Health Reform & Immigration Reform

The U.S. House of Representatives, on Mar. 21, 2010, passed the Health Care Reform Bill on a 219-212 vote.

Democrats listed universal, affordable health coverage on the credit column. Republicans, on the deficit column, listed majority (over 60 percent) government takeover of the private sector and the 940 billion cost of the bill as exhorbitant.

The Obama administration hailed the bill a win for the American people but the debate as to which political side won will continue for eons to come.

Meanwhile an estimated 31 million Americans will benefit from the bill's passage. Legal U.S. residents like my parents may afford health insurance in 2014, when the bill takes effect. About 12 million illegal immigrants will be left out; and they won't be eligible to buy insurance.

The Christian Science Monitor provides a list of what the reform bill means to you.

President Obama,in Aug. 2009, expressed his commitment to immigration reform with plans to pursue the reform after completing work on healthcare reform.

But will healthcare reform stall any hopes of an immigration reform bill?

Citizenship Preparation Program

Did you know that the USCIS provides citizenship preparation programs?

The objective of the "citizenship and integration" programs, provided through community based immigration support groups, is to assist non-english speaking legal permanent residents with english language lessons and preparation for the U.S. history and civics test which is given during the citizenship interview. Naturalization application and legal assistance is also provided under the program.

USCIS's Fiscal Year 2010 budget includes approximately $7 million funding for the programs.

Here are a few immigration support organizations:

Catholic Charities - National
Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization - Oregon
Heartland Alliance - Illinois
Community Refugee and Immigration Services - Ohio
Immigrant Community Access Point - South Carolina
Refugee and Immigration Services - Virginia

Please leave a comment if you need assistance locating an organization near you.

April Visa Bulletin

The latest visa bulletin is out.

Here goes:

The current date for the F4 family category is Mar. 01, 2000, for all countries except Mexico (Dec. 8, 1995) and the Philippines (Sept. 8, 1987).

23 years in waiting for some Philippine siblings of U.S. citizens!

Tackitt members share their experiences but does anyone have a success story on the F4 category?

By the way, you may email the State Department (listserv@calist.state.gov) if you would like to be added onto the subscription list.

E-Verify Concerns

I've noticed more and more corporations have an E-Verify sign on their sites. Does anyone know what E-Verify is?

E-Verify is an employee eligibility verification system administered by the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration.

The system has four main objectives:

Reducing the employment of unauthorized workers
Protecting privacy and workers’ civil liberties
Reducing discrimination
Preventing undue burden on employers

Employer participation is not mandated, however, employers must notify prospective employees of the company's participation in the program.

Much controversy surrounds the E-Verify program. For example:

The USCIS states that 189 000 employers use E-Verify as of Mar. 2010, and 97 percent of employees are found to be eligible. The statistics are based on the Westat report.

However, a Feb. 25, 2010, Fox News.com report highlighted faults with the system, citing it "wrongly clears illegal workers about 54 percent of the time." Immigration Impact and Security Debrief echoed the Fox report.

Have you wrongly been found illegible for employment due to the E-Verify system?

Should Congress be spending $100 million dollars on an unreliable system?

USCIS Laws

The USCIS site is becoming more and more user friendly!

If you haven't noticed, the site now has an immigration laws section.

The section has an outline of the services provided by the various Department of Homeland Security divisions and resources for obtaining legal assistance.

And if you have some time or are just curios, the section includes interpretations of immigration laws.

A Spanish version of the site is also available.