lawsuits filed over green cards

Date: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 4:31 PM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1730 -- 7/18/2007 >>>>>

In the recent newsletter titled "H-1Bs take to the streets to protest" I
discussed a protest that was carried out by a bunch of angry H-1Bs in San
Jose. That story is only the tip of the iceberg however -- H-1Bs and some
large law firms are filing a barrage of lawsuits over the same issue.

In summary, the State Department announced that new applications for green
cards would be accepted in early July, but soon afterwards the USCIS announced
that they would no longer accept applications for green cards.
The USCIS rejected the applications saying the yearly limit of 140,000
employment-based green cards been met. It's tough to say what is really going
on, but one thing for sure is that there is a huge backlog of visas waiting to
be approved.

Nothing in the articles I have seen mentioned security delays for background
checks, but that is one of the factors causing the backlogs. I discussed that
problem in detail in "Terrorist doctors, No. 1724 -- 7/07/2007".

There are at least two lawsuits being filed. One is by Gabriela Ptasinska, an
H-1B from Poland, and the other is a class action lawsuit that is being funded
by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

These protests and law suits are much to do about nothing. The H-1Bs that are
here aren't going to be deported if there are delays getting their green
cards. H-1B visa holders can stay in the U.S. as long as they need to if they
have filed for a green card. That provision was instituted by President Bush
and is called the "7th Year Extension".

H-1Bs are mad as hell, but only because they don't want to wait a few more
months for their green cards. There are other reasons to, like for instance
getting green cards allows family members to get jobs. Remember that families
of H-1Bs often can't get authorization to work in the U.S. Of course that
means more workers will be dumped into our labor market.

Elayedath scrambled to arrange the necessary medical exams, get his
parents and in-laws in India to FedEx documents and work with his
attorney to fill out mounds of paperwork. Getting his green card
meant his wife could finally get a job, he said, and they would
have some security in deciding such matters as whether to start
a family.

Don't get confused by thinking this is some kind of women's rights issue.
Most Indian wives must give their paychecks to their husbands. Handing out
green cards isn't going to help to liberate women that are brought here as
wives from backwards countries like India. Read this for more info:

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2005,0105-sanchez.shtm
Feminist Argument For H-4B Work Visas

Articles Used

http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_6336222?source=email&nclick_check=1
Green-card fight brewing

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/06/news/visas.php
Immigration lawyers to sue over U.S. about-face on visas

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-immig_08jul08,1,4197988.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
Lawyers say suits are likely over visas -- Many angry as U.S. halts
applications

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/57697.php
Lawsuits fly over green card reversal

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_6336222?source=email&nclick_check=1

Green-card fight brewing

Immigration group plans to sue U.S. agencies over rejected applications BY
JENNIFER BJORHUS Pioneer Press TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press Article
Launched:07/10/2007 12:01:00 AM CDT

Frustrated by an apparent government foul-up in green-card applications, a
number of Twin Cities professionals say they're considering joining a class
action lawsuit a national immigration group plans to file soon.

It's not known how many skilled foreign workers here were caught up in the
alleged green-card snafu, the apparent result of some sort of miscommunication
between the State Department and a backlogged U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

St. Paul immigration attorney David Wilson estimates that at least 1,000
skilled foreign workers in the Twin Cities joined a stampede last month to
apply for permanent residency by July 2 after the State Department suddenly
opened a window of opportunity on June 12. On July 2, the State Department
abruptly reversed its position. The USCIS rejected the applications saying the
yearly limit had already been met.

The government can issue about 140,000 employment-based green cards each
fiscal year. Unused visas can't be rolled over to the next year.

The American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C., said Monday it
will file a class action lawsuit "shortly" against the two government agencies
to try to force them to approve the rejected petitions. A USCIS spokeswoman
Monday would only say that she would not describe the situation as a foul-up.
A State Department spokeswoman on Monday blamed the situation on poor
communication between the agencies. Both said they won't discuss pending
litigation.

Locally, immigration attorneys said the mix-up is symptomatic of the country's
broken immigration system. Loan Huynh, an immigration attorney at Fredrickson
& Byron in Minneapolis called it "a fiasco." Huynh said she heard of doctors
gouging desperate applicants, charging an additional $200 to $300 for exams.

"To have them reject all of them is just outrageous," Huynh said.

"I think it affected every major employer in the Twin Cities," said Wilson,
president of the local branch of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
"It tells people: We're not taking you seriously. Complying with the law
doesn't have any value."

To Shiva Elayedath, a 34-year-old food scientist at General Mills, it means
still more limbo. Elayedath, from India, works on a temporary H-1B work visa
due to expire next May. He said he almost couldn't believe it when he learned
about the State Department's June 12 Visa Bulletin. The monthly notice
announced the door was open for skilled foreign workers in the U.S.
on a range of temporary work visas to take the final step to permanent
residency - filing form I-485, the application to adjust status.

Elayedath scrambled to arrange the necessary medical exams, get his parents
and in-laws in India to FedEx documents and work with his attorney to fill out
mounds of paperwork. Getting his green card meant his wife could finally get a
job, he said, and they would have some security in deciding such matters as
whether to start a family.

It all slammed shut when the government about-faced July 2.

"It's just feels like someone pulled a dirty trick on you," Elayedath said.
"There's been a lot of discussion on line about what to do next.
Everybody's planning to join the lawsuit."

Elayedath said he hasn't made a decision, and wants to consult his employer
first.

Immigration Voice, a volunteer nonprofit that primarily exists online,
representing skilled foreign workers applying for green cards, is supporting a
flower campaign to protest what it called a "flip-flop."
Borrowing a nonviolent move from a popular Indian film, it is urging members
to send white flowers to USCIS director Emilio Gonzalez. The protest blooms
are to arrive at immigration headquarters today.

Nadine Wettstein, director of the legal action center at the American
Immigration Law Foundation, said she suspects "several tens of thousands"
of visa holders may be eligible for the class action lawsuit. Wettstein said
she's been getting a huge positive response from attorneys with potential
plaintiffs ready to sign on.

"I've never seen this much outrage and interest in a legal case as this one,"
Wettstein said.

Jennifer Bjorhus can be reached at jbjorhus@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2146.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/06/news/visas.php

Immigration lawyers to sue over U.S. about-face on visas By Julia Preston

Friday, July 6, 2007
A national association of immigration lawyers plans to bring a class-action
lawsuit against the U.S. immigration agency for refusing to accept thousands
of applications for work-based permanent visas from highly skilled immigrants
who were encouraged by the government to apply.

According to accounts Thursday by officials and lawyers, the immigrants were
caught in a confrontation between the two federal bodies that control the
immigration system: the State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services.

The hopes of thousands of foreigners who have been working legally in the
United States were unexpectedly raised and then abruptly dashed as a result of
the disagreement.

They had responded last month to an announcement that permanent residency
visas would be available, but on Monday learned there were none.

The immigration lawyers said the about-face by the immigration system had no
precedent in at least three decades of legal practice and that it violated the
immigration agency's regulations. The American Immigration Lawyers
Association's legal action arm was preparing the lawsuit, said Crystal
Williams, deputy director.

Federal officials said a misunderstanding had arisen from an effort by both
agencies to reduce huge backlogs of applications for permanent residence
visas, known as green cards. Immigration officials acknowledged that the
effort was poorly handled.

"Was there a lack of communication between us and the State Department?"
said William Wright, a spokesman for the immigration agency. "Certainly."

The episode started June 12, when the State Department announced in a monthly
bulletin that green cards would be available starting July 2 for applicants
across the range of high-skilled categories. That was a signal to immigrants
who have been working in this country on temporary visas that they would be
able to apply to become permanent residents.

Thousands of immigrants rushed to obtain certified documents, assemble
employer-sponsorship papers, take medical examinations and dispatch their
applications. Many canceled travel plans so they could be in the United States
when their applications arrived on July 2, as the law required.

But on Monday, the State Department announced that no more green cards were
available. Snared in the turnabout were well-educated, highly skilled legal
immigrants, many of them doctors and medical technicians, with long work
experience in the United States. All had obtained federal certification that
no U.S. workers were available for the jobs they hold.

The episode laid bare conflicting interests between the State Department,
which manages the offering of visas, and Citizenship and Immigration Services,
a branch of the Department of Homeland Security that processes the visa
applications.

By law, only about 140,000 employment-based visas are available annually, so
there are huge backlogs of applications.

State Department officials said their June alert that visas were available was
intended to prompt the immigration agency to speed its processing so that no
visas would go unused. Since 2000, 182,694 work-based visas have not been
given out because the immigration agency had fallen behind in processing
applications, according to the 2007 report of the agency's ombudsman.

"We were determined that every employment number that was available would be
used," June Kunsman, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for visa
services, said Thursday.

Immigration agency officials said they were surprised by the department's
action. They said they immediately advised the department that they had
already finished approving enough applications to use 60,000 visas of those
offered. Department officials did not revise their public notice offering
visas.

"We said we already have more than enough applications, and we expect to
complete them in time to use the visa numbers," said Mike Aytes, director of
domestic policy operations at the immigration agency.

In its bulletin on Monday, the State Department said that "unexpected action"
by the immigration agency had used up all the visas for the 2007 fiscal year.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-immig_08jul08,1,4197988.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Lawyers say suits are likely over visas
Many angry as U.S. halts applications

By Ofelia Casillas and Antonio Olivo, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune wire
services contributed to this report

July 8, 2007

A mix-up by the federal government in issuing special high-tech visas is
causing a variety of hardships for tens of thousands of legal immigrants,
lawyers said Saturday.

In a lawsuit filed Friday, Gabriela Ptasinska, a Chicago woman among those
affected, is claiming that the government violated its own laws and her
constitutional rights.

Immigration attorneys said they think more suits will be filed across the
country, including a class-action suit that the non-profit American
Immigration Law Foundation plans to file this week.

Experts say the impact of the mix-up speaks to the demand for high-tech visas
at a time when the government is reducing its quotas for such types of legal
immigration. The visas, most commonly known as H1-B, have been a side
discussion in the immigration reform debate that recently stalled in Congress,
with companies such as Microsoft Corp. pushing Washington to open the door
wider for legal immigrants in that category.

Government officials had announced last month that at least 60,000 high-tech
visas would be accepted but later reversed that decision.

"These are all people who have followed the rules, who are here legally, who
have waited in line patiently in many cases for five or seven or more years
for their opportunity to submit their green card applications," said Paul
Zulkie, president of the Washington-based American Immigration Law Foundation.

Zulkie said the immigrants often fill jobs experiencing a shortage of U.S.
workers, so their employers sponsor their green cards, for which there is a
quota of 140,000 each year. Other ways for immigrants to obtain green cards
include sponsorship by an immediate relative who is a U.S. citizen or marriage
to a U.S. citizen, he added.

Last month's announcement had meant that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services could begin accepting applications, spurring thousands to begin a
lengthy process that includes obtaining certified documents, medical exams and
background checks.

The U.S. State Department called the backlog an "unexpected action" and said
employment visa numbers would be available when the fiscal year begins Oct. 1
to a new pool of 140,000 applicants.

Federal immigration officials have acknowledged that a "lack of communication"
among departments that share oversight of visa applications caused the mix-up.

Zulkie said the impact is life-altering for many.

"All the individuals who thought they were able to apply and scurried around
had the door slammed in their face," Zulkie said.

In her suit, Ptasinska, a Polish immigrant with a temporary work visa
sponsored through her job at an engineering consulting firm, is seeking a
ruling that would keep the application from being rejected, said her attorney,
Ira Azulay. She flew to Lincoln, Neb., last week in hopes of being among the
first to submit a green card application.

Azulay said thousands of people are in a similar situation and could join the
suit.

Ptasinska declined to comment.

The Chicago suit names several government officials and agencies including the
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the State Department and Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice.

State Department spokeswoman Leslie Phillips said Friday that the agency does
not comment on litigation. Calls to Citizenship and Immigration Services went
unanswered.

ocasillas@tribune.com

aolivo@tribune.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/57697.php

Published: 07.18.2007
Lawsuits fly over green card reversal

DANIEL GONZALEZ
The Arizona Republic
Kola Akinwande from Nigeria says he has lost all trust in the U.S.
immigration system after the government last month opened and then suddenly
shut the door on tens of thousands of foreign professionals like him waiting
for the last step to apply for prized green cards.
The database administrator and Phoenix resident is considering joining one of
several lawsuits being filed against the government by foreign nationals over
the way they were treated.
In mid-June, the government announced that most foreign nationals waiting for
the last step to apply for permanent residency, or green cards, would be able
to do so in July, regardless of their place in line. More than 100,000 foreign
nationals, including their dependents, rushed to file their applications by
July 2, the start of the 30-day window, according to immigration lawyers.
When July arrived, the government reversed its decision, saying it would not
be offering the visas.
Now, lawmakers are trying to get to the bottom of the turnaround involving the
State Department and Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The reversal comes at a time when the nation's immigration system has fallen
under intense scrutiny. Experts say the reversal is highly unusual and
highlights deep problems with the green-card application process.
Although much of the recent debate over immigration reform has focused on
solving illegal immigration, the green-card situation shows how the system can
be disastrous even for foreign nationals who entered the country legally. Most
caught up in the reversal are foreign professionals or highly skilled workers
recruited by U.S. companies that say they can't find enough American workers.
"What message does it send to these people?" said George Newman, an
immigration lawyer in St. Louis. "These are not people who violated the
border. These are people who followed the rules."
Officials at the State Department and CIS said they could not comment because
of legal action against the agencies.
Earlier this month, a Polish woman filed a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago
that claims the government violated federal laws when it decided not to accept
any new employer-sponsored green-card applications until the fall. The suit
seeks class-action status.
The American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C., said it plans to
file a class-action lawsuit this week against the government on behalf of
other foreign nationals for refusing to accept applications.
U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who chairs the immigration subcommittee in
the House, is demanding answers. She wrote to Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff, asking that he turn over all correspondence related to the
matter.
Akinwande said he entered the country with a temporary work visa in 2001 and
has been living in limbo ever since. The work visa Akinwande has lasts only
six years and can be renewed only if he leaves the country. It also doesn't
allow him to apply for citizenship. His wife can't work, and his two college-
age sons have to pay more costly out-of-state tuition.
Akinwande said he is eager to get a green card. It would mean he could live
and work permanently in the U.S. and eventually apply for citizenship. A green
card would let him accept a promotion at work. Foreign nationals can't change
jobs while their applications are pending or they have to start the process
over.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Newsletter Homepage:
http://www.JobDestruction.com/shameh1b/JobDestructionNews.htm

Support this Newsletter and www.JobDestruction.com by donating:
www.zazona.com/Donations.htm

To Be removed from this mailing list, reply to this email with UNSUbSCRIBE in
the subject window

Back to archives