AILA is Preparing Legal Action Against USCIS and DOS

AILA is preparing legal action against USCIS and DOS regarding the I-485 / Visa Bulletin date changed. It will be filed as a class action. AILA expects that one or more of the proposed classes of plaintiffs will include individuals who do not apply for adjustment of status in July 2007, but who were statutorily eligible to apply and would have applied in July 2007 but for the DOS and USCIS actions.

More info go to: Visa Bulletin or AILA Bulletin.

Info about Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren sending letter to Michael Chertoff (Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security) and Condoleezza Rice (Secretary U.S. Department of State)

Deal On Immigration Reform Bill

Senators strike deal on immigration reform bill
Compromise deal would legalize millions of illegal immigrants

The Associated Press

May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON - Key senators in both parties and the White House announced agreement Thursday on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.

The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S and a separate program to cover agricultural workers. Skills and education-level would for the first time be weighted over family connections in deciding whether future immigrants should get permanent legal status. New high-tech employment verification measures also would be instituted to ensure that workers are here legally.

The compromise came after weeks of painstaking closed-door negotiations that brought the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together with President Bush's Cabinet officers to produce a highly complex measure that carries heavy political consequences.

Bush praises deal
Bush called it "a much-needed solution to the problem of illegal immigration in this country" and said, if approved, the proposal "delivers an immigration system that is secure, productive, orderly and fair."

"With this bipartisan agreement, I am confident leaders in Washington can have a serious, civil and conclusive debate so I can sign comprehensive reform into law this year," he said in a written statement Thursday.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, his party's lead negotiator on the deal, hailed it as "the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders and bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America."

Anticipating criticism from conservatives, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said, "It is not amnesty. This will restore the rule of law."

The accord sets the stage for what promises to be a bruising battle next week in the Senate on one of Bush's top non-war priorities.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the proposal a "starting point" for that debate, but added that it needs improvement.

"I have serious concerns about some aspects of this proposal, including the structure of the temporary worker program and undue limitations on family immigration," Reid said in a statement.

'Point system' breakthrough
The key breakthrough came when negotiators struck a bargain on a so-called "point system" that prioritizes immigrants' education and skill level over family connections in deciding how to award green cards.

The immigration issue also divides both parties in the House, which isn't expected to act unless the Senate passes a bill first.

The proposed agreement would allow illegal immigrants to come forward and obtain a "Z visa" and — after paying fees and a $5,000 fine — ultimately get on track for permanent residency, which could take between eight and 13 years. Heads of household would have to return to their home countries first.

They could come forward right away to claim a probationary card that would let them live and work legally in the U.S., but could not begin the path to permanent residency or citizenship until border security improvements and the high-tech worker identification program were completed.

A new temporary guest worker program would also have to wait until those so-called "triggers" had been activated.

Those workers would have to return home after work stints of two years, with little opportunity to gain permanent legal status or ever become U.S. citizens. They could renew their guest worker visas twice, but would be required to leave for a year in between each time.

Democrats had pressed instead for guest workers to be permitted to stay and work indefinitely in the U.S.

In perhaps the most hotly debated change, the proposed plan would shift from an immigration system primarily weighted toward family ties toward one with preferences for people with advanced degrees and sophisticated skills. Republicans have long sought such revisions, which they say are needed to end "chain migration" that harms the economy, while some Democrats and liberal groups say it's an unfair system that rips families apart.

Family connections alone would no longer be enough to qualify for a green card — except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens.

New limits would apply to U.S. citizens seeking to bring foreign-born parents into the country.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Federal Agents Bust Fake ID Ring

Federal authorities today announced charges against 22 people in what they described as a massive fraudulent ID ring run out of a Little Village shopping plaza.

In announcing the charges, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said the ring's alleged leader also ordered the murder of a rival and was conspiring to commit more violent acts.

In all, 12 of those charged were in custody and 10 were fugitives, including four in Mexico, Fitzgerald said.

Most of the arrests were made in a raid Tuesday afternoon on the Little Village Discount Mall, where agents toting rifles and dressed in bulletproof vests stopped about 150 shoppers and workers.

While the raid angered many in the largely Hispanic community on Chicago's Southwest Side, Fitzgerald defended the timing and level of force used.

