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House Passes Short Term Continuing Resolution: Agreement on Omnibus Bill Close

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 01:33:17 +0000

On December 11, 2015, the House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 16, 2015 averting a government shutdown and providing time to reach an agreement on the massive Omnibus bill before Congress recesses for the Christmas holiday. Among the provisions to be considered in the Omnibus bill are statutory changes to the Visa Waiver program which passed the House in HR 156, and several proposed changes to the EB-5 program.

HR 156 bars visa waiver country citizens from using the vis waiver program if they have traveled to Iraq or Syria within the last 5 years.

In the EB-5 area, there are 5 different, proposed legislative changes to the program which address many components of the EB-5 program, including increases in the minimum investment amount, making the program permanent, changing job creation methodology, changing TEA designations and definitions, and addressing means to reduce and identify fraud in Regional Centers and regional center projects.

Stay tuned for an update for news about Congressional decisions on these issues.

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Amidst Budget and Debt Ceiling Turmoil, Will Immigration Reform Resurface?

Newswire Editor — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 01:47:37 +0000

With a looming national debt crisis and constant budget debate, it is difficult to even think of focusing on immigration reform.

President Barack Obama has stated repeatedly that he continues to push for immigration reform. Even the government shutdown did not change that stance. While the immediate shutdown crisis has passed, plenty of flotsam and jetsam has been left behind to make its own messes. The president’s perseverance of agenda may be admirable, but against the oncoming wave of yet another debt crisis, reality may take its toll.

Some would call it inevitable, given the current House climate of politicking, posturing, posing and petulance. For many, the climate has shown the Republican Party to be overly concerned with re-election and dangerously ignorant of the will of the nation.

At such a juncture, how can the president hope to call for immigration reform and be heard? Chemical weapons in Syria, domestic surveillance programs and health care glitches: each all-consuming crisis has followed the last without pause for breath. Unfortunately, each pushes immigration further from central concern, leaving more than 11 million immigrants to wait and wonder.

Fortunately, some progress has been made in the last year. An immigration overhaul was passed in June, but stalled in the House over the legal status of illegal aliens. For many Republicans, changing an immigrant’s illegal status would break the law. Some media pundits speculate that the summer’s resistance was only a Republican ploy to break reform into small, slow pieces. If so, it may have worked.

Obama’s most recent comments indicate that he would accept a piecemeal reform process in the House (as long as the work would be achieved on that longer timeline). But would a piecemeal approach to immigration reform work? Chances are poor; changing the entire immigration system without a holistic approach will only compound the problems. Fix one leak, and three more will spring into being. The process would become exhausting and overwhelming for even well-intentioned Representatives.

If President Obama is to be believed, John Boehner stands at the center of resistance to immigration reform. The House Speaker appears unwilling to call the bill on the floor. But tensions have spread beyond individuals to absorb both parties. Republicans refuse to accept amnesty; Democrats refuse to eliminate the option. Against clashing parties and an unending series of national crises, immigration reform will find it difficult to resurface in the near future.

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House Republican Plan on CIR: Proceed Slowly Until Other Events Consume Bandwidth

admin — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 01:38:04 +0000

Despite the optimism of Senate passage of S.744 in June, 2013, as of early September 2013, time seems to be running out for House action and passage of comprehensive immigration reform this year. Since June, the House has refused to take up and S.744 has insisted that it will draft its own immigration reform measures and pass it provided a majority Republicans alone support it. This “go slow” approach embraces House conservative and Tea party concerns that any comprehensive immigration bill contain even tougher enforcement provisions than those in the Senate bill, and removes eligibility for those in the U.S. without status to become permanent residents – a prerequisite for U.S. citizenship. With that as a strategy, other events will now foreseeably gobble House time and focus. The issue of U.S. military action in Syria, the looming debt ceiling, and the fiscal year 2014 budget may consume the House’s focus until November, leaving only that month before the December Christmas break. And next year is midterm elections in the House where concern for being re-elected trumps real debate and action on the always divisive issue of immigration.

Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, PC. is a business immigration firm representing businesses and foreign nationals in employment-based visa cases. To learn more or to contact a Dallas immigration attorney, visit http://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.

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DHS Continues Employment Authorization for Certain Syrian F-1 Students to 2015

admin — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 01:42:34 +0000

On June 17, 2013, the Department of Homeland Security published notice that it has extended employment authorization for Syrian academic students currently in the U.S. who face severe economic need arising out of the civil unrest in Syria. The notice is effective from June 17, 2013 through March 31, 2015. The original notice granting Syrian students this benefit was effective from April 3, 2012 through October 31, 2013.

As background, DHS can authorize employment authorization while school is in session to students from countries DHS deems to be experiencing civil unrest. The authorization once approved for each student, means that an F-1 student whose country of citizenship is Syria and who faces severe economic need is deemed to be engaged in a full course of study while being able to work increased hours and maintain a reduced course load.

The measure will assist Syrian students who rely mainly on funds from Syria to continue their students and support themselves when funds from Syria may no longer be available to them.

Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, PC. is an immigration law firm in Dallas Texas representing individuals and family members in lawful permanent resident and U.S. Citizenship cases. To learn more visit http://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.

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