The Guardian: "Immigration groups allege abuse of migrant minors by US border patrol"

As Welcome.us, a non-profit celebrating America's immigrant tradition (with such celebrity board members as Sally Field and Kenny G), initiates and celebrates "Immigrant Heritage Month" with some emotional videos (here and here), The Guardian and BuzzFeed report on the alleged abuse of migrant minors by the US and Customs Border Protection (CBP) border patrol. From The Guardian:

An alliance of immigration and civil rights organisations have filed a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general on behalf of more than 100 unaccompanied migrant children, some as young as five, alleging abuse by US Customs and Border Protection, in a document which they say reflects a “humanitarian crisis” at the border.

The alleged abuse includes reports of verbal, sexual, and physical abuse, including long detention in squalid conditions, lack of food and water, denial of medical care, and a report of rape.

Again from The Guardian:

'Children are fleeing untenable conditions in their home countries, including pervasive violence and persecution, and are often re-victimized in transit to the United States,' said Joseph Anderson, the director of litigation for Americans for Immigrant Justice. 'We need to ensure that these children are treated with dignity and respect and afforded all applicable legal protections while they are in US custody.'

BuzzFeed reports on the allegations here, and also discusses the removal of the head of CBP internal affairs after it was revealed that 97% of reports of abuse received no action. Meanwhile the White House has called the dramatic increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the border an "'urgent humanitarian situation.'"
 

Chicago Tribune: "Immigrants win one third of U.S. Nobel prizes in key fields"

Immigrants to the US have played increasingly influential roles in science and engineering advancements, according to a report by the National Foundation for American Policy, a research organization focused on immigration, international trade, and other issues related to globalization and the economy. The Chicago Tribune reports specifically on the report's findings that a third of US Nobel Prize winners (since 1960) in chemistry, medicine, and physics are immigrants, but the report (in PDF here) also looks at other ways immigrants have contributed in these fields, including to cancer research, entrepreneurship, and, well, military attack drones (whether that is a positive contribution is under debate). The take away:

The research illustrates that the right laws can play an important part in whether a country benefits from increased globalization...While some of the rise in indicators like immigrant Nobel Prize winners reflects an overall increase in the reputation and capability of American institutions and researchers post-1960, a greater openness to immigration helped make the United States the leading global destination for research in many different science and technology fields, including computers, cancer research and many others.

Indeed, the Tribune notes that the National Foundation for American Policy "hopes the research shows the contributions of immigrants in important fields will bolster the chances for the passage of immigration reform, which has been mired in Congress this term."

Summer Is Finally Here (Knock on Wood)

Blue skies and warm weather outside our office today. Summertime's here for good, we hope.

USCIS: Medicals only Valid for One year

Effective June 1, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has indicated that Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, will only be valid one year from the date of submission to USCIS. Further, the medicals must be submitted to USCIS within one year of the medical examination.

By way of background, most applicants for permanent resident must submit Form I-693, as part of their adjustment of status application, in order to show that they are not inadmissible on medical grounds. In 2002, USCIS (then known as INS), based on discussions with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), extended the validity of medical exams beyond the one-year threshold if USCIS took longer than one year to adjudicate the petition. This extension policy was renewed annually each year for the last twelve years. Recently, CDC has raised concerns with the USCIS policy of extending the validity of medicals and so we now have the new policy.  

As part of the new policy, USCIS will also provide additional ways to submit Form I-693. The form will no longer be required as part of the initial filing.  Instead, USCIS will send a Request for Evidence (RFE) for it or allow it to be submitted at the time of the USCIS interview (for those cases scheduled for interview). If petitioners wish to avoid the RFE, they can submit the I-693 medical with the initial filing but if the case is not adjudicated within the year, they would have to submit a second medical.

At first glance, this policy seems to create additional expense and burden for the foreign national. Why should a petitioner have to wait for an RFE to submit a medical?  What risk could possibly occur if USCIS reverted to its extension of the medical given that many of the delays are not the fault of the foreign national? Certainly USCIS should ensure that a ten-year-old medical is updated before a green card is issued but perhaps updating should be requested on a case-by-case basis.
 
USCIS has scheduled a call on June 12 to further explain the rationale of this decision. Stay tuned.

Passports, Lost, Stolen, Drawn On

Metro reported on a story (which The NY Daily News picked up) about a four-year old boy who decided to use his father's Chinese passport as a drawing pad. Kotaku makes a compelling argument that the story is a hoax, but documents another more likely example of a kid coloring on a parent's passport. Whatever the authenticity of these stories, it's an important reminder, especially in these busy summer months of travel, for all to keep their passports safe and secure--both from children's hands when they have a crayon and potential thieves. For foreign nationals who have passports lost or stolen, the State Department has instructions (first noting that copies should be made of the passport, visa stamp, and I-94): file a police report; request a replacement I-94 if applicable; contact the appropriate country embassy for passport replacement; contact the US Embassy/Consulate where the visa stamp was issued to report it was stolen; and lastly, to apply for a replacement visa stamp.

UPDATE: Further confirmation that the story (though a good one) was a hoax.

Welcome Back, Carolyn!

Former paralegal now summer associate Carolyn is as excited about tacos as she is to be back at D&B. Okay, maybe more excited about tacos. Understandably.

New York Times: "The Immigrant Advantage"

Immigrants born abroad who later acquire US citizenship have a distinct advantage as compared to native-born Americans, Anand Giridharadas writes, including higher earnings on average, higher rates of marriage and lower rates of divorce, more stable careers, and less instances of poverty. He notes:

What’s interesting about so many of America’s immigrants is how they manage to plug instincts cultivated in other places into the system here. Many are trained in their homelands to behave as though the state will do nothing for them, and in America they reap the advantages of being self-starters.

Mr. Giridharadas first observed this phenomenon when reporting for his book, The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas, about the shooting of a Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh, Raisuddin Bhuiyan, by Mark Stroman in a 9/11 revenge attack that killed two other immigrants and blinded Mr. Bhuiyan in one eye.

Mr. Bhuiyan realized that he was among the lucky Americans. Even after the attack, he was able to pick up and remake himself, climbing from that minimart to waiting tables at an Olive Garden to six-figure I.T. jobs. But Mr. Bhuiyan also saw the America that created Mr. Stroman, in which a battered working class was suffering from a dearth of work, community and hope, with many people failing to form strong bonds and filling the void with escapist chemicals, looping endlessly between prison and freedom.

The article is here.