Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

March 17th, 2010

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ar chlann mhór dhomhanda na nGael, sa bhaile agus ar fud na cruinne, ar ár lá náisiúnta ceiliúrtha féin.

Beannachtaí ó chroí don uile dhuine a cheiliúrann Lá Fhéile Pádraig is cuma cá háit a bhfuil tú ar domhan. Ar an lá seo cuirimid ár ndeacrachtaí i leataobh agus tugaimid chun cuimhne an t-aoibhneas sa saol a eascraíonn as dea-chomhluadar agus ceiliúradh ar chultúr den scoth. Tráth é Lá Fhéile Pádraig don spraoi agus don gháire, le sárthaispeántas a dhéanamh ar an gcuid is fearr den Éireannachas agus le léargas a thabhairt ar ár mórtas as ár dtír dúchais agus as ár n-oidhreacht. Is fiú beatha Phádraig Naofa féin a thabhairt chun cuimhne sa tráth achrannach seo ó b’éigean dó fein aghaidh a thabhairt ar chruatan mór pearsanta agus é a shárú, cruatan a chráigh é thar fhulaingt. Bailíonn na Gaeil le chéile ina ainm in Éirinn agus in an-chuid áiteanna éagsúla ar domhan (mar shampla mé féin agus an dlídoir Danielle Conley anseo in Atlanta!) Tá an t-ádh linn clann mhór dhomhanda mar í a bheith againn. A bhuí lenár muintir ar fud na cruinne, tá an nasc le hÉirinn coinnithe beo leis na glúnta agus tá na milliúin gan áireamh ar fud an domhain tar éis eolas a chur ar ár gcultúr. Déantar ceiliúradh ar Lá Fhéile Pádraig agus baintear taitneamh as in iliomad áiteanna, ceiliúradh idir áitiúil agus dhomhanda agus atá de dhlúth agus d’inneach an Éireannachais ach a chuireann fáilte mhór roimh chairde ó chultúir agus traidisiúin eile. Mar sin is cuma má bhíonn tú ar mhórshiúil sráide i sráidbhaile tuaithe beag in Éirinn nó i gceann de na cathracha is mó ar domhan, is comhcheiliúradh é paráid Lá Fhéile Pádraig arb é an mórtas diongbháilte agus an grá céanna don bheatha agus don phobal atá ina chroílár..

Guím Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona agus taitneamhach i 2010 ar gach uile Éireannach agus ar gach cara le hÉirinn.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#

http://beo.tg4.ie/

GRÁINNE NÍ CHINNÉIDE

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The Immigration Malaise–Is the Mojo Gone?

March 9th, 2010

Are we back in the 70’s? As a child of the 70’s myself, I have not so fond memories of the economy and the politics of that era. I am experiencing a sort of deja vu right now as I consider the possibility of immigration reform happening during this Congress.

Now, don’t get me wrong. there were good things about the 70’s. At some point I will think of them and write a blog about them. But, for now, let’s focus on the parallels that cause me concern.

The 70’s were famous for “stagflation.” a seemingly unending period of increasing prices, no or slow growth, coupled with a general feeling of the blah’s among the American People. We had lost our “mojo.” It was tough to find jobs, and what jobs you could find were not one’s you wanted to do. The politics of the era were even worse. Simply put: Vietnam, Watergate, Nixon, Ford, Carter. Not exactly a pantheon of great issues or leaders.

Here we are in 2010. We have a non-growing economy, with no “stagflation” but with a general sense of the “blahs.” Few employers are hiring, and no one is willing to take risks. Again it feels like that unique American mojo has dissipated. Politically? Well what can you say? If anything, the partisanship, and cross party rivalry is even worse than during the 70’s. Nothing is effectively getting done, and certainly nothing that requires courage is passing Congress.

Which, finally, gets me to my point. The entire immigration structure in America appears to have lost its way. Congress is lacking the courage and political will to tackle a difficult but necessary issue. The government agency responsible for “service” is currently in “screw you” mode, trying every which way to limit the ability of employers to get visas for prospective employees, seeing “fraud” under every bush and behind every tree, and trying its best to dissuade folks from actually using the immigration system. The agency responsible for enforcement recorded an increased number of removals for FY2009, and is on track for a “better” year this year. The agency in charge of letting folks into the country legally, is doing a terrific job of turning away nonimmigrants with valid visas. The agency responsible for protecting American workers jobs is doing such a great job that many employers with audited petitions now wait TWO years or more to see if the advertisement they ran TWO years ago was adequate for a position available TWO years ago, which the person can then wait another 7 years to fill permanently. Overall, I would say the immigration system has lost its mojo.

