by Heidi Meyers | Jan 11, 2017 | Articles
www.calendarpedia.com, February 2017 calendar
For February 2017, all employment preferences for the worldwide category are current for filing immigrant visas, including EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, Other Workers, EB-4, Certain Religious Workers, and EB-5. While the actual priority dates for EB-3 and Other Workers are both at October 1, 2016, this does not have much practical effect. For EB-2 China, the immigrant visa filing dates are up to March 1, 2013, while the priority dates is at November 15, 2012, more than four years behind. For EB-3 China, the filing date is up to May 1, 2014, and the priority date is at October 1, 2013, about three years and four months behind.
For EB-2 India, the immigrant visa filing date is at April 22, 2009 and the priority date is at April 15, 2008. For EB-3 India, the filing date is at July 1, 2005 and the priority date is at March 22, 2005.
For the Philippines, both EB-3 and Other Workers, are at a filing date of September 1, 2013 and the priority date is up to October 15, 2011, more than five years and two months behind.
Regarding EB-5, both regional centers and non-regional centers, the priority dates are current for all countries except China. EB-5 China is backlogged to June 15, 2014 for filing and the priority date is only up to April 15, 2014.
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico all have backlogged priority dates for EB-4 and Certain Religious Workers at July 15, 2015, although all are current for immigrant visa filing.
by Heidi Meyers | Jan 11, 2017 | Articles
In a meeting with New York AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) this morning, January 11, 2017, representatives of local DHS agencies, including USCIS, USICE and CBP, stated that as of now, they have not been advised of any changes in policies or procedures by the incoming Trump administration. The spokesperson for New York USCIS in particular stated she did not foresee any changes for quite a while. However, USICE ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations), which includes the deportation officers, stated that due to a wave of retirements, they will be getting new management personnel shortly.
by Heidi Meyers | Dec 12, 2016 | Articles
On December 1, 2016, members of Congress wrote President Obama to request that the NSEERS regulation providing for special registration of Muslim men and teenagers over the age of 16 should be rescinded. I quote the letter below at length:
“The NSEERS program was announced in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The most controversial portion of the NSEERS program involved a “domestic” registration system that targeted certain males who entered the United States on nonimmigrant visas from primarily Arab, Muslim-majority, African, and South Asian countries. The program was fundamentally flawed in its false assumption that people of a particular religion or nationality pose a greater national security risk and should be subject to racial profiling. The program is reminiscent of and indeed has been compared to — the dark time in our history when innocent people were interned based on their Japanese ancestry.
When instituted in 2002, the program caused widespread and palpable fear in affected communities, separated families and caused much harm to people affected by it. Boys and men were required to register with local immigration offices, were interrogated, and subjected to serious due process violation. Communities saw family members and neighbors disappear in the middle of the night, held in overcrowded jails and deported without due process. More than 13,000 people were placed in removal proceedings, businesses closed down, and students were forced to leave school with degrees uncompleted.
In addition to the harm that NSEERS caused to communities, the program was ineffective as a counter-terrorism tool. A 2012 Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General report found the program to be inefficient and a waste of resources, costing American taxpayers more than $10 million annually.’ The report characterized the data collected through the program as unreliable. No known terrorism convictions have resulted from the program.”
The letter was signed by many members of Congress. While the federal regulation providing for NSEERS has not been enforced by the Obama administration since 2011, it is still on the books, and could easily be used immediately by the incoming Trump administration. Once the existing regulation is revoked, it would take time for the new Trump administration to write up a new regulation, and go through the notice and comment procedures before it could become law, should the new administration decide to go ahead with registering Muslims. You can contact your member of Congress (you have two Senators for your state as well as a representative depending on your Congressional District) at http://www.house.gov/htbin/findrep, and President Obama at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact, to voice your opinion on this matter.
by Heidi Meyers | Nov 28, 2016 | Articles
The first preference, EB-1, is current in all categories for December 2016. However, the US State Department expects EB-1 for China and India to become backlogged during this fiscal year. EB-1 India has already surpassed its per country limit for this fiscal year, and EB-1 China is close to its limit.
EB-2 China is at September 22, 2012, about ten months behind EB-3 China, which is at July 1, 2013. EB-3 China will continue to be ahead of EB-2 China, although the gap is expected to narrow as those with EB-2 downgrade to EB-3. EB-2 India is at February 1, 2008 while EB-3 India is at March 15, 2005. EB-2 India continues to be under high demand, as is the worldwide EB-2, which is still current. EB-3 India is expected to stagnate for several months into 2017, only moving up perhaps by one week now and then.
