< back
NEWS  BYTES
Charles Adkins-Branch has been appointed the General Counsel for the Executive Office for Immigration Review.  The General Counsel provides legal advice and assistance to the EOIR, which comprises most organizations that review INS action, including the Board of Immigration Appeals. 
********* 
It was recently reported in The Washington Times that the Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team has a policy of not signing Cuban defectors.  Legal experts feel this policy may be illegal under two separate laws.  First, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to not hire a person based on their national origin.  Second, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 prohibits employers from denying employment to immigrants authorized to work.  According to an official on the team, the policy was instituted after the Orioles played the Cuban national team last year. 
********* 
The trial of Mariano Faget, the INS official accused of spying for Cuba, is over, and the case has been sent to a jury.  A verdict is expected early next week.  If convicted, Faget faces up to 10 years in prison. 
********<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔> 
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is holding hearings on a complaint filed by an INS employee who claims he has been denied promotions because he is Hispanic.  Ernest Flores, who has worked with the INS for 13 years, claims that he has applied to be promoted to an investigative agent numerous times over the past five years.  He says there has not been a Hispanic investigative agent in the unit for 16 years.  Twice he was denied the promotion because he failed the Border Patrol written exam.  According to a memo he obtained for his case, written by the Office of the Attorney General to the INS Commissioner, this test does discriminate against minorities.  It will be several months before a decision on the case is issued. 
********<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔> 
Santa Ana, California, a largely immigrant town outside of Los Angeles, is reporting the highest rate of response on the Census in the country.  Almost 98% of the forms have been returned.  During the 1990 Census, the town had the highest undercount in the US, five percent.  While many credit the national advertising campaign with raising the response rate, local census officials also point to the work of community outreach programs with encouraging hesitant immigrants to fill out the forms. 
********* 
Pat Buchanan, the likely presidential candidate for the Reform Party, said at a recent speech in Arizona that he would not oppose the creation of a temporary guest worker program for Mexicans who currently cross the border without authorization.  He also said, however, that before any such program is implemented, enforcement of border rules needs to be stricter.  He said he would support the use of the military in such efforts. 
********* 
Robert Coleman, recently appointed INS District Director in Seattle, Washington, has extensive plans to improve both the enforcement and service functions of his office.  He has developed contacts with shipping lines and Hong Kong police in efforts to combat smuggling into Seattle area ports, and has helped the office put many of its investigative documents on an Intranet so that agents can have faster and more convenient access to important information.  He plans on implementing a similar system for people who have applications pending at the office. 
********* 
The Congressional Accountability Project, a group affiliated with Ralph Nader, a long-time consumer activist and potential presidential candidate for the Green Party, has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.  The subject of the proposed investigation is whether Lott improperly pressured representatives of high-tech industry to contribute to the re-election campaign of Sen. Spencer Abraham.  According to several media reports, following a meeting with Lott, lobbyists felt that they had to contribute to Abraham’s campaign to ensure passage of a bill to raise the H-1B cap.  Spokespeople for the Senators deny the use of any improper pressure.  Because of confidentiality rules, the Senate Ethics Committee cannot comment on potential investigations, or even confirm that they have received a complaint. 
********* 
The two-year-old Thai boy who was at the center of a smuggling scheme has been reunited with his grandparents.  Thai community groups in Los Angeles, where the boy entered, say they want for the child to remain in the US for a final medical evaluation, and while the grandparents’ fitness to act as parents is evaluated.  The grandparents are in the process of adopting the boy.  Thai officials suspect that the boy’s mother allowed him to be used by smugglers, and have found her unfit to take custody of her child.  Even though the child now has family in the US, a judge has ordered that he remain in the care of a social worker who has cared for him since his arrival, and has ordered that his removal from the US be delayed for another two weeks.  The boy has had an ear infection and other medical conditions that will be monitored during his stay in the US. 
********* 
The California Service Center has announced several important changes in its processing and adjudications procedures.  It will no longer issue denials without first issuing a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny.  The CSC will also begin expediting I-140 applications where the beneficiary has a dependent who is about to “age out,” that is, be too old to immigrate with the parents.  It also revealed its processing approach to I-140s.  It is adjudicating them according to the type, doing applications in different categories during different months.  It has also announced that it is again processing I-485s.  Finally, the CSC will no longer give top priority to O, P and Q petitions.  Rather than adjudicate them the minute they arrive, they will be processed in order unless a request for expedited processing is approved. 
********* 
The Executive Director of the Sierra Club, David Brower, has resigned from the organization.  He has been a member since 1933, and had spent many years leading the organization.  The reason for his decision was the group’s failure to take a stand on issues of overpopulation and immigration.  According to Brower, “Overpopulation is perhaps the biggest problem facing us and immigration is part of that problem.” 
*********<ぐ颵ᇏ芻ꨀ봀௎噓�۷?譗Ѿ੷譟廎沔> 
The responsibility for administering J-1 programs has been transferred to the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.