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NEWS  BYTES
Last fall the Anaheim, California school district approved a resolution calling for the INS to count the number of undocumented children in its schools so that it could bill their countries of citizenship for the costs of their education.  The INS has now told the school district that it will not provide any assistance to the district in this matter.  Not only does it now look like there will be no way to determine how many undocumented children attend the district’s schools, community activists have begun opposing the resolution for economic reasons.  The district has spent ,000 in legal fees on the resolution, money critics of the plan say could and should be spent more wisely. 
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The mayor of Huntington Park, California, resigned his position after a furor created by remarks that many residents considered racist.  The city is 92% Hispanic, while the mayor, Tom Jackson, is white.  During a meeting at which a state bill that would make it easier for undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses while legalizing their status, the mayor said "We have to come to the realization that the entire country of Mexico cannot come to California and if we make it tough for them to come here, they won't come. . . . They have their country and we have our country and we cannot constantly be doing something to make their life easier."  The mayor said that his comments referred only to undocumented migrants, and that he did not mean to disparage Mexicans in any way.  During his resignation speech, he also apologized, saying, “I should never have made those statements.” 
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Gray Davis, the governor of California, has proposed that the state increase spending on English language programs by 0 million.  The money would be used to provide English instruction to children and their parents.  The proposal is part of an overall proposed school budget increase of .5 billion, and would provide instruction to an estimated 170,000 parents and 625,000 students. 
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The INS recently sponsored its first International Children’s Adoption Conference.  The meeting was an opportunity for INS officials who work with international adoptions to meet those who work in adoption services.  The number of foreign-born children adopted in the US each year has doubled since 1995, making such a meeting necessary. 
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The fee for filing form I-360, used by self-petitioners under the Violence Against Women Act, has been increased to 0.  The Vermont Service Center, where all such applications are filed, will reject such applications if they do not include this new fee.  A fee waiver can be requested, but the application will not be deemed properly filed until the fee waiver request is approved. 
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Reliable sources are telling us that the INS is planning on having regulations implementing the new H-1C visa for registered nurses published by mid-July.  A description of this visa is available at http://www.visalaw.com/99novspec/.  The published regulations are expected to be interim final rules instead of proposed rules. 
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At a recent liaison meeting between the Vermont Service Center and AILA one of the topics of discussion was concurrent processing of adjustment of status applications and applications for immigrant visas via consular processing.  AILA asked what the VSC will do with an adjustment application after a request is filed to notify a consulate that an applicant is eligible for a green card.  The VSC takes the position that after an applicant begins to pursue consular processing, the adjustment application should be denied.  AILA objected to this position and the VSC noted that it will forward AILA’s concerns to INS headquarters.  As processing times for adjustment of status continue to lengthen more and more, the demand by adjustment applicants to consular process will no doubt increase substantially. 
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At a recent liaison meeting between members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and officials at the Nebraska Service Center, AILA reported to the NSC that in a growing number of cases, approval notices are not being mailed even when the automated telephone line confirms that a case has been approved. AILA specifically noted that it has received numerous reports of problems with cases approved on March 21st. 
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At the same NSC meeting, the NSC confirmed that it is applying closer scrutiny to H-1b petitions filed by computer consulting firms that are placing workers at third party sites. The NSC is particularly interested in targeting fraud.