priti8888
10-02 12:30 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
In June/July 2007 they allocated visa numbers to various applications based on RD.
Say Mr A with a PD of 2004 applied for 485 on July 23.
But Mr B with a PD of 2005 applied for 485 in 2005 or anytime before July 2007.
Mr B may be assigned a visa number and you will see his aproval anytime from July-Oct 2007. Since he already applied 485 , his name check, FP, etc is clear and case is pre-adjudicated.
Therefore, inspite of the fact that Mr B 's PF is not current, you will still see approvals in August, sept, oct.
In June/July 2007 they allocated visa numbers to various applications based on RD.
Say Mr A with a PD of 2004 applied for 485 on July 23.
But Mr B with a PD of 2005 applied for 485 in 2005 or anytime before July 2007.
Mr B may be assigned a visa number and you will see his aproval anytime from July-Oct 2007. Since he already applied 485 , his name check, FP, etc is clear and case is pre-adjudicated.
Therefore, inspite of the fact that Mr B 's PF is not current, you will still see approvals in August, sept, oct.
ujjwal_p
06-10 02:19 AM
Received RFE for primary applicant (myself) and spouse.
Please submit evidence of lawful presence from October 1998 until August 17, 2007.
The documents may include the following:
A) a photo copy of form I-797 for all extensions and change of status
B) photo copy of form I-20 or IAP66 school records (front and back) including all school annotations
c) Photocopy (front and back) of applicant's Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
Below is my immigration timeline
CLASS ------ VALID FROM ------ VALID TO ------ Comments
H1-B -------- 5/16/1995 -------- 5/17/1998
H1-B -------- 5/17/1998 -------- 5/17/2001
H1-B -------- 12/23/1999 ------- 6/30/2001
H1-B -------- 7/1/2001 --------- 9/30/2001
0-1 --------- 10/3/2001 ------ 10/1/2004 ------ Stamped in Chennai
EAD --------- 8/4/2004 -------- 8/3/2005 ------- EB1 denied 1/15/2005
0-1 --------- 5/13/2005 ------- 5/12/2008 ------ Stamped in Chennai
0-1 --------- 4/3/2007 --------- 3/13/2010
0-1 ---------- 5/2/2207 --------- 5/12/2009
After 1/15/05 (EB-1 denial)
- Left the country on 6/15/05 (less than 6 months)
- During this time, applied for O-1 visa and got approved
- Got visa stamping in Chennai with O-1 visa
Do you see any issues with my response ?
Pretty long timeline and multiple visa types. Not sure how O-1 works and whether it is a dual intent visa. In any case, looks like the RFE is pretty straight forward and they only need the historical documents, possibly because the record is pretty long.
**- This is not legal advise.
Please submit evidence of lawful presence from October 1998 until August 17, 2007.
The documents may include the following:
A) a photo copy of form I-797 for all extensions and change of status
B) photo copy of form I-20 or IAP66 school records (front and back) including all school annotations
c) Photocopy (front and back) of applicant's Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
Below is my immigration timeline
CLASS ------ VALID FROM ------ VALID TO ------ Comments
H1-B -------- 5/16/1995 -------- 5/17/1998
H1-B -------- 5/17/1998 -------- 5/17/2001
H1-B -------- 12/23/1999 ------- 6/30/2001
H1-B -------- 7/1/2001 --------- 9/30/2001
0-1 --------- 10/3/2001 ------ 10/1/2004 ------ Stamped in Chennai
EAD --------- 8/4/2004 -------- 8/3/2005 ------- EB1 denied 1/15/2005
0-1 --------- 5/13/2005 ------- 5/12/2008 ------ Stamped in Chennai
0-1 --------- 4/3/2007 --------- 3/13/2010
0-1 ---------- 5/2/2207 --------- 5/12/2009
After 1/15/05 (EB-1 denial)
- Left the country on 6/15/05 (less than 6 months)
- During this time, applied for O-1 visa and got approved
- Got visa stamping in Chennai with O-1 visa
Do you see any issues with my response ?
Pretty long timeline and multiple visa types. Not sure how O-1 works and whether it is a dual intent visa. In any case, looks like the RFE is pretty straight forward and they only need the historical documents, possibly because the record is pretty long.
**- This is not legal advise.
gcformeornot
04-06 02:07 PM
For those who have Labor Sub and used AC21 to port employer....read on...
