Immigration News and Updates

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This is just for the purpose of getting updated or informed and do note that nothing is absolute and in fact things are very fluid or volatile when it comes to immigration matters.

http://hammondlawgroup.blogspot.com/

http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=792

Thanks for the update, vermountindia. ;)

I do hope the debates go on as planned and I agree w/ the Senate Majority leader that delaying it would mean risking a no passage for this year. Also agree w/ him that there was enough time and still are for all the talks and compromises and they can always use "triggers" (they are also using this strategy in the Iraq funding bill) and "touch backs" strategies as recently proposed to make things flexible.

Just my two cents.

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fight looms over immigration reform bill

web posted: 05/08/2007 06:26 pm cdt

gary martin

express-news washington bureau

washington – house republican leaders voiced opposition to amnesty provisions tuesday as democrats in the senate prepared to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill that is expected to include earned legalization.

rep. lamar smith, r-san antonio, and other gop leaders in the house sought to pressure senate republican colleagues to stand up to provisions that would allow undocumented immigrants in this country illegally to eventually earn citizenship.

"it can mean only one thing – mass amnesty on an unprecedented scale," smith said in a letter to senators.

the gop house leadership held a news conference to voice their opposition to earned legalization as senate democrats prepared to drop a bill and begin debate in advance of vote that could come as early as next week.

"we are here today to send a signal to the senate that if they put forward this plan, we will call it what it is, 'amnesty,' " said smith, the ranking republican on the house judiciary committee, which has oversight of immigration legislation.

senate democratic leader harry reid, d-nev., accused republicans of stalling on immigration reform. he is expected to use parliamentary maneuvers to introduce legislation, begin debate next week and force a vote on the bill before the memorial day recess.

sen. arlen specter, r-pa., the ranking republican on the senate judiciary committee, said lawmakers "were not yet ready" to proceed on that schedule, noting there is no widespread support for current proposals being discussed in private meetings with the bush administration.

but specter also made clear that, despite demands from house republicans, "it is a practical impossibility" to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

sen. edward kennedy, d-mass., is working with the bush administration to craft a bill that would address the 12 million people living in this country illegally, although bush has said he opposes amnesty.

click here for full article.

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we're brought down by these illegal immigrants, i just hope our section in the CIR won't be excluded, it is really uncertain for them to pass this bill, because there are many oppositions against these undocumented aliens.

i really wonder if I'll harvest what i worked out to be a US nurse. It feels so frustrating after you've gone all through of those hardships. then, the door has been slam shut right on your face.

i think every single nurse who have their visa screen and employer ready feels the same way.

just my 2 cents.

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Sorry, but no door has been closed in your face. It is just the nurses are having to wait the normal time that everyone else does for the green card. They are not being stopped, they are just considered in with everyone else.

And then if you ask others that went to school for something else, why nurses are getting fast-tracked and they are not?

There has been an abundance of foreign nurses that wish to work in the US, but there are only a certain number of visas that are available. And the special fast-track ones were used up.

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but they won't fast track nurses if they wouldn't need them immediately...

well i guess you haven't experienced this retrogression thingy so you don't know how many of us feel.

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Sorry, but I understand exactly how you are feeling. I have been helping foreign nurses for years.

And the fast-tracking just started about three years ago, it has not been around for years. And what you are failing to see is that even if there are visas available, it is not an instant thing. Even if a hospital hires you, it is more than a year to complete the process of immigration in most cases. And then there is the period of orientation before you are even counted in the numbers for staffing. So no, you are never figured on for being there immediately. That is the point that we are trying to make to you.

And if the US was truly that short, there are more graduates right now in Canada that are unable to find jobs when the finish. And a citizen from there acutally can get a NAFTA TN Visa and not have to wait for immigration. And their system of schooling and training, as well as their facilities are close to the US in every way. Not the same from your country.

Remember that there are so many visas available each year, it is not an unlimited supply. And there are many from your country that changed careers just to get a green card, when they do not even like nursing and do not plan to stay in it.

And there is not even a shortage in all areas. You will not find a hospital petitioning a foreign nurse in NY that did not train there and have the OPT, only nursing homes. You will have a hard time finding placement even in CA now, especially the Bay Area. Not all are petitioning, and then the ones that are want several years of specialty training, such as OR or ICU that is equivalent to the standards of the US.

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but they won't fast track nurses if they wouldn't need them immediately...

well i guess you haven't experienced this retrogression thingy so you don't know how many of us feel.

And question for you:

Did you go into nursing because it was something that you truly wanted to do, and did not care where you practiced? Or specifically so that you could move to the US?

And there have always been times in the US, for as far back as I can remember, even when nurses first came here with H1-B visas and finished their contracts before even getting petitioned for the green card and there were times then that there were more nurses than there were jobs for Americans, and no visas were issued to nurses. They are not doing that right now, just including nurses with everyone else under the EB-3 category. And ut may be surprising to know that others are in demand from other professions in the US, it is not restricted to nurses.

And I am sure that if the salaries paid now were equivalent to what they were when most of us old-timers finished, you would not even consider going into nursing.

Just a thought on the topic.

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quite OT:

i took it up because i wanted to be a nurse, i learned to love this profession. i don't care where i can practice it, but practicing as a nurse here is very limited, not like there in the US, you have many opportunities to practice your profession.

yet change is inevitable, and some things would never be fair.

let's just endure, hope and pray for a better immigration law for nurses, so that everybody will be satisfied.

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But you are not following what I am telling you. The US has been very liberal in their visas for nurses, it is just that they are currently used up. There is no reason for them to change any of the laws concerning this.

Making a law does not create visas for nurses. And there are visas, it is just that nurses are not getting special privileges at the moment. But visas are still there.

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i guess I've interpreted it in a different way. i could've said a bill that would be approved and give nurses a special privilege.

thanks for notifying me.

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But the question for you is why should they get a special privilege ahead of others? And before the US government comes up with a solution to the illegal immigrant problems? Which is most important due to the higher taxes that we are having to pay for their healthcare. Or what about the nurses that are coming over and working illegally since there are no visas available, and were well aware of that situation before they even came? And that it takes 5 months of being in the US waiting to do things legally when there are visas, so what about them posting that they started work one month after they arrived here on a tourist visa, when they do not even have a SSN#, and did not even pass the NCLEX until they were in the US?

These things need to be cleared up before they deal with visas being available. For the ones that wish to do things the legal way. Perhaps you need to speak with some that are flaunting what they are doing and adding to the issues of their not being visas available.

Immigration (ICE) is spending time conducting raids all over the country and they are hitting the nursing homes and these nurses are being placed in immigration detention, which is a jail. So until certain nurses start to follow the laws of this country, it also makes it worse for the others that wish to do things the right way. And that also needs to be fixed first, at least in my opinion.

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Q;But the question for you is why should they get a special privilege ahead of others?

A;According to US labour dept. nurses are only the profession they find manpower shortage.

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