Immigration Study Exposes Anti-Immigrant Cockroaches

by BradBernstein on September 2, 2010

cockroachesBy Brad Bernstein
President, The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/

Amid all the hysteria these days about the alarming number of illegal immigrants, the fiery rhetoric about how America’s border states are being overrun by Mexican drug dealers, the fingers of blame pointing squarely at immigrants for stealing jobs and ruining the economy, along comes this heavy – and unignorable – dose of reality.

According to new study released Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group, the influx of illegal immigrants plunged to an estimated 300,000 annually between March 2007 and 2009, from 850,000 a year between March 2000 and March 2005.

We’re sure that anti-immigrant loudmouths like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly, the Tea Partiers, as well as the opportunistic politicians who’ve used illegal immigration as nothing but political currency, will find a way to dispute this number somehow, will cut the head off the messenger by impugning the integrity of the Pew Hispanic Center, will accuse PHC of skewing things to carry out an agenda.

It’s just oh so predictable by now.

I mean, these are people who simply won’t let facts get in the way of their mouth-foaming rants.

According to the Pew analysis, which is based on data from the Census Bureau, the decline contributed to a contraction in the overall size of the undocumented population to 11 million people in March 2009 from a peak of 12 million two years earlier. And it went on to say that from 2008 to 2009, illegal immigrants decreased in two states – Virginia and Florida – whose attorney generals are proposing to make into law immigration policies even more Draconian than Arizona’s unseemly – and thankfully, now eviscerated – SB 1070.

Interesting, huh?

Amazing how a little light exposes the cockroaches.

So let them all scream about tighter border control and more deportations, the facts now scream back a different story.

Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

Immigration FAQ: Green Card Compliance for Employers

by BradBernstein on September 2, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/

Question: Some of our employees’ green cards have been filed. Their projects have ended. They are working on H-1, but possess EAD and have I-140 approved and I-485 pending more than 180 days. If we revoke their H-1, are we still required to pay full wages if our clients say they do not currently have a project for our employees?

Spar & Bernstein: You are not required to pay “bench salaries” for employees whose H-1 are revoked (remember you must inform CIS and offer employee a one-way ticket home). But we then have exposure to the questions, “do you still have a “permanent” job for them?” If the answer is no, then their GC processing can be interrupted unless they use AC21 portability.

The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein, 225 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10007. Phone: 1-212-227-3636, 1-800-law-link, 1-800-529-5465 Email: info@lawsb.com

Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

Mexican Soap Actress Accused of “Sham Marriage”

by BradBernstein on September 1, 2010

romeroBy the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/

We have constantly advised you to tell the truth and nothing but the truth to immigration officials – and that includes the subject of marriage.

When it comes to immigration and gaining U.S. citizenship, marriages should be bona fide, loving unions, NOT a quick way to get a green card.

This very issue landed Mexican soap opera actress Fernanda Romero oddly not before immigration authorities but, unusually, in criminal court.

Closing arguments come today.

Romero is reportedly accused of marrying a pizza deliveryman named Kent Ross merely as an illegal sham, intended only to earn her a U.S. work permit, supposedly paying Ross $5,000 on June 12, 2005 to join hands in matrimony but subsequently never living together as a couple, say prosecutors.

Of course, Romero swears up and down that she loves Ross, but…

1) They didn’t have a family wedding (because, she said, he is Mormon and she is Catholic).

2) They kept separate Hollywood apartments (because he couldn’t break a lease and she traveled a lot, she said).

Not good signs.

The couple could get between 15 and 21 months in prison if convicted, though even the prosecutors say that a shorter sentence is likely in this case.

No matter what happens here, the lesson remains, once again: Don’t lie to immigration officials. Don’t set up a fraud marriage just to get a green card.

You’re only asking for trouble.

The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein, 225 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10007. Phone: 1-212-227-3636, 1-800-law-link, 1-800-529-5465 Email: info@lawsb.com

Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

Immigration FAQ: H-1 Holder Applying for H-4 Visa

by BradBernstein on September 1, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/

Question: My wife has been in U.S. for six months on H-1 and is going back to India. In India, if she applies for H-4, will it be necessary to carry any paystubs generated during her stay in US on H-1? Is there a possibility that the consulate might demand for her W2 and paystubs before stamping her H-4 visa?

Spar & Bernstein: The cardinal rule in visas is that consulates can ask for pretty much anything. If they do ask for proof of H-1 employment or pay stubs and you do not have it, the H-4 still cannot be denied. The fact that one has been out of status is no bar to the grant of an H-4 visa.

The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein, 225 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10007. Phone: 1-212-227-3636, 1-800-law-link, 1-800-529-5465 Email: info@lawsb.com

Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/

Brace yourselves.

And be prepared a bit of nausea.

The latest CBS poll found that 59 percent of Americans view Arizona’s SB 1070, the immigration bill that allows Arizona to prosecute immigration violations, as “just right,” while another 14 percent think the bill doesn’t go far enough.

Ugh.

Disturbing.

Yet not at all shocking.

As we’ve been chronicling in this space for many weeks now, the country is definitely shifting to hardline conservatism, eschewing a concern for basic human rights and with a decided loathing toward immigrants.

It makes us wonder whether Obama, for all that glow he had at the beginning, will get a second term of presidency or simply become a One-Term Wonder.

It makes us ponder this as well: Is there anything or anyone that can turn things the other way?