The Insightful Immigration Blog � Commentaries on Immigration Policy, Cases and Trends (http://cyrusmehta.blogspot.com/)
The Insightful Immigration Blog � Commentaries on Immigration Policy, Cases and Trends (http://cyrusmehta.blogspot.com/)
Libra
08-10 03:08 PM
from your signature it says you contributed and you voted 'no', am i missing something here?
\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/
\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/
more...
dontcareaboutGC
03-19 01:55 PM
What I interpreted it as was "for usage towards family based immigration". Essentially if the EB demand is lower then there is not need to use the AC21 towards EB catergories and that can be applied towards Family Based Immigration.
Technically these are basic laws laid down by congress- The interpretation of those laws is in the hands of the regulatory bodies which execute the laws. For e.g the mis-interpretation of the vertical or horizontall spillovers. It wasnt correctly done till 2007 I think and then all of a sudden they started to interpret it the way it was originally intended to be.
Technically these are basic laws laid down by congress- The interpretation of those laws is in the hands of the regulatory bodies which execute the laws. For e.g the mis-interpretation of the vertical or horizontall spillovers. It wasnt correctly done till 2007 I think and then all of a sudden they started to interpret it the way it was originally intended to be.
Raji
09-16 10:20 PM
Done!!!
more...
pitha
08-04 05:07 PM
I too dont have an A# on my my I-140 approval. Does the I140 receipt notice have an A# on it. I dont have the receipt for the i140.
I have the notice of action for my I-140 approval. It doesn't mention an A# anywhere. Are you sure about this?
I have the notice of action for my I-140 approval. It doesn't mention an A# anywhere. Are you sure about this?
cableching
10-20 11:44 AM
You can go visit India after your AP has been applied for, and you can ask your lawyer ( if you are using one ) to send the docs to you in India , so that you can come back with the new approved AP, off course you can't enter USA on an expired AP.
My lawyer has confirmed that one is only required to be present in the USA when applying and it's recommended that one is in US when it's approved, but due to the varying time USCIS is taking to process AP applications that is not a requirement and they can forward the documents to someone not in US.
You can go out of Country after applying for an AP, using an old unexpired AP, but you must return before the old AP expires??? This is what I read somewhere. You may not be able to use the New AP which is approved after you leave the country.
I read it somewhere! Just take openion of a good lawyer, before taking such an action.
My lawyer has confirmed that one is only required to be present in the USA when applying and it's recommended that one is in US when it's approved, but due to the varying time USCIS is taking to process AP applications that is not a requirement and they can forward the documents to someone not in US.
You can go out of Country after applying for an AP, using an old unexpired AP, but you must return before the old AP expires??? This is what I read somewhere. You may not be able to use the New AP which is approved after you leave the country.
I read it somewhere! Just take openion of a good lawyer, before taking such an action.
more...
sunny1000
06-11 05:39 PM
Sunny1000,
Please be careful before replying. If you do not know, don't answer.
I have seen numerous posts that say, you can get a 3 yrs H-1 based on your previous company's I-140. (of course, it should not have been revoked). This is based on peoples experience. So don't confuse other people if you are not sure.
Don't tell me what I need to do. This is not a "lawyers only" forum where I have to give the legally correct answer. Based on what he described, I gave the best answer I could think of, that too after nobody answered and he bumped it up.
Re-read my post. As I said, it was my view and of course, there are better answers than mine (desi3933 for instance). If you don't like my answer, ignore and move on.
Please be careful before replying. If you do not know, don't answer.
I have seen numerous posts that say, you can get a 3 yrs H-1 based on your previous company's I-140. (of course, it should not have been revoked). This is based on peoples experience. So don't confuse other people if you are not sure.
Don't tell me what I need to do. This is not a "lawyers only" forum where I have to give the legally correct answer. Based on what he described, I gave the best answer I could think of, that too after nobody answered and he bumped it up.
Re-read my post. As I said, it was my view and of course, there are better answers than mine (desi3933 for instance). If you don't like my answer, ignore and move on.
gcdreamer05
11-12 04:02 PM
Folks, wanted to share the feedback from my immigration attorney, the attorney office which did my h1b, h4, eb3 etc, it is a pretty big firm and has good reputation.
The attorney clearly told me, that as long as there is no salary and if it is volunteering then we can go ahead whether it is profit making or non-profit it does not matter.
Now im still confused what do i do......
to be on safer side i may suggest going for non-profit org.
