New York, January 2006
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E-passport test takes flight
 WASHINGTON,
DC - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that it's
launching a second test of its electronic passport initiative next week, as it
seeks to curtail the use of bogus passports at international airports.
Testing of the e-passports, which carry biometric identification technologies,
will be conducted at San Francisco International Airport, as well as Changi
Airport in Singapore and Sydney Airport in Australia. The testing will begin
Sunday and continue through April 15, with the help of the Australian, New
Zealand and Singaporean governments. "This test provides an important
opportunity to work with our international partners...to put in place an
e-Passport reader solution by the end of fall of this year," Jim Williams,
director of US-VISIT, a Homeland Security program, said in a statement. The
passports contain biometric information such as a digital photo, as well as
biographic information.
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The technology being tested promises to read and verify
the electronic data when those carrying the e-passports attempt entry into the
countries via participating airports.
U.S. diplomats, Australian and New Zealand citizens and Singapore Airlines
officials are among those who have been issued the e-passports. These people
will also undergo normal screening procedures at the international airports.
The test will be used to gather information to help countries develop their
respective electronic passport, the Department of Homeland Security said. The
e-passport must comply with the standards issued by the International Civil
Aviation Organization. Previously, the Department of Homeland Security conducted
testing at the Los Angeles International Airport and the Sydney Airport, after
which it determined further testing was needed.
Source: News.com
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New program in Texas jails illegal immigrants
 EAGLE PASS, TX -
A pilot program that jails all illegal immigrants
crossing into this Texas border town from Mexico has led to a dramatic fall in
numbers attempting the journey, the U.S. Office of Border Patrol said on Friday.
A program known as Operation Streamline II, instituted on December 12, is aimed
mostly at non-Mexican illegal immigrants who were arrested and released because
Border Patrol agents did not have sufficient space to jail them.
The blanket crackdown is also being applied to undocumented Mexicans who were
previously subject to criminal background checks and released back over the Rio
Grande without charges.
The U.S. Marshals Service has freed up 1,000 beds in several county jails
abutting the Border Patrol region that includes Eagle Pass, Texas, to
accommodate the growing number of immigrants.
"The message is one of zero tolerance to all illegal immigrants, whether they
are Mexican or (non-Mexican) nationals," said Hilario Leal, the U.S. Border
Patrol's spokesman for the sector that includes Eagle Pass.
"It appears to be getting out by word-of-mouth and through the media south of
the border, as the numbers attempting to cross has fallen dramatically."
Since the pilot program began around Eagle Pass, 140 miles
west of San Antonio, the number of undocumented immigrants picked up by Border
Patrol agents has dwindled to 10 a day, down from highs of around 150 a day in
mid-2005, officials said.
The U.S. Office of Border Patrol said 740 illegal immigrants have been arrested
and charged with misdemeanor illegal entry under the program. They are tried in
federal court and jailed for up to 180 days pending
deportation to their country
of origin.
"We have lots of space, and we can handle all the prisoners the court sends us,"
Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Hughes said. "If it grew to an incredible number we
could send them out of state."
Each year, an unknown number of illegal immigrants, most from Mexico and Latin
America, cross the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border from Mexico, seeking a better
life in the United States. Last year, almost 1.2 million were nabbed making the
journey.
A proposal in the U.S. Congress to build a steel fence equipped with lights and
security cameras has angered Mexico."
Source: Reuters
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Backlog in New York city worst across United States
 NEW YORK, NY
- It might not come as a surprise to tens of thousands of immigrants whose
papers are in limbo but New York City has the longest wait for a
Green Card in
the country, according to government data. Federal workers are currently processing
Green Card applications that were filed
in December 2002. No other district office among 33 across the country lags that
far behind.
The findings confirm the fears of New Yorkers who have been waiting years for
interviews to be scheduled, work authorization cards to be issued, or travel
documents to be granted.
Counting the old cases and applications filed in the last three years, the
backlog could reach 144,000 by next year, said Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for
the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
One of the unresolved cases belongs to Wendy Sanchez-Vaynshteyn. She was 9 years
old when her mom, Maria Sanchez, applied for permanent residency for herself and
her daughter.
Her mom was wrongfully denied, took part in a successful class-action lawsuit,
and was finally granted amnesty under the 2000 LIFE Act. But under that act, her
daughter could not qualify for a green card - just for a work permit.
"It really has affected my whole life," said Sanchez-Vaynshteyn, now 24 and
married to a U.S. citizen who filed another Green
Card petition for her in 2003.
"This is like a dark cloud that is always over you," said the Jackson Heights,
Queens, resident. "You can't travel, you can't study to your full capability,
you can't focus."
For Sanchez-Vaynshteyn, the most heartbreaking effect has been that she can't go
visit her family in La Paz, Bolivia. Her grandfather, who raised her until she
was 6, has lost all but 30% of his eyesight. "He wants to see me before he goes
blind," said the part-time City College student, housekeeper and waitress. "They
keep writing me, but they don't understand how difficult it is." Federal
officials are aware they need to address the backlog. Last month, immigration
managers from the East Coast went on a retreat to figure out how to eliminate
New York's monster Green Card application backlog.
Source: New York Daily News |
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U.S. faces severe worker shortage in future
 WASHINGTON,
DC - The United States faces a severe worker shortage in the near future,
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday in advocating better education for
Americans and changes in immigration law to allow in more foreign workers.
Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue, at a news conference outlining
business prospects in 2006, said the country is ill-prepared to deal with the
impending retirement of 77 million baby boomers. "We have yet to secure an
adequate supply of working taxpayers to run a growing economy and support an
explosion of retirees," he said in his organization's report on the state of
U.S. business. Donohue said that working to pass new immigration law that
includes a guest worker program will be among the Chamber's top legislative
priorities in the new year. He said the Chamber opposed a bill passed by the
House in December, which tightens border security and requires employers to
verify the legal status of workers but does not address the
guest worker issue.
He dismissed as a "crummy argument" criticisms that the business community wants
a guest worker program to secure access to cheap labor. "What American companies
want is labor, and we are going to be significantly without it," Donohue said.
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The Senate is expected to take up the immigration issue next month, and Donohue
said his group will be "working to obtain a bill that provides the workers and
is in keeping without our legacy as a welcoming nation." Donohue said the
Chamber has traditionally stayed out of school reform at the state and local
level, but has changed its thinking in a global environment where China
graduates eight times, and India five times, as many engineers as the United
States. He said the Chamber plans to measure and rank the performance of state
school systems, with the aim of helping businesses decide where to locate. The
Chamber is also working with other business organizations to double the number
of math, science and engineering graduates by 2015. Donohue said that among the
business group's other legislative goals this year will be passing legislation
to shore up pension plans, finding a solution to the asbestos litigation crisis,
promoting health savings accounts and other new approaches to reducing the
number of those without health insurance, and opening the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf to environmentally sound oil and
gas exploration.
Source: Associated Press and Sacramento Bee
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Immigration to the European Union
 BRUSSELS,
BELGIUM - The European Union (EU) currently consists of 25 countries with 4
applicant countries working towards full EU membership. Citizens of all EU
countries have the right to work and live in any member country of their choice.
Immigration and visa forms/information is currently available for Belgium,
Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom for instant download.
Immigration and visa forms for Norway, a non EU country, which has the highest
standard of living in the world is also available. For more information visit
www.euimmigration.org
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