Meb’s Journey to the U.S.

Eritrea is a small east African nation that suffered a 30 year civil war with Ethiopia, with which it was a part of when Ethiopia became a sovereign nation. Eritrea finally gained its independence, but in the years of civil war, life was dangerous for many Eritreans. Meb’s father was a liberation supporter. With civil war raging, Meb’s family had to escape. They temporarily escaped to refugee camps in Italy. Italy was a colonial conqueror of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

In Italy, Meb’s family was accepted as refugees to the United States. They settled in San Diego when Meb was 12 years old. In high school, Meb realized that he had world class speed, and he attended UCLA on a scholarship for track and field. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1998 in Los Angeles. Fittingly, it was at the Los Angeles Marathon on February 13, 2016 that Meb qualified for the Olympics Marathon.

One of Meb’s great American moments was winning the Boston Marathon in 2014. The Boston Marathon is the most prestigious long distance event, drawing the best distance runners in the world to compete against each other. His victory was momentous for many reasons, chief among them being that American men do not often win the event and because it was the year after the terrorist bombing at the finish line. Meb ran the race in American flag colors and soared to his personal best time of 2:08:37.

A Small Part of the American Immigration System

The United States accepts thousands of refugees and asylum seekers each year. It is a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship, as well. Meb is a great example of American Olympic spirit, but also of the American immigration system. The immigration system has 4 basic pathways to entry: family, employment, humanitarian, and lottery. The humanitarian aspect can often be lost in the shuffle. On Sunday, it will be on full display when Meb runs 26.2 miles for the United States and aims to capture an Olympic Gold Medal. Both for his athletic prowess and his incredible story of perseverance, Meb is an inspiration for Americans.

The post Refugee into Olympian – MEB appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

It is being reported that there are over half a million pending cases in the federal immigration courts. The number has grown by over 200,000 over the past five years, which is attributed to the increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the border. CBS DFW writes:

Cases of newly arrived immigrants facing deportation have been made a priority, but the backlog still means that many immigrants are likely to face years long delays before a judge makes a final decision on their cases. And while people are waiting to go before a judge, their case could dramatically change, for good or bad.

A spokesperson for the courts reported that there have been 34 immigration judges hired since the beginning of the year and that there are plans to hire an additional 100 judges. A pending budget proposal would allow for a total of 399 immigration court judges.

The post Immigration Court Cases appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises.

USCIS uses VIBE to verify its information for employer-based petitions. Businesses are required to provide some information about their operations in immigration petitions, such as number of employees, net income, and location. VIBE verifies that information for USCIS and the adjudicator looking at the petition. An adjudicator cannot deny a petition for a discrepancy that VIBE detects. Instead, he or she is supposed to send a Request for Evidence so that information can be verified. USCIS stresses that only public information is available for VIBE.

A company does not have to update its information in a database. However, it may verify and correct information by contacting Dun and Bradstreet, which is the independent information provider for VIBE.

The post VIBE – Business Immigration appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

Immigration in the United States can be broken into historical periods. The country was founded upon immigration from Western European countries. Mid 19^th century immigration included Southern and Eastern Europeans and some Asian countries. Early in the 20^th century, on the strength of the eugenics movements, restrictions were placed on African immigration and Asian immigration was banned.

Here is a link containing an amazing video of the source of immigration to the United States from 1820-1913. There are also two graphs with bright colors to demonstrate the flow and percentage by country.

“Max Galka of the Metrocosm blog took all the data from 1820 to 2013 and created this animated graphic, using different colors for each country as well as brightness to illustrate the total migration at any given time. The brighter the color, the more immigrants.”