The attorney clearly told me, that as long as there is no salary and if it is volunteering then we can go ahead whether it is profit making or non-profit it does not matter.
Now im still confused what do i do......
to be on safer side i may suggest going for non-profit org.
more...
r2i2009
09-22 05:01 PM
Well said guys.....I do not know why this thing hangs around me with me having EAD. EAD is just like GC with some restrictions. Why should I worry?
Keep running life as usual. Just think people at the back of you?
Keep running life as usual. Just think people at the back of you?
shana04
07-21 10:25 PM
I am in same boat, I took a Infopass today and met with a IO in NYC. She said she will do the needful as the dates are current by communicating with TSC and if nothing happens I have to come back in 45 days. I do not have hopes but lets see what happens
Chandu,
I have been reading your post for quite a while. some nice info through your post.
Can you please help me how to take info pass.
Thanks in advance
Shana
Chandu,
I have been reading your post for quite a while. some nice info through your post.
Can you please help me how to take info pass.
Thanks in advance
Shana
more...
ronhira
09-27 12:51 AM
y not ask SEC or NASDAQ to file for your h1..... that should take care of things..... if u r making 10 trades in a day ..... during day time..... then u r actually not working in u'r real job..... y not have h1 for the job that u r really doing...... just trying to help by suggesting a way out.....
posmd
04-06 10:18 PM
All this is a lot of posturing. I think they will get a bill out of senate. Dems. want as few modifications as possible, Reps. want to weaken its pro immigrant provisions as much as possible. It is surprising to me that even with a minority 45 in the senate they are weilding more power as they are more united 40 or so solidly behind kennedy, compared to Reps. who are divided and so weakened. The bill is hence being shaped more to the pro immigrant Dems.
I doubt the Reps. will kill it on the senate floor, they will atleast wait until house/senate conference to do that.
Will be interesting tomorrow. Lets Pray as Cardinal Mahoney suggested.
I doubt the Reps. will kill it on the senate floor, they will atleast wait until house/senate conference to do that.
Will be interesting tomorrow. Lets Pray as Cardinal Mahoney suggested.
more...
kumjay
06-28 03:37 PM
O MY GOD !! You are so right............guys.. check out Rajiv Khanna's web site, Check out Sheela Murthy's web site, USCIS.....everyone is saying the same.........we are royally screwed. God Helppppppppppp
sangeethak31
07-14 08:53 PM
Thanks for the quick response...
Could someone please provide me the co-affidavit letter template.
Thanks,
Sangeetha K
Could someone please provide me the co-affidavit letter template.
Thanks,
Sangeetha K
more...
cox
November 25th, 2005, 03:26 PM
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Yeah, the DoF was insufficient, and that also made focusing difficult. The flower movement was irritating, and I need to learn to deal with that. I'm just getting started here. It seems that the reaction to the dark/light treatment is pretty split, maybe a little in favor of the light. I had two very different days lighting-wise, and got these contrasing shots. I kind of lean to the dark one, but they each have a different personality.
Gary, thanks for the tips. I was having a terrible time with the flower movement. I was on a tripod, remote shutter, 2.5x eyepiece and couldn't get the image crisp at smaller aperture. I finally figured out that it was small flower movements that were killing me. I moved to shallower DoF to get a faster shutter. Do you have any tips for holding the plant steady? You have some incredible shots, and must have come up with some techniques for immobilizing the flower without it showing up in the photo. I'd be grateful if you could share...
Gary, thanks for the tips. I was having a terrible time with the flower movement. I was on a tripod, remote shutter, 2.5x eyepiece and couldn't get the image crisp at smaller aperture. I finally figured out that it was small flower movements that were killing me. I moved to shallower DoF to get a faster shutter. Do you have any tips for holding the plant steady? You have some incredible shots, and must have come up with some techniques for immobilizing the flower without it showing up in the photo. I'd be grateful if you could share...
eb3_nepa
07-29 10:10 PM
Then we let the CITIZENS of the country decide what is best for their country! Guys understand one thing, it is a numbers game.
1) Legal Employment Based Immigrants: LESS THAN 0.5 Million with NO CITIZENS to back us.
2) Illegal Immigrants: MORE THAN 12 million with a HUGE chunk of the Hispanic CITIZENS to back them up.
