Huffington Post: "Undocumented Immigrant, Sergio Garcia, Fights To Become A Lawyer In California"

Although he passed the California State Bar exam on the first try, Sergio Garcia cannot obtain a law license. The reason: he is an undocumented immigrant. The Huffington Post reports:

A majority of California Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant Wednesday to grant a law license to Sergio Garcia, who graduated law school and passed the state's bar exam but has been living illegally in the United States for 20 years. A federal law passed by Congress in 1996 bars immigrants in the country illegally from receiving 'professional licenses' from government agencies or with the use of public funds unless state lawmakers specifically vote otherwise.

Sergio Garcia, who self-financed his way through law school by working at a grocery store and publishing a self-help book (is this it? If so get that man a law license immediately), states in the article: ""This is about trying to live the American Dream and showing other immigrants that hard work and dedication does mean something in this country... "

The Obama Administration is arguing against Garcia obtaining his law license.  Rather confusing, as Immigration Impact notes: "...Garcia is precisely the type of person the Obama Administration has been urging deserves an opportunity to obtain lawful status and get on a path to citizenship."

UPDATE: California Governor Brown signed AB 1024 into law. This allows applicants who are not lawfully present in the United States, to be admitted as an attorney at law.  The Huffington Post interviews Garcia here.

UPDATE II: Garcia has been granted a law license.

All About the (Paperless) I-94

Starting on April 30, 2013, US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) made a major change with the I-94 procedure. Except for certain cases, CBP eliminated the issuance of paper I-94 cards when foreign nationals arrive in the US (for visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries, I-94s were eliminated last July). Now, upon entry to the US, instead of receiving a paper I-94 card, most foreign nationals will receive only an admission stamp in their passport. This admission stamp notes the date and place of entry, category of admission, and expiration of stay. CBP will upload the foreign nationals’ information into its new electronic I-94 system, and foreign nationals can, at a later time, print their I-94 document at CBP.gov/I94.

Read more

New Electronic Form DS-260

The State Department has recently made a change for immigrants applying for a green card through a consular post abroad. Prior to September 1, 2013, The National Visa Center (which processes and organizes all paperwork for the State Department before sending the case to the US consulate abroad) required applicants who were permanently immigrating to the United States through a consular post to submit the paper DS-230 biographic form along with all the other required documentation. A paper immigrant visa application such as this has been required since the Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted back in 1952. It’s been pretty much the same process since Harry Truman was president, the average new car cost $1,700, and the Big Bang Theory was a new scientific idea, not a television show.

Read more

2013 SUMMER BOAT DANCE

Every summer for the past three years the staff of Daryanani Law Group (and their significant others) have taken a brief rest from preparing work visas and green card petitions for a boat trip around New York City. This year the trip was on a beautiful summer evening. There was good food, good conversation, and a few alcoholic beverages were responsibly consumed (well, mostly). Of course, there was dancing. Overall, a fun evening, and no one fell in the water. Success! Managing Partner Protima Daryanani and Paralegal Matthew Innes took some photos.

NEW YORK TIMES: "TA-TA LONDON HELLO AWESOME"

Sarah Lyall's time in London as foreign correspondent to The New York Times has ended, and she writes about the British:

Why did rain surprise them? Why were they still obsessed by the Nazis? Why were they so rude about Scotland and Wales, when they all belonged to the same, very small country? And — this was the hardest question of all — what lay beneath their default social style, an indecipherable mille-feuille of politeness, awkwardness, embarrassment, irony, self-deprecation, arrogance, defensiveness and deflective humor?       

Not that Americans get off easy:

After years of using pound and euro coins, I find dollar bills cumbersome and idiotic. After years of living happily among Britons who by New York standards would be considered functioning alcoholics, I now find my old friends’ tendency to order wine by the glass, not the bottle, unnecessarily Puritanical.       

It's an excellent and amusing piece.

Along these lines, in an effort to help the two countries better understand each other as well as examine the cultural divide, Guardian's New York newsroom has a very informative tumblr called English to English. Especially helpful is their link to this brilliant chart.

WASHINGTON POST: "DEPORTED VETERANS: BANISHED FOR COMMITTING CRIMES AFTER SERVING IN THE U.S. MILITARY"

The Washington Post has an illuminating article on the fate of Milton Tepeyac, a US veteran and greencard holder who committed a felony and was subsequently deported to Mexico, where he hadn't lived since he was three. Mr. Tepeyac, who served eight years as a U.S. Marine, now lives in Hermosillo, Mexico and works at a call center for $3 an hour. "'It was a stupid thing to do,' Tepeyac, 37, said of his crime. 'I feel like I’m stuck in a perpetual nightmare. I can’t seem to adjust to this life. In the Marines, we have a motto that we never leave a man behind. I feel like I’ve been left behind.'" Although Mr. Tepeyac was eligible to apply for citizenship, he never did so, mistakenly believing he automatically became a citizen once he swore the Marine Corps Oath. The article notes that his lawyer, Craig Shagin, believes Tepeyac’s best chance is if comprehensive immigration reform allows deported veterans to return to the US, or a lawmaker introduces a “private bill” specifically for Tepeyac, reversing his deportation. Neither, however, seem likely. The article notes: "Although deported veterans are banned for life, they are welcome to return when they are dead."

[read: "Deported veterans: Banished for committing crimes after serving in the U.S. military"]

10 Things We Like in the Senate's Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill

It’s been decades since the last major immigration reform bill and now after many delays the most recent bill (S. 744) is slowly moving forward.

It was introduced in the Senate on April 16, 2013, by Senator Schumer of New York and was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.  S. 744 as amended passed the Senate on June 27, 2013 by a vote of 68-32.  The bill will now be considered by the House of Representatives. Any number of things can happen now including a complete rejection of the bill.  There is unfortunately a strong sense that the House of Representatives will not pass a comprehensive reform bill but rather address certain areas of immigration in a variety of other bills. And it is almost certain that the bill will change if and when it is sent to the president. Notwithstanding any future changes, though, here are ten things we like in the current bill and hope survive in the final version of immigration reform:

Read more

NPR: "MANEUVERING THE SYSTEM THAT IS THE H-1B VISA PROGRAM"

NPR has a short (but fairly accurate) look at the H-1B process and also gives a glimpse inside the Vermont Service Center in St. Albans (which "looks like a law school library on the day before exams"). The news report follows the H-1B petition for Paddy, a programmer from India. GymPact, a web-based exercise motivator in the US, is petitioning for H-1B classification for Paddy (incidentally, I asked Protima, our managing partner who is Indian, how many Indian Paddys she shows. Zero, she said). NPR Reporter Zoe Chace gets inside the Vermont Service Center at 75 Lower Welden and speaks, yes, to a real immigration officer! As anyone who has spent time on either the national USCIS 1-800 customer service number or the premium processing line will know, this is a rare treat. Unfortunately the immigration officer doesn't know about Paddy's H-1B petition (perhaps it's at the California Service Center?). But Zoe Chace does get an adjudications officer to show her the Occupational Outlook Handbook and tells Zoe that in adjudicating an H-1B she looks for evidence of the degree and transcripts. Not exactly revelatory, but still reassuring. Perhaps the important information we can take from this report is that much of it "comes down to how precisely Paddy's lawyer filled out his paperwork." Ah yes, lawyers. They are useful sometimes.

[Listen to NPR story >]