So, what can we do. Enlist Austin Powers to find the Mojo? Or, push forward with hope and a belief that the good and right will ultimately prevail. What caused me to ponder on this was rather unusual. I was listening to “great speeches in history” on my IPod, and happened upon Ronald Reagan’s’ Inaugural Speech from 1981. I particularly love this quote:

Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children and our children’s children. And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world. We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.

Whether you believe that President Reagan was a great President or not, you have to admit, the speech was inspirational. And, it made me think. Maybe not all hope is lost. If there were only someone to inspire us. If only there were someone to move us forward as a country on the issue of immigration. Right now, I am still searching for that leader, that voice. Let’s hope she shows up soon.

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Cross National Representation in the 2010 Winter Olympics

February 23rd, 2010

The Vancouver Games has been a showcase of cross national representation. Many athletes such as ski crosser Chris Del Bosco have had a choice in deciding which country to represent. Although Chris was born March 30, 1982 in Colorado Springs, CO, he skis for Canada. His father is a Canadian citizen which gave him dual citizenship allowing him to ski for either team.

Yuko Kavaguti, a figure skater, is Japanese but skates for Russia. She was born in Aichi, Japan on November 20, 1981 and currently resides in St. Petersburg, Russia. Since 2003, Kavaguti has lived and trained in Russia and was awarded her Russian citizenship in 2009. Unlike Chris she has no family ties to Russia. In fact she has to apply for a visa when she goes home to visit her family. She says that “People who follow sports understand that I’m not a traitor. I still consider myself Japanese. I chose to compete for Russia because I didn’t have a [good] partner in Japan.” Yuko also shared that she has always wanted to compete in the Olympics and did what she needed to fulfill her childhood dream.

Errol Kerr, who is also a ski crosser was born in New York but competes for Jamaica. He trained in California and he qualified ninth among the 33 riders who made their way down Cypress Mountain on Sunday, the culmination of two years of hard work after making the switch from Alpine racing. He is competing for Jamaica to honor his father, Errol Kerr Sr.

Cross country skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong was actually born in Scotland, but moved to Ghana when he was a year old and remained in Africa for the next two decades. “When people notice I’m skiing and I’m African, they’re always surprised,” Nkrumah-Acheampong, 35, who’s known as the Snow Leopard, told the Daily News. “People’s first impression when they see me is, ‘What is he doing here?’ But they get over it when they see me ski.”

Chris, Yuko, Errol and Kwame are examples of how the world is shrinking and how national identity is become more and more relative. No where is this best exemplified then on the Olympic stage as athletes compete for their sport’s most prestigious honor.

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BIA on Application of the Modified Categorical Approach to Conviction Assessment

February 22nd, 2010

Another bad decision issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals, February 19, 2010 — more often in recent months the Department of Homeland Security is trying (successfully sometimes) to go behind a state court’s conviction records to sustain removability charges against an individual in immigration proceedings. Obviously the line between federal and state is becoming very blurred, and it seems as though regardless of the conviction issued by a state court, federal court judges have free will to re-define the actual meaning of a conviction!! It is difficult enough when the immigration laws treat certain misdemeanor convictions as felonies, but the added burden of having to argue against the admission of facts, evidence, police reports, etc., is ridiculous!! Why not just combine state court and immigration court proceedings, and make life that much easier for the government?! This is absurd and immigration judges should not have discretion to re-try a case which has already been decided in a state court!!

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10 Americans Arrested in Haiti

February 11th, 2010

In the days after the Haitian earthquake, Laura Silsby made a series of calls around the country to mobilize a trip to rescue orphaned children from the disaster. She enlisted members of her Baptist church and told them she had all the necessary paperwork. A few days later she was arrested along with nine other Americans while trying to bus 33 children into the Dominican Republic. She now claims to be a misguided good Samaritan but what the do-gooders allegedly did was not just misguided. It could be criminal, and Haitian authorities are right to hold them accountable.

