DREAM IS DEAD FOR NOW

The decade-old DREAM Act once again failed to break a
filibuster in the Senate on Saturday morning, effectively killing
the bill this year and shutting the door on what perhaps was the
last chance for pro-immigration reform legislation until at least
the 2012 election. After years of Congress failing to deal with the
nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants, Hispanic leaders and
immigration activists expressed frustration at the vote, vowing to
target senators in 2012 and future elections.

US CITIZEN SUES SHERIFF FOR FALSE ARREST

A McHenry County man filed suit against Sheriff Keith Nygren and three of his correctional officers Tuesday, claiming he was detained for several hours as a suspected illegal immigrant despite offering proof of his citizenship.  Edward Bustos, 32, claims sheriff's officers falsely imprisoned him in 2008 after he said he was born in Mexico while being processed on a traffic offense.  The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, seeks undisclosed compensatory and punitive damages for "loss of liberty, emotional distress and pecuniary damages including lost wages" for the Harvard resident.

K-2 VISA HOLDERS DO NOT AGE OUT

The Tenth Circuit recently held that K-2 visa holders do not "age-out" for purposes of adjustment of status.   The petitioner entered the United States in K-2 status 6 months before turning 21. His mother married the US citizen within the required 90 days, and the petitioner and his mother applied for adjustment of status before he turned 21. USCIS took two and a half years to decide his application for adjustment of status. USCIS denied the application based on Petitioner's age on the date of adjudication of the application. An Immigration Judge found that Petitioner was not eligible to adjust status because he was over the age of 21, and the BIA affirmed with a one paragraph unpublished decision.
The Court went on to do an analysis of statutory construction and found that there is no age limitation on adjustment of status of K-2 visa holders.  This exact issue is now before the BIA on several cases. AIC recently filed an amicus brief with the Board that addresses all the K-2 age out issues at length. Hopefully this Tenth Circuit decision will have an impact on the BIA decision on this issue that could come out any day.

H1B's ARE OUT FOR 2010

On December 22, 2009, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, as of December 21, it had received enough qualifying H-1B petitions to reach the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 cap. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY2010 that are received after December 21, 2009. USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on December 21, 2009.

CBP TO CHANGE DEFERRED INSPECTION POLICY FOR LPRs

During a teleconference with the AILA/CBP National liaison committee on September 29, 2009, CBP National Headquarters confirmed that, beginning on October 1, 2009, there is a greater likelihood that returning Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) with criminal convictions will be issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) at ports of entry versus a grant of deferred inspection. In addition, depending on the nature of the conviction, CBP staffing, and available detention bedspace, among other factors, it also is possible that more returning LPRs with criminal convictions will be detained. CBP confirmed, however, that deferred inspection for such returning LPRs is still an option.