Dear Readers:

This week's ABCs of Immigration column covers a topic that will largely be of interest to our readers in the health care field. This week the Delta Regional Authority, a new federal agency charged with promoting the development of the impoverished eight-state Mississippi Delta region, announced plans to launch a new waiver program for physicians on J-1 visas subject to a requirement to return to their home countries for two years.

The article carries special meaning for me. I live in Memphis, Tennessee, which is smack in the middle of the Delta region, and I was closely involved with the creation of the program. When the DRA was created at the tail end of the Clinton Administration, I learned that one of the missions of the agency would be to promote health care in the region. I knew that lack of access to doctors was a problem for people throughout this region of the country since I have worked with many of these communities in hiring foreign-born doctors. So why not have a J-1 physician waiver program to encourage international medical graduates to move to the region?

In early 2001, after President Bush was sworn in, Pete Johnson was appointed to be the first Federal Co-Chair of the DRA. The other co-chairs are the Governors of the eight states in the DRA region. I contacted Mr. Johnson, then a lawyer in Clarksdale, Mississippi, to see if he had an interest in the idea of a J-1 waiver program. Chairman Johnson reacted favorably to the idea and promised that after the DRA had its infrastructure in place and he was sworn in, he would begin looking at the idea.

Last spring the US Department of Agriculture announced the end of its J-1 waiver program and suddenly the physician shortage problem in the region took on a greater urgency. In the late spring, the DRA held a meeting to initially discuss the idea of its stepping in and creating its own J-1 program. I participated in that initial meeting along with Barry Walker, a well-respected immigration lawyer in Mississippi, Connie Burk, the immigration specialist for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Ed Tucker, a health care consultant charged with helping the DRA formulate its health care mission, and Pete Johnson.

The meeting was a breath of fresh air. The DRA made it clear that its goal is to help the people in the region and improving access to health care was a chief goal. Rather than being reluctant to take on the difficult task of establishing a J-1 program, it was eager to take on the project and get going as quickly as possible. Ed Tucker, Barry Walker and I were charged with examining the law and working to develop a draft program.

After several meetings with the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Code of Federal Regulations, numerous State 30 and Federal waiver programs, we crafted a program that was designed to comply with the law and meet the specific needs of the Delta region. Ed then left his consulting position with the DRA and passed the program on to Bill Triplett, Director of Policy at the DRA.

The DRA was then ready to test the program with two initial applications. One was a client of mine, a physician seeking to work in rural West Tennessee. The other was a physician seeking a position in Clarksdale. The DRA worked through the initial applications and sent them on to the State Department for review. DRA officials also flew to DC and met with the State Department to introduce the program to the State Department and make sure that it satisfied the State Department's Waiver Review Division. It did and the first cases were approved just recently by the State Department.

With some assurance that the program would meet all of the legal requirements, this week the DRA unveiled the waiver program in a meeting with officials from the various DRA states. The program was also attended by Mike Berry, the official at the Department of Health and Human Services who will be administering that agency's new J-1 program. Now the program will undergo its final review based on comments from the State officials. The program should be up and running in the very near future, and we will report when the DRA releases is application materials. We can then look forward to many communities benefiting from having the doctors that they need so badly.

National security matters dominate immigration news this week as it has for much of the last two years. Canadian landed immigrants will now have to go through the visa application process in order to have proper security checks. The call in special registration program has been funded by Congress for another year. Registration dates for many nationals under that program were extended this week. Several Middle Eastern immigrants were arrested in an anti-terrorism investigation in Florida. We also report the findings of a poll that shows that security concerns are affecting the public's view of immigrants. We cover these stories as well as the week's other developments in this week's issue.

I also want to let readers know that I will be a panelist on a telephone seminar on the latest developments in health care immigration. The program is being produced by ILW.com and will be on February 28th. You can learn more and register online at http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/seminars/february2003.shtm.

As always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind