AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAW FOUNDATION SEEKS PLAINTIFFS FOR LAWSUIT TO FORCE HEALTHCARE WORKER REGULATIONS

In 1996, Congress passed legislation requiring the creation of regulations for foreign workers in seven healthcare fields.  Regulations were finally passed in 1998 for nurses and occupational therapists after a lawsuit was filed by the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF).  To force the enactment of regulations for the remaining five categories, AILF is again seeking to bring a lawsuit in federal court. 

AILF is looking for people who fall into one of the following categories:

• Physical therapists, speech/language pathologists, medical technologists, medical technicians and physician’s assistants who filed a I-485 before September 30, 1996;
• Hospitals and health care providers who have been hurt by the INS’s failure to issue regulations
• Children of healthcare workers who will turn 21 in 2000
• Healthcare workers who have been separated from their family because of the lack of regulations

These regulations are needed to implement the 1996 law.  This law makes an immigrant healthcare worker excludable from the US, and if in the US ineligible to adjust status, unless they have a certificate from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, or a certificate from an equivalent independent credentialing organization approved by the Attorney General in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

If your meet the criteria outlined above and are interested in learning more about participating in the suit, please contact Greg Siskind by emailing him at AILF-lawsuit@visalaw.com.