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NEWS  BYTES
The Visa Waiver Pilot Program (VWPP) expired on April 30, 2000.  Since then, however, the INS has created a process to allow travelers who would be eligible for the VWPP to continue to enter the US without a visa.  These rules were set to expire on May 30, 2000, but at least one US Consulate is reporting that the measures have been extended until June 29, 2000.<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔> 
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The State Department has issued a notice informing people that if they have been selected for the DV-2000 lottery they must act quickly to obtain a visa before September 30, 2000.  After that date, visas will no longer be available to entrants.  The reason for the warning is that this is the first year that 5,000 of the 55,000 visas available in the lottery will be used for the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act.<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔> 
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The INS has extended the second registration period for Nicaraguans and Hondurans to apply for TPS until July 5, 2000.  Applications must be received at the appropriate Service Center by that date, so they should be mailed in well in advance of that date.  Also, employment authorization documents that have an expiration date of July 5, 2000 will be automatically extended until December 5, 2000 to ensure that there are no gaps in a person’s ability to work.  The requirements for reregistration are discussed at http://www.visalaw.com/00may2/7may200.html. <ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔>
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The American Immigration Law Foundation is preparing to sue the INS to force it to process Family Unity applications in a timely manner.  The Family Unity law allows spouses and children of those who have received amnesty in the US to receive voluntary departure and employment authorization until they can immigrant through their amnestied relative.  At the California Service Center, Family Unity applications submitted over two years ago are only now being processed.  At the Texas Service Center, delays are almost as long.  In a letter to the INS, AILF has said that if by July 1, 2000, the INS has not eliminated these backlogs and ensured that Family Unity applications are processed within 90 days, it will file suit. 
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The National Commission on Terrorism, a blue ribbon panel created to make suggestions on ways the US can address terrorism after the bombing of two US embassies in Africa during 1998, released its report this week.  While most of the report focused on security measures, one of the most talked about parts of the report was the suggestion that foreign students’ majors be monitored, and that if a student changes their major to one such as nuclear physics or molecular biology, the student should be examined by the INS. 
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INS officials in Portland, Oregon have announced that they will now keep travelers denied entry at the airport in guarded hotel rooms rather than jail cells.  The move is part of an effort to improve the reputation of the international airport, which has suffered from a good deal from negative publicity lately.  Officials at the airport turn away nine times more people than inspectors at other West Coast airports.  Travelers who cannot catch a return flight the same day are held overnight.<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔> 
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The State Department has announced that the entry period for the DV-2002 lottery will be between noon October 2, 2000 and noon November 1, 2000.  Also, the address to which entries will be sent has changed.  No longer will applications be sent to the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  They will now be sent to a new center in Williamsburg, Kentucky.  Further instructions will be issued in early August. 
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A new attorney general for human rights has been sworn in in the Mexican state of Mexicali, directly south of the California border.  Raul Ramirez Baena has a long history of advocacy on behalf of migrants, and says he plans to use his new position to call attention to what he considers a deadly US border control strategy.  As a Mexican official, Ramirez of course has no say in US policy, but he hopes that his new, prominent position will allow him to share his concerns with people on both sides of the border.<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔> 
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A union representing Border Patrol agents has sued to stop the planned transfer of 17 agents from the interior of California to the border.  The INS maintains that the move is necessary to provide better border enforcement, but agents in the area are concerned that moving the agents will mean less enforcement in the interior, and that fewer undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes will be apprehended.  The INS also notes that there are a large number of INS officers in the area who can take over most of the functions performed by the Border Patrol agents.