with students dealing with the same struggles he did and feels the BRIDGE Act can make it through a divided Congress.

RELATED LINK | Young DREAMers wait and worry on the next move from Donald Trump

"John McCain supports this bill, Senator Lindsey Graham supports this bill. These are conservative icons. There is growing bipartisan support for this bill," D'Silva said.

The BRIDGE Act still has a long way to go before the students can claim victory. It has just been referred to a committee.

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Rancho High School students conduct rally for immigration reform ... - News3LV

US needs immigration reform that won’t hamper commerce, culture: Letter – Poughkeepsie Journal

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Poughkeepsie Journal Published 1:00 p.m. ET March 7, 2017 | Updated 15 hours ago

Letters to editor(Photo: Poughkeepsie Journal)Buy Photo

Before President Trump's recent address to Congress, he suggested that he might reconsider his controversial stance on immigration policy.

Those of us whosupport an inclusive view of America will be watching the presidents next move, as will the nations business leaders.

It is well known that immigrant workers play a critical role in many U.S. industries, including technology, hospitality, constructionand agriculture.

We should also be concerned about the impact to the U.S. tourism industry, which was highlighted in a March 1 New York Times article, New York Expects Fewer Foreign Tourists Saying Trump Is to Blame, (Feb. 28).

As noted by The New York Times, New York Cityexpects tourism from foreign visitors to drop for the first time in years, with an estimated loss to citybusinesses of at least $600 million.

According to a recent Forbes article, international visitors spent $246 billionin the US in 2016, which is greater than exports of autos ($152 billion), agriculture ($137 billion), and petroleum products ($97 billion).

Lets hold our elected leaders accountable to enact immigration reform that will strengthen our industries, keep families together and attract more foreign visitors to the US.

Nora and Jon Sweet

LaGrangeville

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US needs immigration reform that won't hamper commerce, culture: Letter - Poughkeepsie Journal

Our View: Another wild ride on the immigration reform roller coaster – AZCentral.com

Editorial board, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 9:05 p.m. MT March 5, 2017 | Updated 8 hours ago

The Department of Homeland Security issued a sweeping set of orders Tuesday that implement President Trump's plan to increase immigration enforcement. Wochit

John Moore/Getty Images Our national political leaders committed the real crime of illegal immigration. The United States needs comprehensive immigration reform in order to solve its border problems. Increasing the numbers of Border Patrol agents and spending billions on surveillance and security efforts are not enough.(Photo: Getty Images)

Immigration reform matters to Arizona for reasons that range from humanitarian to economic. That made last week a wild roller-coaster ride.

It was encouraging to hear reports early in the weekthat the Trump administration thinks the time may be right for reform including a pathway to legalization.

Donald Trumps history of bashing immigrants gives him a Nixon-in-China opportunity to muscle comprehensive reform through Congress, so this was promising.

But the presidents address to Congress Tuesday did not capitalize on that opportunity.

Instead, he hurled the usual unrelenting litany of blame at the undocumented. He also made the ridiculous assertion that our southern border is wide open for anyone to cross.

With the conciliatory tone toward the countrys undocumented population absent from the speech, it looked likecomprehensive reform was off the agenda.

Instead of proposing to solve the long-standing problem of 11 million people living and working in shadows of a great nation, Trump used his bully pulpit to tout his new office of Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, which is ostensibly to support victims of crimes by undocumented immigrants.

DIAZ: Do you believe Trump's immigration reform is possible? Not me

Should such victims be supported? Of course. All crime victims should get the help they need.

Should dangerous criminals be deported? Of course. Quickly and permanently.

But Trumps new VOICE office is an official U.S. government platform from which to promote the fallacious idea that undocumented immigrants as a whole are prone to committing violent crime.

They are not. And portraying them as dangerous inflames the discussion and makes reform much more difficult.

That was the low point of the roller-coaster ride.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, and John McCain, R-Ariz.(Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic file)

A couple of Republican senators began the uphill climb from there.

ArizonaSen. John McCain and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham understand the difference between criminals and hard-working mothers a distinction that Trump misses.

RELATED:McCain, Graham: Deportation efforts should focus on serious criminals

Among the questioners at a CNN town hall the senators attended Wednesday were Angel Rayos, the son of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a working woman who was deported after checking in with Immigrationand Customs Enforcement in Phoenix, and Jamiel Shaw Sr., whose 17-year-old son was murdered by an undocumented immigrant.

Graham told them:

"Here's what I think: Most Americans want the man who killed your son to be deported yesterday, and never come back," Graham said. "I think most Americans want your mother not to have been deported. I can tell the difference between your mother and the person who killed his son. Don't you think most Americans can see that difference?"