EB-3 worldwide remains almost current, at July 1, 2016. EB-3 for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico are all also at July 1, 2016. EB-3 Philippines is more backlogged at June 1, 2011. EB-4 and Religious Workers categories are at July 15, 2015, for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. EB-4 worldwide and all other countries is current, however, EB-4 Mexico is expected to backlog soon. On December 9, 2016, the non-minister EB-4 special immigrant is expiring.
EB-5 immigrant investors (both regional centers and non-regional centers) is backlogged at March 22, 2014 for China. EB-5 worldwide and for all other countries is current for December 2016. On December 9, 2016, the immigrant investor pilot program is expiring, unless extended by Congress.
by Heidi Meyers | Nov 14, 2016 | Articles
Dear Readers,
I added a paragraph to the prior article ‘Your Home is Your Castle’ regarding home invasions by ICE (immigration agents).
If you open the door simply to verify the officers ID and to see a warrant, but the group of officers barges past you into your home, you should say “I do not consent to your entering my apartment. I do not consent to your search of my apartment”, for example. You should repeat that you do not consent should they search your computers and other electronic devices. You should make clear your lack of consent, and that you are asserting your 4th Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures.
by Heidi Meyers | Nov 13, 2016 | Articles
What should you and your family do if ICE officers (immigration agents) raid your home? It is best to think through ahead of time how you and your family will behave and what you will do.
If someone is banging on your door saying they are police, do not immediately open the door. ICE officers often arrive very early in the morning, to catch people when they are still asleep and have not yet gotten up or gone to work. Look at the time. If it is very early in the morning, say 5:00 or 5:30 a.m., this is a factor in showing that the search was unreasonable. The first questions you will ask are, who are they and do they have a warrant? Ask if they have a warrant. Ask them to show you the warrant, and you should read it to find out what or whom they are looking for. If they do not have a warrant, do not open the door.
If you do open the door, do not let them in immediately. ICE officers often pretend to be local police. That is one of their strategies to get immigrants to let them into their homes. Ask for identification, a badge or a business card. Find out which agency they are from and their names.
Always be very polite and respectful, even while asserting your rights. Do not yell, scream or curse. You must calmly and politely assert your rights. You can say, “I’m sorry, but because you do not have a warrant I am not opening the door” in a calm and firm manner. Or, “I have an attorney, and I am not going to answer your questions without my attorney present”. These may be said in an even tone without screaming or using insults.
If you open the door simply to verify the officers ID and to see a warrant, but the group of officers barges past you into your home, you should say “I do not consent to your entering my apartment. I do not consent to your search of my apartment”, for example. You should repeat that you do not consent should they search your computers and other electronic devices. You should make clear your lack of consent, and that you are asserting your 4th Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Can you film what is happening? Plan ahead, where is your cell phone during the night so you can grab it and start recording should ICE show up at your door step early in the morning. Footage from cell phone videos has been very important recently in showing police abuse of African-Americans and other minorities.
You have the right to remain silent and not answer their questions. You should tell the officers you are refusing to answer their questions. However, if you do decide to answer their questions, make sure that everything you say is 100 per cent truthful. Lying to a federal agent may have very severe consequences. Remember, everything you say may later be used against you. If you admit you were born in another country, that is an admission of alienage, and can be used to sustain deportability. The other option is, if after you have answered some initial biographic questions, the officers continue questioning you, you may then state that you will not answer any more of their questions and you want to talk to a lawyer. So, you can assert your right to remain silent even after you have answered some questions, to stop the questioning.
While you have a right to keep quiet and refuse to answer questions, you must obediently follow physical commands, such as “Put your hands up”, “Drop what you are holding” or “Lie down on the floor”. Move your body slowly, so as not to appear threatening. The exception to this is, do not let them in your house if they do not have a warrant. But once ICE officers are inside, you must follow their physical commands. However, as stated above, you can still refuse to answer questions and ask for an attorney.
Finally, keep breathing. Focus on slowing down your breath and breathing deeply. This will calm you and help you to concentrate. Try to remember as much of the event as possible and memorialize it in writing soon afterwards. You should retain an attorney soon afterwards.