Or are we unavoidably on a collision course to an America ruled by the Glenn Becks and the Sarah Palins and the Sheriff Arpaios of the world?

Perish the thought.

Bookmark and Share

{ 0 comments }

U.S. Files New Suit on Ariz. Immigration Issue

August 31, 2010

Source: Washington Post
The Justice Department filed another lawsuit against immigration practices by Arizona authorities, saying Monday that a network of community colleges acted illegally in requiring noncitizens to provide their green cards before they could be hired for jobs.
The suit against the Phoenix area Maricopa Community Colleges was filed less than two months after [...]

Read the full article →

Muslims Fight “Rising Tide” of Fear Mongering w/Online Video

August 31, 2010

With anti-immigrant sentiment raging through the country these days and anger reaching the boiling point because of the possibility of a Muslim community center being built near Ground Zero in New York’s downtown Manhattan, a Muslim group called “My Faith My Voice” has launched an online video to fight back against “the rising tide of [...]

Read the full article →

Immigration FAQ: From Tourist Visa to Student Visa

August 31, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
Question: I entered the U.S. three months ago on a visitors visa. I have been staying with my aunt and cousins. My aunt told me that if I wanted to go to school, I could stay with her. I have a high [...]

Read the full article →

Silence on Immigration Talk: Calm Before Storm?

August 30, 2010

By Brad Bernstein
President, The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
Have you noticed something odd since last Tuesday’s primary, which voted back in Arizona Sen. John McCain while sending a clear message to, if not slapping upside the head Florida Attorney General and governor wannabe Bill McCollum?
It’s become, in the words of Simon and Garfunkel, [...]

Read the full article →

In Fla, Primary Loss Shows Limits of Immigrant Bashing

August 30, 2010

Source: Huffington Post
By Frank Sharry
Founder and Executive Director of America’s Voice
In Florida, Bill McCollum’s Primary Loss Shows Limits of Immigrant Bashing
While most analysis of immigration politics has focused on Arizona lately, both parties should take note of the results of last Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary in Florida. In states with a significant Latino presence, [...]

Read the full article →

Wyclef Jean Talking about his Immigration

August 30, 2010

Haitian-born Wyclef Jean talking about his immigration.
[...]

Read the full article →

Immigration FAQ: Employer’s Responsibility in H-1 Process

August 30, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
Question: We are small business firm with a few H1-B workers.
1. Do we need to file a separate labor petition whenever a H1-B worker moves to an different project location?
2. We are having difficulty finding project for one of our h1b [...]

Read the full article →

Immigration FAQ: Fake Green Card & Marriage to a US Citizen

August 27, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
Question: I am a U.S. citizen and have a good job. My boyfriend of nie years came here on a visitor visa in June 1996. I just found out that he is using someone else’s social security number with that person’s name [...]

Read the full article →

Truth Held Hostage: Dissecting Lies about Kidnapping in AZ

August 27, 2010

Source: Immigration Policy Center
In their never-ending attempts to score cheap political points by demonizing unauthorized immigrants, proponents of Arizona’s
anti-immigration law (SB 1070) never miss an opportunity to perpetuate the myth that “Phoenix is the number two kidnapping capital of the world.”
Not only is this claim patently untrue, but it ignores two inconvenient facts.
First, [...]

Read the full article →

Immigration Hall of Shame List – The Huff’s and Ours

August 26, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
We positively adore this Immigration Hall of Shame list offered by Amy Novack, the Executive Director of Immigrant’s List (IL), a bipartisan political action committee dedicated to fair and meaningful immigration reform, in The Huffington Post:
1 – Former State Assemblywoman Sharron Angle [...]

Read the full article →

Immigration: Green Card Holder Traveliing Abroad a Long Time

August 26, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
Question: I am a US citizen married to a green card holder. I married my husband in 1996. He went home to Pakistan to take care of my father-in-law. Due to some unforeseen situation regarding his illness, he ended staying there longer. [...]

Read the full article →

Birthright Citizenship Under Siege in Not Just US but Israel

August 25, 2010

Source: The Huffington Post
By Eli Y. Adashi
One cannot help but note an eerie similarity between the birthright debates raging in the US and the State of Israel. Both nations are badly in need of resetting their immigration policies in the face of a rapidly globalizing flat planet. Both must face up to the reality that [...]

Read the full article →

Immigration FAQ: Employer Not Paying – May I Transfer H-1?

August 25, 2010

By the Staff of New York Immigration Attorneys
The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
Question: I am on H-1B since Oct 1st 2008 and working with my employer at his site. Though he is paying me in cash and kind he is not running a payroll for me since the inception. Now if I want to [...]

Read the full article →

McCain the Immigration Hard-Liner Wins

August 25, 2010

Ok, Sen. McCain, we applaud your win over J.D. Hayworth yesterday, like we said we would – but we won’t forget that it came via your disturbing transformation from a bipartisan maverick who once breathed life into a legal pathway for undocumented immigrants to a hard-line populist catering to those who wish your precious Arizona [...]

Read the full article →

When Will the John McCain We Once Loved Return to Us?

August 24, 2010

By Brad Bernstein
President, The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
http://www.4immigration.com/
There was a time when we really loved, respected, and admired Sen. John McCain.
He was a shot-down Vietnam war hero who spent nearly six years within that torture chamber called the Hanoi Hilton, refusing a way out to continue suffering with his troops. He was a [...]

Read the full article →