Now another Phoenix parent has been deported after what was supposed to be a routine visit to ICE. The children of Juan Carlos Fomperosa Garcia are left wondering why. Their father was following ICE requirements, they say.

The president should be able to see it and explain it to the American people.

McCain said: "We have to have comprehensive immigration reform, which gives people a path to citizenship, but it's a long, hard, tough path.

Arizona has known the need for that kind of reform for many years. Our state has been through the spasm of anti-immigrant nativism on which Trump built his political career.

MORE:Phoenix church said no 2 years ago, is now asanctuary for migrants

It didnt work here, and it wont work on the national level either.

The very important job of reforming our immigration policies should bring lasting order to the border and assure this country has a legally authorized workforce. But reform can't ignore11 million people whose presence is a result of our flawed immigration policies.

Nor will continuing to vilify those people create an atmosphere conducive to the kind of compromise necessary to achievemeaningful reform.

Many undocumented people are relatives, friends and neighbors of Arizonans. They have family and social ties to our communities. They have also contributed their labor and their talents to our collective success.

Arizona knows this very well, and Arizona has a great deal to gain from rational, humane immigration reform.

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Our View: Another wild ride on the immigration reform roller coaster - AZCentral.com

Immigration Reform 2017: Trump Suspends H-1B Visa Program Premium Processing For High-Skilled Foreign Workers … – International Business Times

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officialsannounced Friday the governmentwould suspend the premium processing route for its H-1B visa program, which allows companies to speed up the approval of temporary legal residency for skilled foreign hires. The change startsApril 3 and will last for up to six months, officials said.

Over the fiscal year, 85,000 H-1B visas are reserved for foreign nationals with a bachelors degree or higher related to their specialty occupationdefined by USCIS as jobs in engineering, math and business, as well as technology fieldsand a clear relationship with the employer petitioning for their legal immigrant status. The premium processing service allows employers to draw down a potentially extensive wait time to 15 days, for a fee of $1,225.

While USCIS cast the decision as an effort catch up on the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium requests over the past few years, many worried the move would be only the first attempt to dismantle a worker pipeline program President Donald Trump pledged to eliminate while on the campaign trail. Already, Trump angered the tech community with aJan. 27 executive orderthat banned entry to the U.S. by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, without making exceptions for H-1B visa holders. (The ban was later struck down by federal judges, but the White House announced Monday a new ban against six countries.)

The U.S. government is clearly telling companies not to depend on the H-1B visa going forward, Kris Lakshmikanth,chairman of IT recruitment firm Headhunters India, told Quartz, adding that he expected the suspension to force businesses to pay a higher price for labor, due to higher demand for soon-to-be scarce H-1B workers. Companies dont typically keep H-1B visa holders on the bench, so there are no such employees to spare for new projects. That means companies will have to hire H-1B holders from other companies if they get new projects. That will come at a high cost now that H-1B holders are in demand.

Others pointed out that the move would place businesses in decision-making limbo, despite its ostensible goal of prioritizing those whove waited months for their applications to be processed.

"The message specifically mentions they want to bring down the backlogged time, but I worry about my clients, employers and individuals who will be affected by these delays," Tahmina Watson, an attorney at Seattle-based Watson Immigration Law, told CNN. She said the suspension would keep employers from being able to plan for their businesses and act accordingly and was not good for American businesses by any means."

Opponents of the program, which predominantly benefits Indian workers and companies, note that it attracts tech workers who beat out American competition with their willingness to work for lower pay. One requirement for H-1B applicants, however, is that they earn the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a specific occupation in the area of intended employment.

USCIS did not halt its expedited processing servicea step up from premium processing used in cases of emergency, severe financial loss, a national interest situation, humanitarian reasons or a furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the U.S., according to its website.

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Immigration Reform 2017: Trump Suspends H-1B Visa Program Premium Processing For High-Skilled Foreign Workers ... - International Business Times

Reality check: AQ & A on President Trump’s immigration crackdown – Miami Herald


Miami Herald
Reality check: AQ & A on President Trump's immigration crackdown
Miami Herald
The office would be called Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, or VOICE. The website of the immigration control group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates at more than 600 the number of serious crimes, including murder, ...
Trump flirting with Sandoval, Reid's path on illegal immigrationLas Vegas Review-Journal
Immigrants in Nebraska fear the unknown, and known, in Trump's reform plansOmaha World-Herald
LENA MITCHELL: Undocumented immigrants remain at riskNortheast Mississippi Daily Journal
Albuquerque Journal
all 74 news articles »

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Reality check: AQ & A on President Trump's immigration crackdown - Miami Herald