Changes in I.C.E.

Today I learned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been restructured. The Office of Detention and Removal Operations will now be called Enforcement and Removal Operations. In addition, the name of the ICE Office of Investigations has been changed. It will now be Homeland Security Investigations. ICE will make an announcement ... Read more

Anti-immigrant congressman forced to retract accusation

Last week I wrote about an incident in which Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) demonstrated his anti-immigrant stance in Avalon, California (on Catalina Island). The congressman confronted a Mexican consul and tried to prevent employees of the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles from issuing matricula consular plates to his fellow citizens during ... Read more

USCIS proposes fee changes

I just participated in a conference call with Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in which he announced that USCIS will be releasing this week proposed changes to the fees for various immigration applications. Depending on the benefit being ... Read more

More recommendations to avoid acts of labor discrimination

Federal law prohibits discriminatory practices during the search and hiring of an employee. Yesterday, I briefed you on some of the steps an employer must follow in the employment verification process. But there are more: 1. An employer must provide the same job information over the phone to all callers and ... Read more

Tips to avoid acts of discrimination in the workplace

The following information is essential for business owners or persons responsible for hiring employees. There are federal laws that prohibit discriminatory practices during the search, hiring, employment eligibility verification process (known as Form I-9) or termination of persons authorized to work in the United States. To avoid acts of discrimination, an employer ... Read more

An anti-immigrant congressman

I learned about an unfortunate confrontation between Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and a Mexican consul in California who was helping his fellow Mexicans. The news was reported by the Los Angeles Times, but not by the Spanish-language media. The congressman did everything he could to block the consul from helping undocumented Mexicans who ... Read more

How to obtain information about detainees inside ICE facilities

If you have a family member who has been taken to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, you may be able to obtain information about individuals detained in those facilities. To do so, family members and attorneys should contact the Office of Detention Operations and the Office of Immigration and Customs ... Read more

111 dead inside immigration detention centers

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has released the most recent list of detainees who have died inside ICE detention centers. Between October 2003 and May 2010, 111 people have died inside ICE facilities in different parts of the country. ... Read more

Visa delays for Dominicans

Due to an over-enrollment of family-based petition applications for persons from the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Department of State has limited and delayed the visa delivery date for this group. According to the June 2010 visa bulletin, the deadline for registration under the family-based category ... Read more

Obama to send 1,200 troops to Arizona/Mexico border

Days after Mexican President Felipe Calderón visited the White House, President Barack Obama announced the sending of 1200 troops to the border to impose control and security in the area. According to news sources, the dispatch of soldiers is temporary, with the objective of carrying out anti-drug missions, while training personnel from Mexican agencies and ... Read more

English