Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), introduced legislation to re-emphasize family unity in the US immigration system so that legal immigrants might reunite with their families and end decade long waiting times for legal immigrant visas.

The legislation would reinforce the historical emphasis on current wait times in the family immigration system by:

• Helping an estimated 322,000 spouses and children under the age of 21 of lawful permanent residents who are waiting in line to reunite with their families by reclassifying them as immediate relatives
• Addressing the decades-long backlogs for certain countries by raising the per-country immigration limits from 7% to 10% of total admissions
• Protecting widows, widowers and orphans by allowing them to continue to wait in line for a visa after the death of the sponsoring relative
• Utilizing an estimated 400,000 family-sponsored and employment-based visas that went unused between 1992 and 2007
• Respecting the contribution of Filipino World War II veterans by reducing their children’s wait times for an immigrant visa
• Promoting family unity by allowing more people who are already eligible for an immigrant visa to efficiently use our legal family immigration system
• Providing equal treatment for stepchildren and biological children by allowing stepchildren under the age of 21 to immigrate upon their parents’ marriage (current age is 18)

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The Obama administration is expanding a program initiated by President George W. Bush aimed at checking the immigration status of virtually everyone booked into local jails.  By matching fingerprints to federal immigration databases, they hope to pinpoint deportable illegal immigrants before they are released from custody.

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Business Week Magazine started a conversation about a hot topic this month.  We link to the first article in a series that will examine immigration issues amid a recession by Moira Herbst.

USA Today pubilshed a very frank and interesting article where they addressed the important issue of the limitations that are put on skilled immigrant visas and how this hurts USA competitiveness.

Around this time every year, thousands of foreign students graduate with degrees in science, engineering and technology from US universities; they want to stay in America, work and contribute to the economy.  So, do we welcome them and say “terrific”…NO!  The government tell them to take their brainpower and skills with them to other countries and companies that compete with the USA.  To read more

Pretty self-defeating immigration policy isn’t it!

This summary was prepared by the White House and sets forth proposed changes in the 2010 budget for immigration related funding.

92% of the requested budget is within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Transportation and Security Administration (TSA), and the U.S. Coast Guard.  We link above to the specifics.

The Washington Times reported today that on the thorniest of political issues, Obama has embraced the enforcement-first position on immigration that he criticized during last year’s campaign.  He’s now saying that he can’t move forward with the type of comprehensive bill he wants until the voters are convinced that the borders can be enforced.

We quote:  “If the American people don’t feel like you can secure the borders then it’s hard to strike a deal that would get people out of the shadows and on a pathway to citizenship who are already here, because the attitude of the average American is going to be….Well, you’re just going to have hundreds of thousands of more coming in each year.”

Acting USCIS Deputy Director, Michael Aytes, recently responded to questions about employment-based visa wait times in a recent Leadership Journal article that’s been posted on the DHS website.  You’ll all be glad to hear that USCIS has set a 4-month processing goal for I-140 petitions with an estimate of September 2009 for meeting that goal.  In recent months, we have noted faster case approval.

In late 2007 and 2008, employers filed more than 234,000 I-140 petitions.  The USCIS acknowledges the frustrations felt by many.  To address this, they are working toward making case volume information available online – but not sure when this might become available.

The 1st hearing, in a series of hearings to be held, took place on April 30, 2009 in the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees to address issues surrounding comprehensive reform in the 111th Congress.  The witnesses included former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former INS Commissioner Doris Meissner and reps from the business community, organized labor, religious institutions and anti-immigration groups.  They addressed the topics of unauthorized workers in the USA economy, worksite enforcement against employers and employees and temporary workers, including skilled foreign workers.

The hearings are the latest step in the Senate’s efforts to address coprehensive reform.

…Music to our ears to hear Obama state on his 100th day in office that he was moving “full steam ahead on all fronts” on immigration reform.  He told Telemundo reporter that he hopes to convene working groups to start building a framework for how immigration legislation might be shaped.  He further stated yesterday that Congress and DHS are aligning their priorities to focus on the root causes of undocumented immigration.  Obama stated at his 100th day news conference yesterday:

“We want to move this process.  We can’t continue with a broken immigration system.  It’s not good for anybody.  It’s not good for American workers.  It’s dangerous for Mexican would-be workers to cross a dangerous border.”

We link to articles and videos for more.