CIR-Lessons from the UEFA Champions League Final

I had a late lunch this afternoon at a nearby restaurant. Over a glass of cold beer, I watched the European Champion League final game between F.C. Barcelona and Manchester United. With me was another immigration attorney and friend who happens to be from Eastern Europe. It was a fascinating game in which Barcelona clearly dominated the game from the beginning to the very last end. Their ball control with exceptional. Manchester United was clearly outmatched.

The first goal was by Samuel Eto'o, the Cameroonian phenom in the 10th minute of the game which set the pace, while Lionel Messi, the Argentine, scored the second goal to seal it. What lessons we can draw from this game for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) debate? The answer: When the CIR advocates are ahead of the opposition it is exactly when to push ahead for the second goal to seal the game. There is indeed NO room to rest until the goal is achieved. For CIR, the first goal was the 2008 elections. The second goal has to be the actualization of CIR.

As reported in Politico, the White House has set a meeting on immigration reform on June 8 at the White House with congressional leaders. This follows the May meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus where the President promised to hold form on immigration reform. We cannot rest until the goal is accomplished. Any reader of this blog should call their congressional representatives and express support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Call now and call often. AILA has provided an easy way to contact congressional leaders regarding CIR. Opponents are doing just that. That is the only way our voice can be heard. In the meantime, we should thank those who have shown leadership on CIR, including Senator Schumer who held a hearing on May 20, 2009 on border security. He concluded the hearing promising that the subcommittee intends to hold "comprehensive hearings on…every difficult aspect of immigration reform." This is very much needed!

In the F.C. Barcelona v. Manchester United game, at the 70th minutes of the game, Lionel Messi, the Argentine whiz player of Barcelona scored the second and final goal of the game. CIR advocates have to have the same spirit. We cannot wait for others to do the heavy lifting for us. We have to be involved.

Another lesson is this: in the quest for excellence, the teams sought out talents from all over the world. Barcelona, with its unique international squad, in 2009 won a historic and the most coveted 'El Triple' (triple crown) of: The Spanish League Trophy, The Copa del Rey Cup (Spanish King's Cup) and The European Champions League Trophy, a feat no other Spanish team has ever accomplished. The two goal scorers in this final were not Spanish but they brought joy, pride and excitement to Spain and Spaniards of all backgrounds. Like F.C. Barcelona, every other business will like to be winners as well. The nationality of the workforce should not limit a business' potential.

Peace to all people of good will.

H1-B Visa Under Subscribed!!

On May 26, 2009, the USCIS announced that it has received only 47,000 petitions for H1-B visa classifications subject to the cap. This means that the USCIS has room for almost 20,000 HI-B visas for the 2010 fiscal year. This is amazing for a number of reasons. First, in the past few years, the 65,000 H1-B visas available annually were usually used up within a few days of their availability--by the first week of April. But this year, and this late in the period, we still have up to 20,000 visas available! Second, this announcement shows that the H1B visa process works. Employers will file petitions for professionals and skilled workers depending on need, not just for immigration purposes as opponents of the program allege. The decision to employ a foreign national and file immigration petition is clearly a business decision. The downturn in the economy has dictated what employers do, who they hire, and when. It should remain this way even when the economy improves. Third, it goes to show that the numerical limit on H-1B visa is arbitrary, artificial and has no place in today's economy. When economy improves, employers should and must have the flexibility to seek and hire talents wherever they are. That is clearly one way the U.S business can remain competitive.

This same argument applies to the rest of the employment visa categories. We have consistently argued in this blog and elsewhere for elimination of numerical limitation on various categories of employment based visas. Certainly, it is counter intuitive to advocate for more progressive immigration policy under the current economic and political environment. But, this is exactly the right time to advance such policies--it helps individuals and businesses with all the tools needed to move ahead once the economic environment improves. Businesses need to have the tools for the competition before the real game starts. To wait for the economy to completely improve may be too late.

Peace to all people of good will.

Specter and Obama on Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR)

April 29, 2009 marked the 100th day of the Obama administration in office. If there was any doubt about his commitment to immigration reform this year, the president put that to rest. He stated: “We can't continue with a broken immigration system. It's not good for anybody. ... what we're trying to do is take some core — some key administrative steps to move the process along to lay the groundwork for legislation. Because the American people need some confidence that if we actually put a package together, we can execute.”

The Senate also started taking testimony on CIR this past week. Former Central Bank chief, Alan Greenspan, a major supporter of immigration reform testified before Charles Shumer’s committee. According to Greenspan, reform should happen now. His testimony left no doubt that immigration reform will benefit the U.S. economy. It will have a positive effect on the economy, housing market and job creation. Several advocates issued statements congratulating Shumer and the committee to taking the first step towards CIR.

Coincidentally, Senator Arlen Specter announced that he was switching party affiliation, from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. This gives the democratic party a 59-39 edge. With the Minnesota senatorial race almost over, the Democratic Party is likely to reach the 60 vote mark, a number necessary to break any filibuster in the Senate.

In March 2009, Senator Arlen Specter addressed a Continuing Legal Education session, organized by AILA in Washington DC. Though he looked frail, he expressed his commitment to CIR. Now that he is no longer in the GOP he will be able to freely push any CIR legislation in the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. These facts, combined with the President’s commitment, makes it look like a good year for CIR.

Peace to all people of good will.

Great Immigration Conference in Minnesota

On April 30 and May 1, 2009, the Minnesota Dakota Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) held its Upper Midwest Immigration Conference in Bloomington, Minnesota. This event was held jointly with the Advocates for Human Rights. I serve as the chair of the organization and the co-chair of the conference committee. It was an excellent opportunity for professionals in the region to meet, learn, and exchange ideas on the cutting edge issues in immigration. Special sessions lead by national experts on the anti-immigration lobby and the prospects of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) were highlights this year. Almost 200 people attended including national experts and representatives from U.S. government offices.

Heidi Bierich of the Southern Poverty Legal Center, Alabama was our luncheon speaker. She was outstanding. She is the national expert on anti-immigrant hate groups in the country, groups she has closely monitored in the last several years. She explained how interconnected organizations like FAIR and neo-Nazi and white supremacy groups are. She further showed how violent some of the anti-immigrant groups can be. Her latest report, published in Intelligence Report, is a must read for all involved in the CIR debate: you need to fully understand your opponents to fully respond to their attack.

Marshall Fitz, the Advocacy Director of AILA was our speaker on national immigration reform. His update from the capitol was a source of hope to all in attendance. It is certainly premature to predict what will happen, but there was an optimistic sense that this is the year for change. Other community business leaders expressed their readiness to join in the fray for CIR.

A colleague and I presented on religious worker visas, focusing on the regulatory and case law updates in the past one year. It has been only 5 months since the new religious worker visa regulations went into effect, and practitioners are still figuring out how that will impact petitions filed under the old and new rules.

Furthermore, it has been less than a month since the landmark federal court ruling in Washington State. This suit is a nationwide class action lawsuit brought on behalf of all religious workers who have been unable to file Form I-485 petition because the regulations do not permit it. The court found the rules prohibiting concurrent filing of Form I-360 Special Immigrant for Religious Workers and Form I-485 Adjustment of Status is impermissible. According to the court, there is no reason under the statute why religious worker petitions should be treated differently from other employment-based petitions. The court had also stayed all unlawful presence or unauthorized employment resulting from the prohibition of concurrent filing.

Peace to all people of good will.