Even the citizens who DO oppose Illegal immigration, SIMPLY OPPOSE illegal immigration, but DO NOT SUPPORT legal immigration per se.
Please DO NOT make the mistake of taking on the CHC at this point, it is a fight that is IMPOSSIBLE for us to win and POINTLESS to even fight. If we win against the CHC (big IF), we win NOTHING, if we lose, we now have bigger problems.
1) Legal Employment Based Immigrants: LESS THAN 0.5 Million with NO CITIZENS to back us.
2) Illegal Immigrants: MORE THAN 12 million with a HUGE chunk of the Hispanic CITIZENS to back them up.
Even the citizens who DO oppose Illegal immigration, SIMPLY OPPOSE illegal immigration, but DO NOT SUPPORT legal immigration per se.
Please DO NOT make the mistake of taking on the CHC at this point, it is a fight that is IMPOSSIBLE for us to win and POINTLESS to even fight. If we win against the CHC (big IF), we win NOTHING, if we lose, we now have bigger problems.
cahaba
04-14 12:07 PM
Your friend is capable of a lot; but incapable of asking his own questions !!! Not being cynical or rubbing salt on a wound....but whats the harm in claiming that its your own problem instead of a 3rd persons.?
Given 'your friends' patents & papers in the technical field, self employment as consultant could be possible.
Also ask opinion of attorney on actually incorporating LLC....timing of incorporating such LLC after receiving RFE can be suspect.
Good luck - to your friend.
Hello,
Thanks for your reply. But I do not appreciate the sarcastic cynicism . The only reason I am fronting for my friend is 1. he does not have time now and 2. because of the apprehension that participating in forums like this may put him in more hot soup. I hope you understand.
Also, I am at loss to understand how can people jump to imaginary conclusions without any supporting basis.
Please let us not create any distractions for a really serious problem we have on hand. I am not going to engage in war of words, even if you have a retort for me.
--
Given 'your friends' patents & papers in the technical field, self employment as consultant could be possible.
Also ask opinion of attorney on actually incorporating LLC....timing of incorporating such LLC after receiving RFE can be suspect.
Good luck - to your friend.
Hello,
Thanks for your reply. But I do not appreciate the sarcastic cynicism . The only reason I am fronting for my friend is 1. he does not have time now and 2. because of the apprehension that participating in forums like this may put him in more hot soup. I hope you understand.
Also, I am at loss to understand how can people jump to imaginary conclusions without any supporting basis.
Please let us not create any distractions for a really serious problem we have on hand. I am not going to engage in war of words, even if you have a retort for me.
--
jamesbond007
12-03 12:48 PM
Thanks for your advice guys, I have found a university which allows people to go on CPT from 1st semester itself. They charge $3000 for this arrangement (along with $2400 for 6 credit hours) and their MBA/MS program is weekend only classes. I expect to convert to F1 and work with my present employer on CPT upon the my H1B expiration in Sept' 09 (I don't want to recapture the 2 months in Indian vacation). Classes start in 1st week of Oct 2009. The worst part is my course load will be really heavy as I have to continue with my regular M.B.A coursework in my present university.
Check to make sure the CPT from that university does not have any conditions on the type of employment you can take under it. And also check the number of hours you can work under that CPT - fulltime/parttime?.
Check to make sure the CPT from that university does not have any conditions on the type of employment you can take under it. And also check the number of hours you can work under that CPT - fulltime/parttime?.
retropain
09-01 11:08 AM
What's particularly interesting is the number of 'scare words' used in this selected testimony on aspects of the CIR bill. Its a lot like Loo Dobbs "War" on the middle class. Its clear CIS, Nusa, FAIR provide the script to him on immigration matters. I knew Loo wasn't that creative in the first place
=---
TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL W. CUTLER
SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Chairmen Sensenbrenner and Hostettler, Ranking Members Conyers and Jackson Lee, members of Congress, distinguished members of the panel, ladies and gentlemen. It is a distinct honor and privilege to provide testimony at this hearing because the topic of the hearing is of truly critical significance. We are here to avert what I believe would be a catastrophe for the United States. The United States Senate passed a bill, S. 2611, that would provide incentives for a massive influx of illegal aliens, aided, abetted and induced to violate our nation’s immigration laws at a time that our nation is confronting the continuing threat of terrorism and the increasing involvement of violent gangs, comprised predominantly of deportable aliens, in a wide variety of violent crimes committed against our nation’s citizens. It is of critical importance that this hearing and others like it, illuminate why S. 2611 would expose our nation to unreasonable vulnerabilities especially in the post-9/11 world.
A nation’s primary responsibility is to provide for the safety and security of its citizens and yet, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, the members of the Senate who voted for S. 2611 are seemingly oblivious to the lessons that the disastrous amnesty of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) should have taught us. That piece of legislation lead to the greatest influx of illegal aliens in the history of our nation. Fraud and a lack of integrity of the immigration system not only flooded our nation with illegal aliens who ran our borders, hoping that what had been billed as a “one time” amnesty would be repeated, but it also enabled a number of terrorists and many criminals to enter the United States and then embed themselves in the United States.
A notable example of such a terrorist can be found in a review of the facts concerning Mahmud Abouhalima, a citizen of Egypt who entered the United States on a tourist visa, overstayed his authorized period of admission and then applied for amnesty under the agricultural worker provisions of IRCA. He succeeded in obtaining resident alien status through this process. During a 5 year period he drove a cab and had his license suspended numerous times for violations of law and ultimately demonstrated his appreciation for our nation’s generosity by participating in the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 that left 6 people dead, hundreds of people injured and an estimated one half billion dollars in damage inflicted, on that iconic, ill-fated complex. America had opened its doors to him so that he might participate in the “American Dream.” He turned that dream into our worst nightmare. The other terrorists who attacked our nation on subsequent attacks, including the attacks of September 11, 2001, similarly exploited our generosity, seeing in our nation’s kindness, weakness, gaming the immigration system to enter our country and then, hide in plain sight, among us.
As I recall, when IRCA was proposed, one of the selling points was that along with amnesty for what was believed to have been a population of some 1.5 million illegal aliens would be a new approach to turn off what has been described as the “magnet” that draws the majority of illegal aliens into the United States in the first place, the prospect of securing employment in the United States. In order to accomplish this important goal, IRCA imposed penalties against those unscrupulous employers who knowingly hired illegal aliens. My former colleagues and I were pleased to see that under the employer sanctions of IRCA, the unscrupulous employers of illegal aliens would be made accountable, or so we thought. We were frustrated that we had seen all too many employers hire illegal aliens and treat them horrendously They paid them sub-standard wages and created unsafe, indeed hazardous working conditions for the illegal aliens they hired, knowing full well that these aliens would not complain because they feared being reported to the INS. Meanwhile the employer would not face any penalty for his outrageous conduct. Finally, it seemed that the employer sanctions provisions of IRCA would discourage employers from hiring illegal aliens and would also make it less likely they would treat their employees as miserably as some of these employers did.
Of course, we now know that the relative handful of special agents who were assigned to conduct investigations of employers who hired illegal aliens made it unlikely that employers would face a significant risk of being caught violating these laws and that they would face an even smaller chance of being seriously fined. Furthermore, the way that the amnesty provisions of the law were enacted simply created a cottage industry of fraud document vendors who provided illegal aliens with counterfeit or altered identity documents and supporting documents to enable the illegal alien population to circumvent the immigration laws. Ultimately approximately 3.5 million illegal aliens emerged from the infamous shadows to participate in the amnesty program of 1986. I have never seen an explanation for the reason that more than twice as many aliens took advantage of the 1986 amnesty than was initially believed would but I believe that two factors came into play. It may well be that the number of illegal aliens in the country was underestimated. I also believe, however, that a large number of illegal aliens were able to gain entry into the United States long after the cutoff point and succeeded in making false claims that they had been present in the country for the requisite period of time.
To put this in perspective, I have read various estimates about the number of illegal aliens who are currently present in the United States. These estimates range from a low of 12 million to a high of 20 million. If, for argument sake, we figure on a number of 15 million illegal aliens, or ten times the number that had been estimated prior to the amnesty of 1986, and if the same sort of under counting occurs and if a comparable percentage of aliens succeed in racing into the United States and making a false claims that they had been here for the necessary period of time to be eligible to participate in the amnesty program that the Reid-Kennedy provisions would reward illegal aliens with, then we might expect some 35 million illegal aliens will ultimately participate in this insane program. Once they become citizens they would then be eligible to file applications to bring their family members to the United States, flooding our nation with tens of millions of additional new lawful immigrations while our nation’s porous borders, visa waiver program and extreme lack of resources to enforce the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States would allow many millions of illegal aliens to continue to enter the United States in violation of law.
