The Dream is Dead…and other Immigration News
Filed Under (Detention and Removal, Immigration and Society, Miscellaneous) by Joe on December 30, 2010
I’m back, but don’t have much good news to report. The Dream Act died a painful and very public death in the Senate on December 18th. Although supporters insist the fight is not over, the fight is very much over for the time being. I would be shocked if any legislation granting immigration benefits made it through Congress anytime before election day 2012, Dream Act included. As if the Dream Act update isn’t depressing enough, there’s more bad news: family- based immigrant visa numbers, especially for the second preference category, will severely retrogress come January 1, 2011. Although this shouldn’t affect anyone that obtains their immigrant visa this month, prospective immigrants that had interviews scheduled under the FB-2A or -2B categories in January or later will have a LONG wait before their soon-to-be rescheduled next appointment – approximately two years or so. Hmmm…any other good news? Not really, but I did read an interesting article in the LA Weekly (one of my local newspapers) about problems with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency most directly responsible for patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border and detaining/removing any immigrants attempting to the enter the country illegally. According to the article, CBP routinely violates the civil and human rights of undocumented immigrants, with the agency stepping in only when a certain incident becomes public or is otherwise embarrassing. Granted, there are plenty of good agents in CBP, and granted as well, they have one tough job – still, all agents need to be trained in enforcing the law while respecting the civil liberties of the undocumented. I suppose that in the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, I’ll take a kinder, gentler CBP for the time being instead.
STEVEN on 29 Jul 2011 at 5:41 am #