NEWS  BYTES

The INS Statistical Yearbook for 1998 is now available on the INS website at http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/statistics/1998yb.pdf.  This 300 page long documents provides detailed statistical information about INS activities during fiscal year 1998.

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During mid-November, the State Department Visa Office held a meeting with the INS, the Exchange Visitor Office and members of the international educational community at which they discussed ways to reduce barriers to foreign students seeking access to higher education in the US.

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Vicente Fox, who took office as president of Mexico last week, has started making good on at least one campaign promise - to listen more to Mexican citizens living in the US.  He has created an office of immigrant affairs that will work with Mexican consulates to provide services to Mexican citizens living abroad.

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Janitors for three of the largest supermarket chains in California have filed a class action lawsuit, accusing the chains of violating labor laws.  While none of the janitors are members of a union, the Service Employees International Union actively supports the lawsuit, continuing the recent trend of labor organizations trying to court immigrant workers.  The suit claims that more than 600 janitors are denied overtime and other benefits because they are hired as independent contractors, when in fact they are essentially regular employees.

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Prosecutors in Chicago have charged a man with posing as an INS official and taking thousands of dollars from at least two undocumented immigrants.  Ali Akram, a native of Bangladesh, faces a felony charge of impersonating a federal officer.  Officials began investigating Akram last October after a person reported that they did not believe he was an agent as he claimed.  If convicted, Akram faces up to three years in prison and a fine of 0,000.  Because he is a permanent resident, he also faces deportation if convicted.

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Two couples in Maryland have been charged with illegally bringing two young women to the US from Cameroon and forcing them into involuntary servitude.  The women, who were 14 and 17 years old when they came to the US in 1995, were told that they would be paid for doing housework and would be allowed to attend school.  Instead, they were confined, not paid and threatened into not leaving or reporting their treatment.

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Federal criminal charges have been filed against a Tennessee-based company for allegedly endangering undocumented immigrants it hired for asbestos removal projects.  According to the complaint, the workers were not trained nor were they provided with necessary safety equipment.  The problems were documented when INS agents posing as undocumented immigrants were hired and placed on job sites without training.  The complaint alleges that in at least one case, workers were told to throw asbestos at INS agents if the worksite was raided. 

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Two Illinois men have pled guilty to involvement in a marriage fraud ring.  One admitted to marrying three women to help them get green cards, while the other admitted to one illegal marriage.  In all, twenty people have been charged with involvement in the ring.  Prosecutors say that the two men who pled guilty have promised to assist investigators, for which they will likely be given reduced sentences.

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Four Chicago police officers pled not guilty this week to charges that they extorted money from Polish immigrants.  According to the indictment, the officers twice attempted to extort money from undercover FBI agents posing as immigrants.  The trial should begin sometime in January or February.