The post Amazing Immigration Graphics appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Office of Immigration Statistics for the Department of Homeland Security released information on the Refugee and Asylum programs for 2014. Here are some highlights:

• 69,975 people were admitted as refugees. Iraq, Burma, Somalia, and Bhutan were the leading countries of nationality. 74% of all refugees came from those four countries. The refugee cap was 70,000 for the year.
• 23,533 people were granted asylum. DHS granted asylum to 14,758 of them. The Executive Office for Immigration Review granted asylum to the remaining 8,775 people.
• 55% of admitted refugees live in ten states. Texas, California, New York, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Illinois are the states in order of highest number of arriving refugees.
• China, Egypt, Syria, and Ethiopia had the most granted asylum cases. China accounted for over a third of all asylum grants. Mexico was number 7, Haiti was number 9, Guatemala was number 10.
• 47% of those individuals granted asylum in 2014 reside in California.

The post Refugee and Asylum Statistics appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

Friday April 7 is the National Day of Action for immigration. Immigration lawyers, activists, advocates, and immigrants descend upon Washington DC and Capitol Hill to vocalize their concerns with the immigration system. Last year’s Day of Action occurred on May 19, which was the day that President Obama’s Executive Actions – DAPA and new DACA – were supposed to begin. They have not yet taken effect. A federal judge in Texas struck them down for abrogating the Administrative Procedures Act and the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld that decision. The Supreme Court is expected to make its decision in June of this year.

The National Day of Action is not limited to one piece of the immigration system. Advocates will be championing other aspects of immigration reform, such as changing the H-1B cap, increasing entrepreneurial opportunities, and giving migrants fleeing persecution access to counsel and a chance to have their cases heard.

The main motivation of the National Day of Action is to exhort members of Congress to understand facts about immigration, how it benefits the United States, and demonstrate that immigration reform is desired by the country at large. A booklet distributed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association highlights important facts about immigration in the United States.

Immigrants have created businesses and generated business income in their states. California, Texas, Florida, and Ohio are four states in which a combined 1.3 million immigrants started businesses and generated over 58 million dollars in business income. Immigrant-owned small businesses employ 4.7 million people. Legalization of undocumented immigrants would have a significant impact on the tax revenue, to which undocumented migrants contribute to (state and local taxes) already.

The National Day of Action urges reform in all aspects of immigration: humanitarian, family, and business. Immigration reform has been oft-discussed but not enacted. AILA is touting the election year as an impetus to change.

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In honor of April 1 being the first day that H-1B cap-subject petitions can be filed, here is some information about the H-1B program from the American Immigration Council. The first link is a fact sheet. The second link is a column about the cap and the possibility of increasing it.

The post H-1B Facts appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

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The Department of Homeland Security has released statistics for immigration enforcement for Fiscal Year 2015. DHS apprehended 406,595 with a total of 462,463 removals and returns. The Border Patrol made 337,117 apprehensions and Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed or returned 235,413 individuals. 91% of the returned individuals were convicted criminals, which has been a priority in reducing threats to public safety, border security, and national security. The data also indicate that fewer individuals are attempting to cross the border without authorization

The post 2015 DHS Statistics appeared first on Wood Immigration Law.

The Houston Chronicle published an article on H-1B visas, angling with the usual focus on Silicon Valley but also adding a focus on Houston. It notes that Houston is a city with many businesses relying on the H-1B visa, which allows skilled foreign national workers to work in the United States with a sponsoring employer for a maximum of two 3 year periods.

The article’s focus (outside the geographic locations) is on the number available. It recites the history of the H-1B visa: Congress set a cap of 65,000 in 1990 and added 20,000 visas with a specific Master’s and above category in the United States. There is an unfortunate conflation with the H-1B visa as the sole work visa program, as there are plenty of other employment-based visas in the United States: E, L, O, P. Regardless, the article’s concentration on the H-1B visa situation highlights the geographic and wider country limits on the visa and how certain employers are lobbying for more availability. The cap has not always remained stagnant. There was a period of increasing availability that ended in 2004. (the article omits this).

The practical implications of the low supply of H-1B visas versus the high demand is that applicants are subject to a lottery. Rather than being adjudicated on the merits, the application must first be selected to be adjudicated. Last year, there were 250,000 applications vying for adjudication. All H-1B visa applications must be submitted within a specific timeframe and the visa, if approved, begins on October 1. There are exceptions, as there are certain H-1B visas that are “cap-exempt.”

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