It doesn’t help matters that we are learning that Ms. Silsby is in a significant amount of debt- trafficked children are a hot commodity, each one could fetch thousands and thousands of dollars in the illegal adoption market and goodness knows how much in more sordid markets. Clearly, complying with the law was not first and foremost on Ms. Silsby’s list of priorities. These children could never have been adopted by US citizens or anyone else. How would a court have verified their identity? Did Ms. Silsby stop by the public records office in Port Au Prince on her way to the Domincan Republic, rummage through the rubble and find copies of all of the birth certificates? Did she have the proper parental consents? Did a Haitian Judge release the children for adoption? No, No and No. A Dominican judge could not have issued adoption decrees for these kids. And even if one did, how would Ms. Silsby have gotten them passports to allow them to travel to the US with their adoptive parents? This is where her good samaritan story falls apart at the seams. As she knew then and we all know now- she could not and that is why she had to lie to get the kids accross the Dominican border. So we see that Ms. Silsby would never have been able to place these children for adoption as she claims- at least not legally.

The definition of “trafficking in persons” is a long one but the following clause is included in the definition “the transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of fraud, of deception, or the abuse of power of a person in a position of vulnerability”

So let’s analyze Ms. Silsby’s actions under the definition. Were the children “transported, transferred, harbored or received” by the individuals in question? Clearly, they were. Did the individuals in question use fraud, deception or abuse of power? Clearly, they did. Were the children and their parents vulnerable people? Undoubtedly so. If we look at the law and the facts- there is no doubt what happened is child trafficking. There is no sub clause that states “but it’s ok if you work for a church.”

The US hasn’t experienced anything close to the devastation caused by the Haitian earth quake in recent years. The only thing that comes to mind as being in the same ball park would be Hurricane Katrina. So let’s say the same individuals went to New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina and convinced some parents to hand their children over to attend “a camp” and then placed these children for adoption. We’d all be furious no matter how well meaning the rescuers were. We would expect criminal convictions and custodial sentences.

Even if we assume that all anyone wanted was for these Haitian children to have better lives, what allegedly took place was still wrong. Parents were asked to make a snap decision in a time of enormous stress and uncertainty. They received no counseling. They did not sign any documents. We don’t know if they even knew what they were doing- some were told that their children were going to a camp. Nobody confirmed that the people who were allowing the child to be taken were in fact the biological parents. There was a huge power differential here. How would these parents- who have no money, no resources, probably don’t have a telephone much less a computer- ever have been able to find their children or fight for their return once it dawned on them that their children were never coming back?

So what now? No harm, no foul. The children have been returned to their parents; shouldn’t we just leave it at that? I don’t think so. Somebody has to be made an example of and I think these 10 people are it. Haiti needs to take a stand and protect its children from all would be traffickers- whether the children are destined for adoptive parents in the US or the sex trade in south America. If there’s a prison still standing down there- that’s where these people need to go.

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An Update–The Line? What Line? The More Tragic Truth Emerges About Legal Immigration

February 4th, 2010

In October 2009, I wrote a blog talking about the disastrously long waiting lines for legal immigration to the United States. In Get In The Line? What Line? The Tragic Tale of Employment Based Immigrant Visa Delays, I stated that:

This delay in legal, employment based immigration is a crisis for America. If you are an intending immigrant, and your immigration option is employment based, do you have the patience the wait 15 years for your green card? Can you do better in Australia, Canada, or even back home in our home country? What is the cost to our future competitiveness of a broken legal immigration system? What is the cost to U.S. innovation?

The Department of State just released its annual numbers for cases received by the National Visa Center, awaiting issuance of an immigrant visa at a consulate. The report says this:

The following figures have been compiled from the NVC report submitted to the Department on November 3, 2009, and show the number of immigrant visa applicants on the waiting list in the various preferences and subcategories subject to numerical limit. All figures reflect persons registered under each respective numerical limitation, i.e., the totals represent not only principal applicants or petition beneficiaries, but their spouses and children entitled to derivative status under INA 203(d) as well.

Okay, the bottom line numbers? Bad, very bad. The total Family Numbers waiting for a priority date: 3,369,455, including 1,727,897 in the Brother and Sister (FB-4) category. At the 65,000 annual number level for that category, that is a 26.5 year wait (ignoring per country limits). The total Employment Numbers awaiting a priority date: 130,509, including 119,759 in the EB-3 category. This is at least a 3-4 year wait (again, ignoring per country limits). So, 3.5 million people waiting in line, or is it? The reality is worse. These do NOT include the those cases pending at USCIS!

If we ad in the numbers pending at USCIS (as best we know them), the situation is far more grave. Family based petitions pending at USCIS in June 2009 (no new numbers are easily available), were 1.1 million, bring the total backlog to 4,400,000 for family cases. Employment based cases pending at USCIS in June 2009 numbered 80,000. This bring the total up to 210,000 for EB-3 cases. Wow!