"We're certainly going to enforce the law against people who conspire to kill people in order to protect their organization," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said authorities had to catch the suspects in the act and where they operated. He said the raid had "nothing to do" with the debate over immigration or disrupting a rally planned for next month.

"These are serious matters," Fitzgerald said. "I want to make clear that there is a great debate going on in our country about the immigration situation; this case is not about that debate. Whatever your views are … you do not let people masquerade as people who they are not."

Fitzgerald said the organization spans from Chicago to other U.S. cities and to Mexico. The Chicago operation was based in the Little Village market, and was responsible for producing about 50 to 100 fraudulent documents each day, he said.

Fitzgerald said the ring was "engaged long-term in producing high-quality fraudulent IDs" including green cards, social security cards, and driver's licenses from various states. The operation brought in from $2 million to $3 million annually, according to Fitzgerald.

The alleged leader of the Chicago organization, Julio Leija-Sanchez, 31, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to Fitzgerald. Authorities allege Sanchez ordered the murder of a rival in Mexico and was plotting the deaths of others who he believed had stolen equipment from his operation.

Fitzgerald said federal agents obtained a warrant earlier this year to wiretap two cell phones. The wiretaps yielded recordings of calls between Sanchez and another defendant who was in Mexico and had just carried out a murder, Fitzgerald said.

He said agents recorded a "very detailed conversation in which the person who did the killing" described firing 15 shots at the victim, and that he knew he had shot him in the liver because he "bled black blood," Fitzgerald said.

Neighborhood residents reacted strongly to Tuesday's raid, with many seeing the action as an attempt to intimidate people in advance of a planned May 1 march to Daley Plaza in protest of recent federal raids nationwide.

"They're trying to scare us," said Juan Luis Martinez, 22, a Little Village resident, predicting the action would pull more people into the streets next Tuesday. "It won't work."

Some residents acknowledged that fake documents were being produced in the community, attributing it to the desperation some illegal immigrants have to find work.

But the manner in which the action was taken—in daylight as parents walked children home from school—inflamed the community.

Baltazar Enriquez, 27, was at the mall to buy shoes after leaving his construction job when about 60 agents stormed in and shut down all the stores, he said. The agents, carrying pictures of suspects, lined up people against a wall and checked to see whether they had anyone they were looking for, Enriquez said.

But when asked about the tactics at today's news conference, Fitzgerald said it was the only way to catch the suspects in the act. He bristled when one reporter asked why authorities didn't arrest the suspects in their homes.

"You're assuming we know where everyone lives, and that's a big assumption when you're dealing with people who make fraudulent identification," Fitzgerald said.



By Jason Meisner and Antonio Olivo
Tribune staff reporters

U.S. Tax Program for Illegal Immigrants Under Fire

by Bianca Vazquez Toness (NPR)

The hundreds of thousands of immigrants working in the United States illegally are still expected to pay income taxes. The program works by providing a special tax identification number instead of a Social Security number — and participants are guaranteed that the information can't be used to deport them.

But the program's critics say that it amounts to the Internal Revenue Service abetting illegal immigrants.

More than 1 million non-U.S. citizens will file their taxes this year. One of the reasons that those who are living and working illegally in the United States want to file taxes is that they see an opportunity to prove their economic contribution and document their residence.

Last year, 1.4 million people used the special numbers. The last time the government checked, more than half of the people using an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN, were illegal immigrants.

Federal tax law prohibits the IRS from sharing information with other government agencies, including immigration authorities. So it's the promise of confidentiality that allows immigrants to file their taxes without fear of being deported.

The U.S. Treasury created ITINs 11 years ago, to help people working here without Social Security numbers comply with U.S. tax laws. According to the law, if you earn money here you have to report it, even if you're here illegally.

Marti Dinerstein, president of Immigration Matters, a public policy firm in New York that advocates for stricter immigration laws, calls the situation "ridiculous."

"They know that people that are using ITINs are in the country illegally," Dinerstein says. "It's basically tantamount to institutionalizing illegal immigration in the country."

The IRS won't comment on this, although in congressional hearings, IRS officials have acknowledged concern that the ITINs may be used for non-tax purposes. In fact, some banks have accepted the numbers in lieu of a Social Security number.

Immigration officials say the IRS is just doing what it's supposed to do — collect taxes. They say the onus is on employers to verify the legal status of their employees.