NEWS  BYTES

The young woman who’s plight prompted the passage of a law making it easier for disabled people to become citizens has become the first person to receive citizenship under the new law.  Vijai Rajan, who has cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, has spent most of her life in the US, and all off her family are naturalized citizens. 

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The Mexican government has opened a new consulate in Raleigh, North Carolina.  It will serve people in both North and South Carolina.  It is the first full consulate from any nation in North Carolina. 

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The Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina is experiencing tremendous difficulty with its international air passengers because of a lack of INS personnel.  Each afternoon, about 900 passengers arrive on international flights, and there are only eight INS inspectors.  Two years ago the airport had 11 inspectors and only one-quarter the international passengers.  The result is that people wait in line for up to two hours.  The airport authorities, along with North Carolina congressmen, are pressing the INS to provide more inspectors.

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A Wisconsin couple has sued the INS because of delays in their effort to adopt seven children from Liberia.  Susan and Leon Glasbrenner went to Liberia in the summer of 1999 as part of a mission.  While there they worked to reunite children in orphanages with their families.  They decided to adopt seven children whose parents were dead.  They adopted the children in Liberia in October 1999.  The INS will not issue visas to the children, five boys and two girls, aged 7 to 13, because the state of Wisconsin has not issued a home study report.  According to the lawsuit, the state does not have the authority to issue such a report.  A lawyer for the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services agrees that the state does not have the authority to issue such a report.

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The Portland INS office has a new director, Joe Olivares, who replaces the embattled Don Beebe.  For the past two years he has been an assistant director of the INS office at Seoul, South Korea.  Officials at the port of Portland and travelers hope to he will be able to ease tensions with Asian travelers, who felt increasingly discriminated against by INS officers at the Portland airport.

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This week the INS extended the designation of Somalia under the Temporary Protected Status Program because of the ongoing armed conflict in many parts of the country.  To be eligible for re-registration, a person must either have already registered for TPS benefits or be eligible for late initial registration.  The re-registration period runs from November 20, 2000 to December 20, 2000.  TPS has been extended through September 17, 2001.

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Twenty people have been charged in a marriage fraud scheme in Chicago and are currently on trial.  According to prosecutors, Juanita Zamora arranged at least 40 marriages over the past 15 years designed solely to obtain permanent residency.  She allegedly had six friends use fake names and obtain marriage licenses in different counties around Chicago.  Because counties do not share information, it was easy to avoid recognition.  Zamora allegedly received $1,500 for each marriage she arranged.

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The INS has issued an apology for including citizen groups concerned with undocumented immigration on an internal bulletin warning of risks from hate groups.  According to the INS statement, the notice “mistakenly implied an affiliation between legitimate organizations concerned about the effects of illegal immigration with anti-immigrant or racial supremacy hate groups.”  It explains that the purpose of the bulletin was to alert field offices that the hate groups might take advantage of the gathering of the citizen groups to cause trouble.  However, the apology has not satisfied members of some of the groups involved.

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A migrant worker from Mexico has won a case against a farm in North Carolina for violations of safety and health regulations.  His complaint, filed with the state Labor Department Division of Occupational Safety and Health Division, resulted in fines of $2,000 against Double H Farms, Inc.  A local group that assists farmers in recruiting workers has also expelled him.  It is rare that farm workers complain about conditions.  Over the past three years, only 19 complaints have been filed.

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