The utterly inept and incompetent USCIS, which is now unable to carry out it’s most basic missions with even a modicum of integrity would undoubtedly disintegrate. The system would simply implode, crushed by the burden of its vicious cycle of attempting to deal with an ever increasing spiral of rampant fraud thereby encouraging still more fraudulent applications to be filed. Terrorists would not find gaming this system the least bit challenging and our government will have become their unwitting ally, providing them with official identity documents in false names and then, ultimately, providing them with the keys to the kingdom by conferring resident aliens status and then, United States citizenship upon those who would destroy our nation and slaughter our citizens.
I hope that this doomsday scenario will not be permitted to play out.
Insanity has been described as doing the same things the same way and expecting a different result. Where our nation’s security is concerned it would be indeed, insane to ignore the lessons of IRCA.
When I was a boy my dad used to tell me that there were no mistakes in life, only lessons, provided we learn from what goes wrong and make the appropriate changes in the way we do things. However, to repeat the same mistakes was to him and to me, simply unforgivable.
Chairmen Sensenbrenner and Hostettler, I commend your leadership in calling this hearing to make certain that these concerns are made public and are taken into account, especially as we approach the anniversary of the fifth anniversary of the attacks of September 11 and our nation continues to grapple with the immigration crisis.
America is at historic crossroads at this moment in time. Courageous decisions need to be made by our nation’s leaders. If our nation fails to select the proper path, there will be no going back. If our nation decides to provide amnesty to millions of undocumented and illegal aliens, I fear that our national security will suffer irreparable harm as we aid and abet alien terrorists who seek to enter our country and embed themselves within it in preparation for the deadly attacks they would carry out. The priority must be clear, national security must be given the highest consideration and priority where the security of our nation’s borders and the integrity of the immigration system are concerned.
=---
TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL W. CUTLER
SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Chairmen Sensenbrenner and Hostettler, Ranking Members Conyers and Jackson Lee, members of Congress, distinguished members of the panel, ladies and gentlemen. It is a distinct honor and privilege to provide testimony at this hearing because the topic of the hearing is of truly critical significance. We are here to avert what I believe would be a catastrophe for the United States. The United States Senate passed a bill, S. 2611, that would provide incentives for a massive influx of illegal aliens, aided, abetted and induced to violate our nation’s immigration laws at a time that our nation is confronting the continuing threat of terrorism and the increasing involvement of violent gangs, comprised predominantly of deportable aliens, in a wide variety of violent crimes committed against our nation’s citizens. It is of critical importance that this hearing and others like it, illuminate why S. 2611 would expose our nation to unreasonable vulnerabilities especially in the post-9/11 world.
A nation’s primary responsibility is to provide for the safety and security of its citizens and yet, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, the members of the Senate who voted for S. 2611 are seemingly oblivious to the lessons that the disastrous amnesty of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) should have taught us. That piece of legislation lead to the greatest influx of illegal aliens in the history of our nation. Fraud and a lack of integrity of the immigration system not only flooded our nation with illegal aliens who ran our borders, hoping that what had been billed as a “one time” amnesty would be repeated, but it also enabled a number of terrorists and many criminals to enter the United States and then embed themselves in the United States.
A notable example of such a terrorist can be found in a review of the facts concerning Mahmud Abouhalima, a citizen of Egypt who entered the United States on a tourist visa, overstayed his authorized period of admission and then applied for amnesty under the agricultural worker provisions of IRCA. He succeeded in obtaining resident alien status through this process. During a 5 year period he drove a cab and had his license suspended numerous times for violations of law and ultimately demonstrated his appreciation for our nation’s generosity by participating in the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 that left 6 people dead, hundreds of people injured and an estimated one half billion dollars in damage inflicted, on that iconic, ill-fated complex. America had opened its doors to him so that he might participate in the “American Dream.” He turned that dream into our worst nightmare. The other terrorists who attacked our nation on subsequent attacks, including the attacks of September 11, 2001, similarly exploited our generosity, seeing in our nation’s kindness, weakness, gaming the immigration system to enter our country and then, hide in plain sight, among us.