It gets worse though when you realize this simple fact. The numbers from the National Visa Center do not include cases for folks NOT consular processing. Frankly, and just just like in October when I first wrote about this, we do not really know exactly how many cases are pending immigrant visa availability. What we do know is that the legal immigration system is broken.

When we hear politicians and uninformed folks yelling about illegal immigration and telling folks to wait in line like everyone else, the answer is, What Line?

These numbers once again poignantly express the dilemma that legal immigrants have. Many feel, justifiably, that any immigration reform must FIRST focus on legal immigration reform, cutting down wait times to reasonable periods, BEFORE anyone who entered into or remained in the U.S. without permission is given ANY legal benefits. The answers are simple here, the question is, are there any politicians with enough courage to vote for real legal immigration reform?

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What Happens When USCIS Breaks The Law?

January 31st, 2010

Perhaps it has been too long since USCIS has truly been held accountable for its actions that it has become desensitized to the legal constraints under which it is permitted to operate. The USCIS is not given carte blanche to make whatever changes or interpretations it wants to long-standing immigration law, without first complying with the Administrative Procedure Act (”APA”). Yet, twice in the last two months the USCIS has issued “memos” that so dramatically change the framework under which these key programs operate, that it has clearly violated the APA.

USCIS has taken ignoring Federal Law to a new level with its recent actions. Of course we all know that the USCIS has been illegally changing the rules as they apply to individual cases for the last several years by engaging in “rulemaking by RFE;” making ridiculous requests for evidence, not based on any legal requirement, but rather, based upon someone’s bizarre notion of what they think the law should be, not what it really is. Now, however, with the two newest “Neufeld Memos” the USCIS has simply gone too far.
The Neufeld memo on the EB-5 program, essentially makes that job creation program unworkable, and the Neufeld Memo on the H-1B program, literally changes decades of established policy on the most important visa allowing U.S. companies to hire foreign nationals. The USCIS, without any input from the users of the program (really, there was no input), has broken the camel’s back. Absent an immediate withdrawal of these memos, it is quite clear that in order to keep these programs workable, additional action will have to be taken. AILA USCIS HQ Liaison Committee has sent to USCIS Chief Counsel Roxana Bacon a detailed letter explaining how the USCIS has fundamentally eviscerated the H-1B program, and has clearly violated the APA. I strongly urge you to read it, to understand the depths to which the USCIS has delved in its war on the H-1B program.
I have no doubt that the USCIS’s intention in issuing these law-altering memos is to somehow curry favor with certain Senators who share a concern about the H-1B and the EB-5 programs, in regards to the fraud that exists in them. No one disputes that fact that some bad users have abused this program; some intentionally, others ignorantly. But, changing the rules to prohibit the legal and correct use of the program to catch bad actors is not the way to make a program work effectively. Enforcing existing laws against fraud, and not classifying legitimate industries as evil, is the way to go about cleansing the program of inappropriate users. The USCIS’s own failure to police the programs cannot justify what they have just done.
Here is a simple request to Director Mayorkas. When the your agency is going to issue a major policy change, perhaps you might want to ask users of your “service” whether what you want to do accomplishes its true purpose. I can assure you, that these two recent memos do not accomplish what you think they do, nor what you may have been told they will do. There is only one solution to the crisis caused by the recent pronouncement. To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan: Mr. Mayorkas, Withdraw Those Memos!

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Important Information on Haiti Adoptions

January 22nd, 2010

I’ve been receiving lots of inquiries about how we can help the children who were orphaned by last week’s earthquake in Haiti. The answer is- it depends.

Just like any foreign adoption, an inter-country adoption from Haiti is a complicated process requiring us to prove that the child in question is an orphan and obtain an adoption decree which complies with the laws of the child’s home country- in this case Haiti.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State (DOS), announced a humanitarian parole policy allowing orphaned children from Haiti to enter the United States temporarily on an individual basis to ensure that they receive the care they need.

Children who have been identified as orphans eligible for adoption and who have been legally adopted in a Haitian Court or who were about to be adopted in a Haitian Court and who had established a relationship with the American prospective adoptive parents will be allowed to enter the United States on a case by case basis. If you are an adoptive parent in this situation, it’s time to contact an immigration attorney.

But what about the children who were not orphans prior to the earthquake? In order to adopt any child and bring her to the United States, the adoptive parents must prove that the child is an orphan. Orphans are those children who have been separated permanently from their parents by death, disappearance or desertion.