As I recall, when IRCA was proposed, one of the selling points was that along with amnesty for what was believed to have been a population of some 1.5 million illegal aliens would be a new approach to turn off what has been described as the “magnet” that draws the majority of illegal aliens into the United States in the first place, the prospect of securing employment in the United States. In order to accomplish this important goal, IRCA imposed penalties against those unscrupulous employers who knowingly hired illegal aliens. My former colleagues and I were pleased to see that under the employer sanctions of IRCA, the unscrupulous employers of illegal aliens would be made accountable, or so we thought. We were frustrated that we had seen all too many employers hire illegal aliens and treat them horrendously They paid them sub-standard wages and created unsafe, indeed hazardous working conditions for the illegal aliens they hired, knowing full well that these aliens would not complain because they feared being reported to the INS. Meanwhile the employer would not face any penalty for his outrageous conduct. Finally, it seemed that the employer sanctions provisions of IRCA would discourage employers from hiring illegal aliens and would also make it less likely they would treat their employees as miserably as some of these employers did.
Of course, we now know that the relative handful of special agents who were assigned to conduct investigations of employers who hired illegal aliens made it unlikely that employers would face a significant risk of being caught violating these laws and that they would face an even smaller chance of being seriously fined. Furthermore, the way that the amnesty provisions of the law were enacted simply created a cottage industry of fraud document vendors who provided illegal aliens with counterfeit or altered identity documents and supporting documents to enable the illegal alien population to circumvent the immigration laws. Ultimately approximately 3.5 million illegal aliens emerged from the infamous shadows to participate in the amnesty program of 1986. I have never seen an explanation for the reason that more than twice as many aliens took advantage of the 1986 amnesty than was initially believed would but I believe that two factors came into play. It may well be that the number of illegal aliens in the country was underestimated. I also believe, however, that a large number of illegal aliens were able to gain entry into the United States long after the cutoff point and succeeded in making false claims that they had been present in the country for the requisite period of time.
To put this in perspective, I have read various estimates about the number of illegal aliens who are currently present in the United States. These estimates range from a low of 12 million to a high of 20 million. If, for argument sake, we figure on a number of 15 million illegal aliens, or ten times the number that had been estimated prior to the amnesty of 1986, and if the same sort of under counting occurs and if a comparable percentage of aliens succeed in racing into the United States and making a false claims that they had been here for the necessary period of time to be eligible to participate in the amnesty program that the Reid-Kennedy provisions would reward illegal aliens with, then we might expect some 35 million illegal aliens will ultimately participate in this insane program. Once they become citizens they would then be eligible to file applications to bring their family members to the United States, flooding our nation with tens of millions of additional new lawful immigrations while our nation’s porous borders, visa waiver program and extreme lack of resources to enforce the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States would allow many millions of illegal aliens to continue to enter the United States in violation of law.
The utterly inept and incompetent USCIS, which is now unable to carry out it’s most basic missions with even a modicum of integrity would undoubtedly disintegrate. The system would simply implode, crushed by the burden of its vicious cycle of attempting to deal with an ever increasing spiral of rampant fraud thereby encouraging still more fraudulent applications to be filed. Terrorists would not find gaming this system the least bit challenging and our government will have become their unwitting ally, providing them with official identity documents in false names and then, ultimately, providing them with the keys to the kingdom by conferring resident aliens status and then, United States citizenship upon those who would destroy our nation and slaughter our citizens.
I hope that this doomsday scenario will not be permitted to play out.
Insanity has been described as doing the same things the same way and expecting a different result. Where our nation’s security is concerned it would be indeed, insane to ignore the lessons of IRCA.
When I was a boy my dad used to tell me that there were no mistakes in life, only lessons, provided we learn from what goes wrong and make the appropriate changes in the way we do things. However, to repeat the same mistakes was to him and to me, simply unforgivable.
Chairmen Sensenbrenner and Hostettler, I commend your leadership in calling this hearing to make certain that these concerns are made public and are taken into account, especially as we approach the anniversary of the fifth anniversary of the attacks of September 11 and our nation continues to grapple with the immigration crisis.
America is at historic crossroads at this moment in time. Courageous decisions need to be made by our nation’s leaders. If our nation fails to select the proper path, there will be no going back. If our nation decides to provide amnesty to millions of undocumented and illegal aliens, I fear that our national security will suffer irreparable harm as we aid and abet alien terrorists who seek to enter our country and embed themselves within it in preparation for the deadly attacks they would carry out. The priority must be clear, national security must be given the highest consideration and priority where the security of our nation’s borders and the integrity of the immigration system are concerned.
No comments:
Post a Comment