Children may be temporarily separated from their parents or other family members during a natural disaster or conflict, and their parents may be looking for them. It is not uncommon in an emergency or unsettled situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation. It can be extremely difficult to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are eligible for adoption when a natural disaster has occurred. Even when it can be demonstrated that children have indeed lost their parents or have been abandoned, they are often taken in by other relatives in the extended family.

During times of crisis, it can also be exceptionally difficult to fulfill the legal requirements for adoption of both the U.S. and the child’s country of origin. This is especially true when civil authority breaks down or temporarily ceases to function. It can also be difficult to gather documents necessary to fulfill the legal requirements of U.S. immigration law. How do we prove that a child’s parent is really dead and not laying unconscious in a hospital? How do we locate the parents of an infant who cannot tell us her name or the names of any relatives?

I expect that the United States will announce a temporary moratorium on adoptions of “earthquake orphans” until the country of Haiti has identified which children have truly been orphaned. Although we have no idea of the numbers involved, it looks like thousands of children may have been orphaned and it could take quite some time for Haitian authorities to start functioning in a way that will allow them to do this.

In the meantime, there are plenty of ways to help Haitian orphans while they wait for adoptive parents- click on the links below to see learn how you can make a donation to a reputable relief organization currently helping victims of the earthquake.

https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=197&hbc=1&source=ADR1001E1D01

https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=6680&6680.donation=form1

http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/

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Rep. Steve King–The New Ebenezer Scrooge

January 21st, 2010

Sometimes, there are no words to describe someone’s insensitivity. You just have to let them express it themselves. So, I give you the words of Reprsentative Steve King (R. Iowa), explaining why TPS for Haitians is not necessary:

Illegal immigrants from Haiti have no reason to fear deportation, but if they
are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers and many of them could be
a big help to their fellow Haitians.

Rep. King’s statement is reminiscent of Scrooge’s statement from “The Christmas Carol:”

First Collector: At this festive time of year, Mr. Scrooge, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute.
Ebenezer: Are there no prisons?
First Collector: Plenty of prisons.
Ebenezer: And the union workhouses – are they still in operation?
First Collector: They are. I wish I could say they were not.
Ebenezer: Oh, from what you said at first I was afraid that something had happened to stop them in their useful course. I’m very glad to hear it.

Congratulations Representative King. You have reached the level of Ebenezer Scrooge in your feelings for suffering immigrants. I am sure you are proud of yourself.

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Aid Groups Call for a Halt of New Adoptions in Haiti

January 21st, 2010

Save the Children, World Vision and a unit of the British Red Cross have called for a halt for new adoptions in Haiti. The focus must be on tracing any family members that children may still have and reuniting them.

“Any hasty new adoptions would risk permanently breaking up families, causing long-term damage to already vulnerable children, and could distract from aid efforts in Haiti,” the agencies said in a joint statement.

Stories of Haitian orphanages struggling after the quake and the plight of the children there also has led many kind hearts to ask about adopting children.

After reading a CNN report on Haitian orphans, CNN.com reader Dana Fanning wrote, “It broke my heart. My husband and our 4 children want to know if and how we could adopt [any] of the children orphaned by the earthquake.”

Save the Children Chief Executive Jasmine Whitbread said the “vast majority” of children on their own in Haiti are not orphans, but were simply separated from their families in the chaos.

Their family members may still be alive, she said, and “will be desperate to be reunited with them.”

“Taking children out of the country would permanently separate thousands of children from their families — a separation that would compound the acute trauma they are already suffering and inflict long-term damage on their chances of recovery,” Whitbread said.

Allowing a flood of new adoptions also could open the door to traffickers, said World Vision Chief Executive Justin Byworth.

The poverty in Haiti already makes children there “extremely vulnerable” to exploitation and abuse, Byworth said.

“We are concerned not only about premature overseas adoption but also about children increasingly being sent unaccompanied to the Dominican Republic,” he said.

Aid groups said adoptions that were already in progress before the January 12 earthquake should go ahead, as long as the right legal documents are in place and they meet Haitian and international law.

For those who want to help Haitian children, Whitbread said, they should donate to aid agencies who are working on reuniting those children with their families.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has opened an office at the headquarters of the Haitian Red Cross in Crois de Prez to help people locate their relatives, said Pete Garratt, a disaster response manager at the British Red Cross.

The ICRC also has set up a Web site to help people searching for relatives.

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